Shrine of Temporary Respite by GiMi53

Photography • Cultural and Spiritual Art • posted on Sep 02, 2008

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Description

Our Lady of Avioth, Shrine of Temporary Respite According to popular belief in some provinces, temporary respite is when a stillborn child returns to life for the lapse of time needed in order to confer baptism before final death. Thus, having been baptized, the child may enter paradise instead of wandering in limbo where he would be deprived of the vision of God. Parents brought stillborn infants to the shrine in baskets from far and wide. Whatever the season, the couple would stand in bare feet on the cold stone pavement in front of the statue of the Blessed Virgin holding their lifeless baby in their arms. The entire village, called by the church bells, prayed for the deceased. They sang the Salve Regina, then the Litanies in honor of the Virgin. Some parents had Holy Mass celebrated, confessed, and took communion, “in order to more effectively sway the Virgin Mary into getting grace and mercy from the Son of God, for the great consolation of these little children.” Then signs of life appeared, "the movement of the veins in the members would return, their blood turned from the color black to red, and bloodletting or a hot sweat occurred," wrote a journalist. In the presence of these symptoms, baptism was given under certain conditions, "If you are alive, I will christen you ..." Immediately afterwards death returned and the child was buried on the eastern side of the church. Thank you for your comments on my previous upload:

"Back to School !"

Comments (22)

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Apophis906

12:07PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

wonderful shot.

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Simpleworks

12:25PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

Excellent shot.

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annie5

12:41PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

De toute beauté..Bonne semaine! :)

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rainbows

1:10PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

A deeply moving work and write up, dear Michel. Wonderful work. Bisous. DiDi. xx

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dorothylee

1:39PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

Love the way you framed the stained glass in the shot. Great statue and a great catpure!

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durleybeachbum

1:41PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

Fascinating rituals!! A very interesting pic and insight into minds.

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timtripp

1:50PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

well shot!

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mairekas

3:06PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

Wonderful image!

MrsLubner

3:20PM | Tue, 02 September 2008

One religious belief of some friends of mine (years back) was to have their unborn child blessed as a baptism-type of rite. (it was done in the last 6 weeks before the planned birth) In this way, if the child did not make it through the birthing, it would not be lost in limbo for all eternity. A very interesting concept. this is a lovely and well-cared for religious artifact. Wonderful pov.

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