Odour of Sanctity and Sainthood
The term "odour of sanctity" appears to have emerged in the Middle Ages, at a time when many saints were raised to that status by acclamation of the faithful. In the absence of carefully written records, either by or about the individual, evidence of a saintly life was attested to only by personal recollections of those around him or her. It appears that the odour of sanctity occurring at the person’s death carried some weight in convincing the local ecclesiastical authority to "canonize" the saint – to allow the faithful to venerate and pray to him or her.
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Famous quotes containing the words odour of, odour and/or sanctity:
“Odour of blood when Christ was slain
Made all Platonic tolerance vain
And vain all Doric discipline.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Such fragrant flowers do give most odorous smell;
But her sweet odour did them all excel.”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
“Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)