The odor os sin

[Athanasias]

In traditional Christianity mystical gifts have always made an appearance in both east and west. I have been reading a book that talks about many of the mystical gifts and phenomenon given to the saints past and present day. its called "Mysteries, Miracles, and Marvels in the lives of the saints" by Joan Carrol Cruz. Its a fun read! They had many supernatural gifts given to them such as resurrection, invisibility, bilocation,levitation, stigmata, miraculous protection etc . Among them is the gift of the "odor or stench of sin" whereby one could mystically smell the sins of people and detect who was in the state of grace or not.

This gift of being able to smell grave/mortal sins and those who have committed it has been given to many saints in history like St. John Bosco, St. Philip Neri, St. Joseph of Cuppertino and Blessed Anna Maria Taigi.

St. Catherine of Sienna was also given this gift and spoke about it and its stenches emanating fro the Vatican during her time(a time which corruption was high in the Vatican) in which she even warned the Pope.

I know many EO's, possibly some Lutherans and other traditional Christians have shared in mystical gifts given by the Holy Spirit like this before in history. I know the counter gift to this is the "oder of sanctity" which many saints Catholic and EO have emanated throughout history so I have heard.

Has anyone else ever read up on or heard about "the odor of sin" before?

 

[~Anastasia~]

I have heard of it, but not within the confines necessarily of the Catholic or EO Church.

 

[Athanasias]

I have heard of it, but not within the confines necessarily of the Catholic or EO Church.

really? Interesting. What tradition have you heard it out of? Just curious?

 

[~Anastasia~]

really? Interesting. What tradition have you heard it out of? Just curious?

More charismatic ones. Though I will say I've never heard of a sweetness associated with a sanctified person, but there is usually a belief it has to do with The Lord or angels in that case.

And I'm not so sure one is expected to be so sanctified to receive such insight either, but more simply a gift that God might bestow.

 

[Athanasias]

More charismatic ones. Though I will say I've never heard of a sweetness associated with a sanctified person, but there is usually a belief it has to do with The Lord or angels in that case.

And I'm not so sure one is expected to be so sanctified to receive such insight either, but more simply a gift that God might bestow.

oh ok. I only know what comes from the Catholic tradition.

 

[~Anastasia~]

oh ok. I only know what comes from the Catholic tradition.

I actually find what you said very interesting. I hadn't run across it before (particularly the idea of "scent of holiness" associated with a human person). A bit busy at the moment but I should make a note to go back and look into that sometime. I would have hoped you'd have gotten more responses from Orthodox. It really sounds like something that wouldn't surprise me from the Desert Fathers, or monastic Saints, for example ...

 

[Shane R]

Dostoevsky touched on the topic when he wrote about the death of the Elder Zosima in The Brothers Karamazov. He did not reflect so much on the gift that the OP describes; rather, his reflection focused on the thought that the saints should not display corruption in the same way as ordinary men.

I think some good questions about what exactly the effects of sin are can be raised from considering this topic. It is my observation that the East has a more robust idea of the effects of sin - sin as a disease perhaps - in contrast to a rather legal outlook held by most Protestants: in essence sin as a debt. When we perceive sin as it truly is, a corruption of what is best for our total well-being, it should not be so surprising if its effects are obviously manifested to the human senses.

 

[Athanasias]

I actually find what you said very interesting. I hadn't run across it before (particularly the idea of "scent of holiness" associated with a human person). A bit busy at the moment but I should make a note to go back and look into that sometime. I would have hoped you'd have gotten more responses from Orthodox. It really sounds like something that wouldn't surprise me from the Desert Fathers, or monastic Saints, for example ...

Yeah this phenomena has been going on since the early Church. For example the "Oder of Sanctity" The Christians in Smyrna describe the martyrdom of St Polycarp in 155 A.D and talk about this, Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical history mentions this, St. Benedict(A.D. 543) himself had this, St. Valery (A.D. 690) had this , so did St. Teresa of Avila( A.D. 1582), and St. Catherine De Ricci (A.D. 1589) and in Modern time St. Padre Pio the 20th century stigmatist who died in A.D. 1968 had this scent of sanctity coming from his stigmatic wounds. In the catholic Church Pope Benedict xiv in A.D. 1758 acknowledge this phenomenon in his work called "De Beatificatione et Canonizatione".

Cool huh. I am sure that the Easter Orthodox also have experienced this before because I know alot of Super Holy Eastern Saints.