Image and the Pilgrimage in Christian Culture #2: CH 4
Chapter 4: Iconophily and Iconclasm in Marian Pilgrimage
Often times pilgrimage shrines involved both social and political strifes even though its purpose was to promote peace and communitas. In particular the Marian shrine has been emphasized in this chapter to have this occur. The use of religious icons were in order to reflect spiritual truths. There are cultural distinctions of importance between the East and West. In the East icons are regarded as more important and emphasized. Whileas in the West icons are usually apart of the background and not as emphasized. The West often had issues with overemphasis on religious icons and therefore may be why there is less emphasis on its use. There was a lot of criticism with the abuse of images of the Marian shrines.
Reading this chapter reminded me of the movie Silence. The synopsis of the movie is based upon two Jesuit priests, Sebastian Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe. They journey to Japan in order to find their missing mentor who has been rumored to have recount the faith. During their time in Japan they minister to the Japanese villagers. During their ministry they bring religious icons such as crosses for the Japanese people. There is one scene where Rodrigues becomes concerned that the Japanese may be worshipping these icons more than Jesus himself because of how highly revered these icons are within the village. This scene reminds me of this chapter on icons because of the West's concern over the abuse of images. Therefore they cautiously use icons to not put too much emphasis on the images rather than the actual belief.
Often times pilgrimage shrines involved both social and political strifes even though its purpose was to promote peace and communitas. In particular the Marian shrine has been emphasized in this chapter to have this occur. The use of religious icons were in order to reflect spiritual truths. There are cultural distinctions of importance between the East and West. In the East icons are regarded as more important and emphasized. Whileas in the West icons are usually apart of the background and not as emphasized. The West often had issues with overemphasis on religious icons and therefore may be why there is less emphasis on its use. There was a lot of criticism with the abuse of images of the Marian shrines.
Reading this chapter reminded me of the movie Silence. The synopsis of the movie is based upon two Jesuit priests, Sebastian Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe. They journey to Japan in order to find their missing mentor who has been rumored to have recount the faith. During their time in Japan they minister to the Japanese villagers. During their ministry they bring religious icons such as crosses for the Japanese people. There is one scene where Rodrigues becomes concerned that the Japanese may be worshipping these icons more than Jesus himself because of how highly revered these icons are within the village. This scene reminds me of this chapter on icons because of the West's concern over the abuse of images. Therefore they cautiously use icons to not put too much emphasis on the images rather than the actual belief.
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