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Formula1
Guest
Is it blasphemous to judge the look of saints?
If not, can you explain this topic further?
Thanks
If not, can you explain this topic further?
Thanks
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RolandThompsonGunner
Guest
What do you mean? As in, to evaluate whether a saint was physically attractive?
I guess not, although if you’re sexualizing a saint that’s obviously wrong.
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BornInMarch
Guest
Saints came from all walks of life so obviously they’d look different. Moreover sometimes a saint’s appearance is relevant to their life story.
Saint Mary of Egypt was described as being inhumanly ugly when she met Saint Zosimas of Palestine, and that’s relevant because it resulted from her living as a desert hermit as a self-imposed penance. Saint Anges of Rome meanwhile was described as being beautiful, and that’s relevant because it meant her vow of celibacy wasn’t respected by her suitors and so they had her martyred.
Saint Mary of Egypt was described as being inhumanly ugly when she met Saint Zosimas of Palestine, and that’s relevant because it resulted from her living as a desert hermit as a self-imposed penance. Saint Anges of Rome meanwhile was described as being beautiful, and that’s relevant because it meant her vow of celibacy wasn’t respected by her suitors and so they had her martyred.
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Formula1
Guest
So it is not a considered blasphemous to do this right? Because I think blasphemy is kind of considered an insult on god, saints, etc. Does it apply to this?
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Anesti33
Guest
Why? If it’s in the context of a mystical marriage, then why wouldn’t it be OK? You’re just playacting, anyway. It’s not for real.Formula1:
What do you mean? As in, to evaluate whether a saint was physically attractive?
I guess not, although if you’re sexualizing a saint that’s obviously wrong.
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Salibi
Guest
Depends on what you mean by judging the look of saints.
If you mean that you didn’t think a particular saint was attractive, and stopped right there, then no, it’s not a sin. We all have standards and ideas of what constitutes “beautiful” and it’s okay to think that someone doesn’t fit those standards.
If you’re sexualising the saint, obsessing over their features and appearance beyond the momentary “Oh I don’t think his/her face looks good” passing thought, then that’s a problem that you need to bring up with your priest in Confession.
We all have tastes; icons, architecture, pictures, statues, and other religious images and objects aren’t always going to look beautiful to us. For example, there are several depictions of Jesus that I dislike. That’s not a problem, unless I’m like, overly obsessing over it or actively seeking out these images to destroy them, which I’m not.
It does sound to me that you may have scruples. If you have a history of being anxious over percieved sins, please seek out a spiritual counselor, which would be more beneficial for you than posting on here.
God bless.
If you mean that you didn’t think a particular saint was attractive, and stopped right there, then no, it’s not a sin. We all have standards and ideas of what constitutes “beautiful” and it’s okay to think that someone doesn’t fit those standards.
If you’re sexualising the saint, obsessing over their features and appearance beyond the momentary “Oh I don’t think his/her face looks good” passing thought, then that’s a problem that you need to bring up with your priest in Confession.
We all have tastes; icons, architecture, pictures, statues, and other religious images and objects aren’t always going to look beautiful to us. For example, there are several depictions of Jesus that I dislike. That’s not a problem, unless I’m like, overly obsessing over it or actively seeking out these images to destroy them, which I’m not.
It does sound to me that you may have scruples. If you have a history of being anxious over percieved sins, please seek out a spiritual counselor, which would be more beneficial for you than posting on here.
God bless.
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paperwight
Guest
How is it that the post from Salibi and the post from Anesti33 are identical?
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Salibi
Guest
I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean. Can you elaborate?
Thank you.
Thank you.
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paperwight
Guest
A post headed as from Salibi and another identical one as from Anesti33 appeared briefly.
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Salibi
Guest
That’s never happened with me before, but I have experienced some issues with thread titles merging together sometimes so I couldn’t click on them. That hasn’t happened for a while, though, so I presume the mods took care of it.
Perhaps this is something similar.
Perhaps this is something similar.
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RolandThompsonGunner
Guest
I see what you did there. Assuming you’re joking. :crazy_face:
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sealabeag
Guest
I think you would need to give a little further explanation on what it is you’re wondering about. 
For example, we all “judge”, or maybe a better word would be “register” the physical characteristics of others - we register whether they are fat or thin, tall or short, attractive or unattractive. This is not a sin. However, if I were to look at a fat person and think negative, critical thoughts about that person solely because of their physical appearance, yes, that would be a sin. So it kind of depends what you mean by “judge” and what is happening in your heart, mind and soul.
If I look at a statue of St. Teresa of Avila and I register that it is an attractive representation of a female, that is not a sin. If I look at a particular Divine Mercy image of Jesus and feel that I don’t find the face attractive, that is not a sin.
And remember, most images of saints are only representations, not true likeness!
For example, we all “judge”, or maybe a better word would be “register” the physical characteristics of others - we register whether they are fat or thin, tall or short, attractive or unattractive. This is not a sin. However, if I were to look at a fat person and think negative, critical thoughts about that person solely because of their physical appearance, yes, that would be a sin. So it kind of depends what you mean by “judge” and what is happening in your heart, mind and soul.If I look at a statue of St. Teresa of Avila and I register that it is an attractive representation of a female, that is not a sin. If I look at a particular Divine Mercy image of Jesus and feel that I don’t find the face attractive, that is not a sin.
And remember, most images of saints are only representations, not true likeness!
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Mrchatsworth
Guest
It’s unfair to ask an unclear question and then ask others to explain the topic further. It is sinful to say St Benedict the moor was Black and therefore I don’t like him, its another thing to say hey, St kateri had horrible disfiguring acne and was not what one would term beuatiful.
In fact I think several male saints joked about thier looks.
Please expalin the premise of your question more.
In fact I think several male saints joked about thier looks.
Please expalin the premise of your question more.
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DeniseNY
Guest
I don’t know if it’s blashemous, but it’s not right to judge anyone on the basis of their appearance. Especially not someone who has been elevated to Sainthood. It’s the interior that matters most.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
Please explain what you mean by “judging” the look of saints.
Regarding saints for whom we have evidence of their looks, such as a written description or a photo, then it’s obvious that some saints while on earth were handsome, pretty, or beautiful, and others were unatttractive, deformed, or ugly. It matters not, except in how their looks might have related in some way to their sainthood; for example, good-looking saints often had to turn down marriage opportunities, while ugly-looking saints often had to suffer from others’ mocking, bullying, or ill-treatment.
Once in Heaven, all of them are transformed and beautiful.
If you’re choosing saints to follow based on which ones look most beautiful to your eyes, you’re sort of missing the point.
Regarding saints for whom we have evidence of their looks, such as a written description or a photo, then it’s obvious that some saints while on earth were handsome, pretty, or beautiful, and others were unatttractive, deformed, or ugly. It matters not, except in how their looks might have related in some way to their sainthood; for example, good-looking saints often had to turn down marriage opportunities, while ugly-looking saints often had to suffer from others’ mocking, bullying, or ill-treatment.
Once in Heaven, all of them are transformed and beautiful.
If you’re choosing saints to follow based on which ones look most beautiful to your eyes, you’re sort of missing the point.
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There were indeed saints who were very attractive people. St Gemma Galgani was positively gorgeous.
There is nothing wrong with noticing things like his, whether the appearance is pleasant or unpleasant, as long as the other Christian virtues are adhered to. I don’t see why this even needs to be an issue.
There is nothing wrong with noticing things like his, whether the appearance is pleasant or unpleasant, as long as the other Christian virtues are adhered to. I don’t see why this even needs to be an issue.
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AL_1323
Guest
@Formula1 What do you mean judging the look? Is it looking at statues, pictures, paintings or mosaics?
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Mythicalbio
Guest
Is judging in the context of joking generally considered by others as sinful? I’ve never thought of it as such. Laughing about being mald then mentioning St. Paul’s horrific hairline in icons for instance, or various Church Fathers like Chrysostom.
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William
Guest
To judge the physical appearance of Saints in relation to physical aesthetic pleasantness is not, as far as I know, wrong (although I would personally and non-authoritatively discourage it, its quite an odd question lol).
To judge them negatively spiritually, or busy yourself with comparing their merits (this is actually spoken against by Thomas a Kempis in the Imitation of Christ) would certainly be blasphemous (in the first case) and imprudent at least (in the second). But nobody gets to Heaven by physical appearance, and I am sure Saints, who have perfected humility and detachment from vanity, would not care.
Still, I encourage you not to see them as dead people, but as living members of the Church Triumphant who WILL have their bodies resurrected (and perfected). In the sense that judging their physical appearance is sort of an implied minimization of this reality and dogma, I would highly recommend against it.
Strictly speaking, however, the act of saying “such and such a Saint was not aesthetically appealing in their bodily appearance” would not, in my untrained and layman’s opinion, constitute blasphemy.
To judge them negatively spiritually, or busy yourself with comparing their merits (this is actually spoken against by Thomas a Kempis in the Imitation of Christ) would certainly be blasphemous (in the first case) and imprudent at least (in the second). But nobody gets to Heaven by physical appearance, and I am sure Saints, who have perfected humility and detachment from vanity, would not care.
Still, I encourage you not to see them as dead people, but as living members of the Church Triumphant who WILL have their bodies resurrected (and perfected). In the sense that judging their physical appearance is sort of an implied minimization of this reality and dogma, I would highly recommend against it.
Strictly speaking, however, the act of saying “such and such a Saint was not aesthetically appealing in their bodily appearance” would not, in my untrained and layman’s opinion, constitute blasphemy.
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JanR
Guest
Artists’ representation of saints may or may not depict their physical appearances accurately. In many cases, all we have are artists’ representations, and those can be subjective. So, you really don’t know what you’re looking at when you look at a representation of a saint, unless that saint lived during the period of photography and his or her image was captured on camera. But, even photographs can be deceiving.
It doesn’t matter what a saint looked like in this life. Ours is a fleeting beauty, or a temporary ugliness, or maybe somewhere in between, but it doesn’t last, in any case.
Is it a sin to aesthetically respond to an image of a saint? No, I would say it’s humanly natural, as long as one’s response doesn’t cross into the immoral. We live, currently, in a physical/material world, so naturally we spontaneously respond to what we perceive with our senses.
It doesn’t matter what a saint looked like in this life. Ours is a fleeting beauty, or a temporary ugliness, or maybe somewhere in between, but it doesn’t last, in any case.
Is it a sin to aesthetically respond to an image of a saint? No, I would say it’s humanly natural, as long as one’s response doesn’t cross into the immoral. We live, currently, in a physical/material world, so naturally we spontaneously respond to what we perceive with our senses.
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