Of Saints, humbugs and miracles
Somapala
April 11, 2007
As has been pointed out in these columns recently, it is only in
Sri Lanka that there are petitions and thank you notes published for
various saints of the Christian Church. This is an attempt by the
Christian Church to show the efficacy of their saints in performing
miracles. These advertisements are intended for the feeble minded
to feel awe and to seek favors from these saints. In actual fact these
ruses are used by the Christian Church to enhance blind faith and
gain converts from other religions unethically.
Many people believe that there are various forms of beings and forms
of existence seen and unseen; some belonging to godly realms and others
to not so godly realms. In times of hardships and misery we seek help;
in the first place from those seen - our friends, relations, neighbors,
experts and from those in influential and powerful positions. When
all these fail, the feeble minded seeks the assistance and help from
the unseen. Hence these petitions and thank you notes that appears
in the Sri Lankan dailies. In the past the thank you notes have been
in the form of burnt offerings to the relevant god or yakka. I found
this passage in one of the holy books.
The Burnt Offering - Food for the Lord God for favors granted.
"The God called to the priest and spoke to him from the Tent
of Meeting. He said, " Speak to my followers and say to them
" When any of you bring an offering to the Lord, bring as your
offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
If the offering to the Lord God is a burnt offering of birds, he
is to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The priest shall bring it to
the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood
shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the
crop with its contents and throw it to the east side o f the altar,
where the ashes are. He shall tear it open by the wings, not severing
it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that
is on the fire on the altar. It is a burnt offering and an offering
made by fire, aroma pleasing to the Lord God!"
Leviticus 1:14-17
Holy Bible
In the Sri Lankan practice of pleasing the devil (for favors granted
or at times for leaving the afflicted in peace,) the Kattadiya does
not harm the bird. He draws a little blood from the bird and offers
to the Pulutu Yakka to quench his thirst and be gone!
In reality it is one's strong belief that harness all the energies
in one's possession to meet the need of the hour. We tend to take
a more positive stand when we know we are backed by a powerful force
whether real or imaginary. More often than not, the help is self generated
due to the harnessing of our inner strengths, which in turn goes to
cure the disease or to confront one's devils and miseries. When somebody
meets with success these happenings are categorized as miracles.
Recently the Catholic Church was on a massive exercise to find one
miracle that can be attributed to the late Pope John Paul II so that
he can be beatified or fast tracked to be pronounced a saint. With
great difficulty they managed to find a French nun who had prayed
to Pope John Paul II for a cure for her Parkinson's disease and had
got it cured. Even here the process is the same; what cured her is
the efficacy of her own strong belief that she will get cured by her
prayers. These kinds of cures are dime a dozen in the real world.
The most efficient way to of strengthening one's resolve is to practice
meditation and there are many who have found solace to one's problems
this way.
On the other hand if in fact it was Pope John Paul II who helped
this hapless nun, then one has to find a better explanation as to
why Pope John Paul II himself was not able to find a cure for his
own Parkinson's affliction. This great, great successor to St Peter,
the Holy Ghost selected Pope and the most favored son of the Christian
God should have found a cure quite easily by praying to his Lord God.
Quite apart from that, in the days prior to his death or getting ready
to enter heaven his demeanor was that of a person facing the devil.
It was definitely not the face of a person who is joyful, serene and
at peace with the world. The video footage taken prior to his death
shows that while going through the motions of drawing the cemetery
symbol of death (the Cross) in the air, his face was of one facing
the devil himself. No wonder the Protestant Church considers the Pope
as the Anti-Christ himself.
In fact Pope John Paul II has been performing miracle after miracle
during his long reign. One of his major miracles has been to hide
so many pedophiles away from the reach of the law. They have been
found safe havens time and time again from where they have gone on
to re-offend with gusto. These miracles haven't been entirely successful
sometimes, that on many occasions the culprits have been brought to
justice and the Catholic Church has had to dole out millions of dollars
previously appropriated from the innocent and gullible believers as
compensation for miracles performed. All these miracles also happened
under the very eyes of the silent witness who is supposed to be present
in every home, church and other nook and corner of the world.
The other major miracle he initiated is in Asia. This miracle is
still in its infancy but its effects are being felt as an unseen tsunami
waiting to happen all over the sub continent, especially India and
Sri Lanka. He proclaimed the Third Century as the century for the
evangelization of Asia. It is only a matter of time when religious
wars will engulf the subcontinent and there will be plenty of burnt
flesh around to please the god.
In the light of these miracles and other miracles yet to be discovered,
the late Pope John Paul is well on his way to being a saint. St Pedophile
Protector Maximus will be a good name for the new saint.
Please find below an equally efficient prayer I found on the Ceylon
Daliy News many moons ago for those who seek favors from the supernatural.
Homage to Kapruka - Antidote for Puluttu Yakka (The devil who craves
burnt offerings and seek converts)
Oh Holy Kapruka producer of beautiful polmal, polgedi and kurumbas,
giver of pol-athu, pol-parala, gokkola and meera. Most trusted provider
at all times and near kingsman of thambili tree, I pray to you from
the bottom of my heart to help me in time of my need and to ward off
evil spirits and pulutu yakkas who seek converts from my motherland.
In return I promise to light a coconut oil lamp in your name as promised.
Say this prayer 7 times on consecutive days in front of a coconut
tree and promise publication.
Daily News - Monday, May 09, 1994
