Karen Pechilis
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195145380
- eISBN:
- 9780199849963
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195145380.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher, but is often worshipped as an embodiment of the divine. In the past these gurus ...
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A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher, but is often worshipped as an embodiment of the divine. In the past these gurus have almost always been men. Today, however, female gurus are a noticeable presence, especially in the United States. This book containing nine chapter looks at the phenomenon of the female guru both in its original Indian context, where Hindu women leaders have been unusual but not unknown, and as it has evolved on the American scene. Each chapter is devoted to a particular female guru, ranging from the 5th-century Tamil saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar to Gurumayi, who today presides over the worldwide movement of Siddha Yoga, headquartered in the Catskill resort town of South Fallsburg, New York.Less
A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher, but is often worshipped as an embodiment of the divine. In the past these gurus have almost always been men. Today, however, female gurus are a noticeable presence, especially in the United States. This book containing nine chapter looks at the phenomenon of the female guru both in its original Indian context, where Hindu women leaders have been unusual but not unknown, and as it has evolved on the American scene. Each chapter is devoted to a particular female guru, ranging from the 5th-century Tamil saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar to Gurumayi, who today presides over the worldwide movement of Siddha Yoga, headquartered in the Catskill resort town of South Fallsburg, New York.
Karin Vélez
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691174006
- eISBN:
- 9780691184494
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691174006.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In 1295, a house fell from the evening sky onto an Italian coastal road by the Adriatic Sea. Inside, awestruck locals encountered the Virgin Mary, who explained that this humble mud-brick structure ...
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In 1295, a house fell from the evening sky onto an Italian coastal road by the Adriatic Sea. Inside, awestruck locals encountered the Virgin Mary, who explained that this humble mud-brick structure was her original residence newly arrived from Nazareth. To keep it from the hands of Muslim invaders, angels had flown it to Loreto, stopping three times along the way. This story of the house of Loreto has been read as an allegory of how Catholicism spread peacefully around the world by dropping miraculously from the heavens. This book calls that interpretation into question by examining historical accounts of the movement of the Holy House across the Mediterranean in the thirteenth century and the Atlantic in the seventeenth century. These records indicate vast and voluntary involvement in the project of formulating a branch of Catholic devotion. The book surveys the efforts of European Jesuits, Slavic migrants, and indigenous peoples in Baja California, Canada, and Peru. These individuals contributed to the expansion of Catholicism by acting as unofficial authors, inadvertent pilgrims, unlicensed architects, unacknowledged artists, and unsolicited cataloguers of Loreto. Their participation in portaging Mary's house challenges traditional views of Christianity as a prepackaged European export, and instead suggests that Christianity is the cumulative product of thousands of self-appointed editors. The book also demonstrates how miracle narratives can be treated seriously as historical sources that preserve traces of real events. Drawing on rich archival materials, the book illustrates how global Catholicism proliferated through independent initiatives of untrained laymen.Less
In 1295, a house fell from the evening sky onto an Italian coastal road by the Adriatic Sea. Inside, awestruck locals encountered the Virgin Mary, who explained that this humble mud-brick structure was her original residence newly arrived from Nazareth. To keep it from the hands of Muslim invaders, angels had flown it to Loreto, stopping three times along the way. This story of the house of Loreto has been read as an allegory of how Catholicism spread peacefully around the world by dropping miraculously from the heavens. This book calls that interpretation into question by examining historical accounts of the movement of the Holy House across the Mediterranean in the thirteenth century and the Atlantic in the seventeenth century. These records indicate vast and voluntary involvement in the project of formulating a branch of Catholic devotion. The book surveys the efforts of European Jesuits, Slavic migrants, and indigenous peoples in Baja California, Canada, and Peru. These individuals contributed to the expansion of Catholicism by acting as unofficial authors, inadvertent pilgrims, unlicensed architects, unacknowledged artists, and unsolicited cataloguers of Loreto. Their participation in portaging Mary's house challenges traditional views of Christianity as a prepackaged European export, and instead suggests that Christianity is the cumulative product of thousands of self-appointed editors. The book also demonstrates how miracle narratives can be treated seriously as historical sources that preserve traces of real events. Drawing on rich archival materials, the book illustrates how global Catholicism proliferated through independent initiatives of untrained laymen.
Elaine Craddock
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter focuses on Karaikkal Ammaiyar, also know as Punitavati, one of the Tamil nayanmar, or Shaivite saints. Before Punitavati became Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she was married to a merchant, but her ...
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This chapter focuses on Karaikkal Ammaiyar, also know as Punitavati, one of the Tamil nayanmar, or Shaivite saints. Before Punitavati became Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she was married to a merchant, but her ardent devotion to Shiva conflicted with her ritual duties as a wife. Her husband became frightened by Shiva's response to her devotions and released her from marriage; she immediately made a devotional pilgrimage to the Himalayas, where Shiva granted her her wish to be given demon form and to be the eternal witness to his fierce dance in the cremation ground at Tiruvalankatu. There, she composed 143 verses, which represent the earliest Tamil poetry to Shiva. Karaikkal Ammaiyar's own life shows a shift in emphasis from the performance of wifely domestic rituals, normally the primary ritual domain of married women, to the understanding of her entire life as a ritual offering to Shiva.Less
This chapter focuses on Karaikkal Ammaiyar, also know as Punitavati, one of the Tamil nayanmar, or Shaivite saints. Before Punitavati became Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she was married to a merchant, but her ardent devotion to Shiva conflicted with her ritual duties as a wife. Her husband became frightened by Shiva's response to her devotions and released her from marriage; she immediately made a devotional pilgrimage to the Himalayas, where Shiva granted her her wish to be given demon form and to be the eternal witness to his fierce dance in the cremation ground at Tiruvalankatu. There, she composed 143 verses, which represent the earliest Tamil poetry to Shiva. Karaikkal Ammaiyar's own life shows a shift in emphasis from the performance of wifely domestic rituals, normally the primary ritual domain of married women, to the understanding of her entire life as a ritual offering to Shiva.
W. David Myers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178067
- eISBN:
- 9780199784905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178068.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter explores changes in sacramental penance. It is shown that the form of confession prevalent today is a product of the High Middle Ages and the religious reforms of the Council of Trent. ...
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This chapter explores changes in sacramental penance. It is shown that the form of confession prevalent today is a product of the High Middle Ages and the religious reforms of the Council of Trent. Modern devotion to the sacrament signaled by frequent reception is a relatively recent phenomenon that has varied greatly since the Council of Trent.Less
This chapter explores changes in sacramental penance. It is shown that the form of confession prevalent today is a product of the High Middle Ages and the religious reforms of the Council of Trent. Modern devotion to the sacrament signaled by frequent reception is a relatively recent phenomenon that has varied greatly since the Council of Trent.
Maurizio Viroli
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151823
- eISBN:
- 9781400840274
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151823.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Italy is a country of free political institutions, yet it has become a nation of servile courtesans, with Silvio Berlusconi as their prince. This is the controversial argument that this book puts ...
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Italy is a country of free political institutions, yet it has become a nation of servile courtesans, with Silvio Berlusconi as their prince. This is the controversial argument that this book puts forward. Drawing upon the classical republican conception of liberty, the book shows that a people can be unfree even though they are not oppressed. This condition of unfreedom arises as a consequence of being subject to the arbitrary or enormous power of men like Berlusconi, who presides over Italy with his control of government and the media, immense wealth, and infamous lack of self-restraint. Challenging our most cherished notions about liberty, the book argues that even if a power like Berlusconi's has been established in the most legitimate manner and people are not denied their basic rights, the mere existence of such power makes those subject to it unfree. Most Italians, following the lead of their elites, lack the minimal moral qualities of free people, such as respect for the Constitution, the willingness to obey laws, and the readiness to discharge civic duties. As this book demonstrates, they exhibit instead the characteristics of servility, including flattery, blind devotion to powerful men, an inclination to lie, obsession with appearances, imitation, buffoonery, acquiescence, and docility. Accompanying these traits is a marked arrogance that is apparent among not only politicians but also ordinary citizens.Less
Italy is a country of free political institutions, yet it has become a nation of servile courtesans, with Silvio Berlusconi as their prince. This is the controversial argument that this book puts forward. Drawing upon the classical republican conception of liberty, the book shows that a people can be unfree even though they are not oppressed. This condition of unfreedom arises as a consequence of being subject to the arbitrary or enormous power of men like Berlusconi, who presides over Italy with his control of government and the media, immense wealth, and infamous lack of self-restraint. Challenging our most cherished notions about liberty, the book argues that even if a power like Berlusconi's has been established in the most legitimate manner and people are not denied their basic rights, the mere existence of such power makes those subject to it unfree. Most Italians, following the lead of their elites, lack the minimal moral qualities of free people, such as respect for the Constitution, the willingness to obey laws, and the readiness to discharge civic duties. As this book demonstrates, they exhibit instead the characteristics of servility, including flattery, blind devotion to powerful men, an inclination to lie, obsession with appearances, imitation, buffoonery, acquiescence, and docility. Accompanying these traits is a marked arrogance that is apparent among not only politicians but also ordinary citizens.
Susan C. Karant-Nunn
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195399738
- eISBN:
- 9780199777198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195399738.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Religion and Society
This chapter shows how the adherents of the evangelical forms of belief were made aware—by means of ritual and the decoration of Lutheran sanctuaries—that along with late-medieval Catholic ...
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This chapter shows how the adherents of the evangelical forms of belief were made aware—by means of ritual and the decoration of Lutheran sanctuaries—that along with late-medieval Catholic Christianity, emotion-oriented piety was at an end, or at least to be severely curtailed and redirected. Lutheran divines intended to communicate to the members of their congregations that God was present spiritually. He was not approachable physically or susceptible of manipulation by humankind. Changes in liturgical words, gestures, cultic artifacts, and the arrangement of the sacral space—in short, in the whole of ecclesiastical ritual—gave people to understand that they should not dramatically act out their devotion. In general, the new program strove to dampen the outer demonstration of religious fervor, though not piety itself. Protestant piety, guided by the Word of God, was explicitly and semiotically defined as quiet submission to the workings of faith within the individual Christian and, externally, as gentle, less emotive (however feeling), non-flaunting submission to authority and the service of one's neighbor. Princes, reformers, and magistrates simultaneously sought to suppress flamboyant demonstrativeness in social relations as well.Less
This chapter shows how the adherents of the evangelical forms of belief were made aware—by means of ritual and the decoration of Lutheran sanctuaries—that along with late-medieval Catholic Christianity, emotion-oriented piety was at an end, or at least to be severely curtailed and redirected. Lutheran divines intended to communicate to the members of their congregations that God was present spiritually. He was not approachable physically or susceptible of manipulation by humankind. Changes in liturgical words, gestures, cultic artifacts, and the arrangement of the sacral space—in short, in the whole of ecclesiastical ritual—gave people to understand that they should not dramatically act out their devotion. In general, the new program strove to dampen the outer demonstration of religious fervor, though not piety itself. Protestant piety, guided by the Word of God, was explicitly and semiotically defined as quiet submission to the workings of faith within the individual Christian and, externally, as gentle, less emotive (however feeling), non-flaunting submission to authority and the service of one's neighbor. Princes, reformers, and magistrates simultaneously sought to suppress flamboyant demonstrativeness in social relations as well.
Paul Borgman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331608
- eISBN:
- 9780199868001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331608.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
In the middle of flight from Saul, which was explored in the prior chapter, David twice has the opportunity to take the king's life but does not do so. Between these paralleled scenes, David spares ...
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In the middle of flight from Saul, which was explored in the prior chapter, David twice has the opportunity to take the king's life but does not do so. Between these paralleled scenes, David spares the life of another enemy, a fool, but not before he is spared from his own worst instincts through the agency of Abigail, a wise and beautiful woman. In these three linked accounts we are offered a display of what appears to be David's capacity for combining political savvy with a surprising morality and genuine devotion to God. First, David spares a foolish King Saul (1, 24); next, he spares a boorish fool—and is spared from his own worst instincts (1, 25); then, once more, he spares foolish King Saul, displaying both political savvy and genuine devotion (1, 26).Less
In the middle of flight from Saul, which was explored in the prior chapter, David twice has the opportunity to take the king's life but does not do so. Between these paralleled scenes, David spares the life of another enemy, a fool, but not before he is spared from his own worst instincts through the agency of Abigail, a wise and beautiful woman. In these three linked accounts we are offered a display of what appears to be David's capacity for combining political savvy with a surprising morality and genuine devotion to God. First, David spares a foolish King Saul (1, 24); next, he spares a boorish fool—and is spared from his own worst instincts (1, 25); then, once more, he spares foolish King Saul, displaying both political savvy and genuine devotion (1, 26).
Paul Borgman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331608
- eISBN:
- 9780199868001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331608.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The final four chapters of the Samuel text are arranged with no regard for proper chronology but with great care as a conclusion. Here we find a chiastic pattern of repetition (ring composition) that ...
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The final four chapters of the Samuel text are arranged with no regard for proper chronology but with great care as a conclusion. Here we find a chiastic pattern of repetition (ring composition) that gathers together and concludes major dramatic concerns of the whole story: contrast between Saul and David, particularly with respect to wrongdoing; David's leadership capacity (implicitly contrasted with Saul's); and, the happy synergy of David's God‐devotion and political acumen. This chapter deals with the middle two rings: Ring 2, David's Warriors & Leadership (II, 21:15‐22, echoed by Ring 2*, David's Warriors & Leadership (II, 23:8‐39); and Ring 3, Poem, God & Politics: Divine Assistance (II, 22:1‐51) echoed by Ring 3* Poem, God & Politics: Leadership (II, 23:1‐7).Less
The final four chapters of the Samuel text are arranged with no regard for proper chronology but with great care as a conclusion. Here we find a chiastic pattern of repetition (ring composition) that gathers together and concludes major dramatic concerns of the whole story: contrast between Saul and David, particularly with respect to wrongdoing; David's leadership capacity (implicitly contrasted with Saul's); and, the happy synergy of David's God‐devotion and political acumen. This chapter deals with the middle two rings: Ring 2, David's Warriors & Leadership (II, 21:15‐22, echoed by Ring 2*, David's Warriors & Leadership (II, 23:8‐39); and Ring 3, Poem, God & Politics: Divine Assistance (II, 22:1‐51) echoed by Ring 3* Poem, God & Politics: Leadership (II, 23:1‐7).
Timothy Matovina
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691139791
- eISBN:
- 9781400839735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691139791.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter talks about how an insufficient number of clergy and liturgical leaders who actively promote Latinos' Good Friday, Marian, and other religious traditions keep Hispanic impact on communal ...
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This chapter talks about how an insufficient number of clergy and liturgical leaders who actively promote Latinos' Good Friday, Marian, and other religious traditions keep Hispanic impact on communal prayer in U.S. parishes and their environs from becoming even greater, despite the fact that the geographic dispersion of the Hispanic population over the past two decades has expanded Latino influence. Even conflicts and debates about Hispanic traditions and liturgical participation reveal that Latinos shape parish worship and public ritual in significant ways. Hispanics' ritual and devotional proclivities and their promotion of a liturgical renewal that engages their faith expressions currently comprise one of the fundamental dynamics in the prayer life of numerous Catholic parishes in the United States.Less
This chapter talks about how an insufficient number of clergy and liturgical leaders who actively promote Latinos' Good Friday, Marian, and other religious traditions keep Hispanic impact on communal prayer in U.S. parishes and their environs from becoming even greater, despite the fact that the geographic dispersion of the Hispanic population over the past two decades has expanded Latino influence. Even conflicts and debates about Hispanic traditions and liturgical participation reveal that Latinos shape parish worship and public ritual in significant ways. Hispanics' ritual and devotional proclivities and their promotion of a liturgical renewal that engages their faith expressions currently comprise one of the fundamental dynamics in the prayer life of numerous Catholic parishes in the United States.
D. R. M. Irving
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195378269
- eISBN:
- 9780199864614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378269.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
This chapter examines six areas of musical performance that were governed or influenced by ecclesiastical decrees or governmental legislation: Asian musics, vernacular‐language vocal music in sacred ...
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This chapter examines six areas of musical performance that were governed or influenced by ecclesiastical decrees or governmental legislation: Asian musics, vernacular‐language vocal music in sacred contexts (such as villancicos), musical practices for Marian devotions, liturgical music and the use of instruments in churches, theatrical performances, and music in processions, celebrations, and feasts. It draws on sources including manuals published by religious orders for the regulation of parochial life, religious statutes and ordinances, Papal Bulls, royal decrees, and archiepiscopal decrees. It also examines musical references found in the proceedings of the Provincial Council of Manila (1771) and the Synod of Calasiao (1773).Less
This chapter examines six areas of musical performance that were governed or influenced by ecclesiastical decrees or governmental legislation: Asian musics, vernacular‐language vocal music in sacred contexts (such as villancicos), musical practices for Marian devotions, liturgical music and the use of instruments in churches, theatrical performances, and music in processions, celebrations, and feasts. It draws on sources including manuals published by religious orders for the regulation of parochial life, religious statutes and ordinances, Papal Bulls, royal decrees, and archiepiscopal decrees. It also examines musical references found in the proceedings of the Provincial Council of Manila (1771) and the Synod of Calasiao (1773).
Rebecca A. Baltzer
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195124538
- eISBN:
- 9780199868421
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195124538.003.0021
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
The cathedral church of Paris, with its overwhelming focus upon the Mother of God, let virtually no day pass without explicit liturgical acknowledgement of her role in salvation. In the voice, ear, ...
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The cathedral church of Paris, with its overwhelming focus upon the Mother of God, let virtually no day pass without explicit liturgical acknowledgement of her role in salvation. In the voice, ear, and mind of every cleric in this cathedral, the most familiar and frequently performed Office was the Little Office of the Virgin. It was essentially an Office by the clerics for the clerics, without spectators, done in their private liturgical space, the choir, before the altar of the Virgin. This chapter discusses the sources for this Office, which was known in Paris before the year 1200, its use both in Paris and elsewhere, and its texts. It describes the complex state of the sources from before the 13th century and points to the significant amount of local variation in the tradition.Less
The cathedral church of Paris, with its overwhelming focus upon the Mother of God, let virtually no day pass without explicit liturgical acknowledgement of her role in salvation. In the voice, ear, and mind of every cleric in this cathedral, the most familiar and frequently performed Office was the Little Office of the Virgin. It was essentially an Office by the clerics for the clerics, without spectators, done in their private liturgical space, the choir, before the altar of the Virgin. This chapter discusses the sources for this Office, which was known in Paris before the year 1200, its use both in Paris and elsewhere, and its texts. It describes the complex state of the sources from before the 13th century and points to the significant amount of local variation in the tradition.
James John Boyce and O. Carm
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195124538
- eISBN:
- 9780199868421
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195124538.003.0022
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
The Carmelite Order accepted the Office of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary into its liturgy in 1393. The Carmelites of Mainz composed new texts for the feast and adapted music from three other ...
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The Carmelite Order accepted the Office of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary into its liturgy in 1393. The Carmelites of Mainz composed new texts for the feast and adapted music from three other Offices — St. Thomas of Canterbury, the Three Marys, and the Nativity of Mary — to the new texts. Differences in textual length and metrical patterns between these Presentation chants and their models forced changes in phrase divisions and melodic contours as part of this process of adaptation, yielding a product that is both musically distinctive and uniquely Carmelite.Less
The Carmelite Order accepted the Office of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary into its liturgy in 1393. The Carmelites of Mainz composed new texts for the feast and adapted music from three other Offices — St. Thomas of Canterbury, the Three Marys, and the Nativity of Mary — to the new texts. Differences in textual length and metrical patterns between these Presentation chants and their models forced changes in phrase divisions and melodic contours as part of this process of adaptation, yielding a product that is both musically distinctive and uniquely Carmelite.
Stephen J. Shoemaker
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300217216
- eISBN:
- 9780300219531
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300217216.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
For the first time a noted historian of Christianity explores the full story of the emergence and development of the Marian cult in the early Christian centuries. The means by which Mary, mother of ...
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For the first time a noted historian of Christianity explores the full story of the emergence and development of the Marian cult in the early Christian centuries. The means by which Mary, mother of Jesus, came to prominence have long remained strangely overlooked despite, or perhaps because of, her centrality in Christian devotion. Gathering together fresh information from often neglected sources, including early liturgical texts and Dormition and Assumption apocrypha, this book reveals that Marian devotion played a far more vital role in the development of early Christian belief and practice than has been previously recognized, finding evidence that dates back to the latter half of the second century. Through extensive research, the author is able to provide a fascinating background to the hitherto inexplicable ‘explosion’ of Marian devotion that historians and theologians have pondered for decades, offering a wide-ranging study that challenges many conventional beliefs surrounding the subject of Mary, Mother of God.Less
For the first time a noted historian of Christianity explores the full story of the emergence and development of the Marian cult in the early Christian centuries. The means by which Mary, mother of Jesus, came to prominence have long remained strangely overlooked despite, or perhaps because of, her centrality in Christian devotion. Gathering together fresh information from often neglected sources, including early liturgical texts and Dormition and Assumption apocrypha, this book reveals that Marian devotion played a far more vital role in the development of early Christian belief and practice than has been previously recognized, finding evidence that dates back to the latter half of the second century. Through extensive research, the author is able to provide a fascinating background to the hitherto inexplicable ‘explosion’ of Marian devotion that historians and theologians have pondered for decades, offering a wide-ranging study that challenges many conventional beliefs surrounding the subject of Mary, Mother of God.
M. Whitney Kelting
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140118
- eISBN:
- 9780199834365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140117.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The women (and men) draw their daily practice from a set of appropriate actions, all of which are called puja. Improvization is framed by the appropriate sentiment of devotion, and the women use ...
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The women (and men) draw their daily practice from a set of appropriate actions, all of which are called puja. Improvization is framed by the appropriate sentiment of devotion, and the women use teaching puja and discussions of daily puja to explain the relationship between right action and intention. There are specific faults or sins that mark when the worshipper is ’getting it wrong’ and are considered a sign of the wrong religious sentiment. Despite orthodox arguments to the contrary, personal hymn repertoires express a belief in the Jinas’ grace and compassion for the devotees and reflect a personal style within the range of acceptable acts and beliefs.Less
The women (and men) draw their daily practice from a set of appropriate actions, all of which are called puja. Improvization is framed by the appropriate sentiment of devotion, and the women use teaching puja and discussions of daily puja to explain the relationship between right action and intention. There are specific faults or sins that mark when the worshipper is ’getting it wrong’ and are considered a sign of the wrong religious sentiment. Despite orthodox arguments to the contrary, personal hymn repertoires express a belief in the Jinas’ grace and compassion for the devotees and reflect a personal style within the range of acceptable acts and beliefs.
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195136401
- eISBN:
- 9780199835164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136403.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Discusses the wound in Christ’s side as a breast where nourishment and eroticism interact dynamically, including examples from the lives of Catherine of Siena, Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi, Angela of ...
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Discusses the wound in Christ’s side as a breast where nourishment and eroticism interact dynamically, including examples from the lives of Catherine of Siena, Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi, Angela of Foligno, and Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, in addition to Rose of Lima. Flames of passion and wounds of love are then analyzed, including Teresa of Avila’s transverberation and the Mercedes graphics produced by Rose of Lima. The chapter concludes with an analysis of mystical marriage, in Rose’s life and generally, as a symbolic complex in which varied strategies of uniting with Christ–inedia, eucharistic devotion, erotic agony, unitive identification, and heart exchange, among others–are integrated into a comprehensive agenda.Less
Discusses the wound in Christ’s side as a breast where nourishment and eroticism interact dynamically, including examples from the lives of Catherine of Siena, Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi, Angela of Foligno, and Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, in addition to Rose of Lima. Flames of passion and wounds of love are then analyzed, including Teresa of Avila’s transverberation and the Mercedes graphics produced by Rose of Lima. The chapter concludes with an analysis of mystical marriage, in Rose’s life and generally, as a symbolic complex in which varied strategies of uniting with Christ–inedia, eucharistic devotion, erotic agony, unitive identification, and heart exchange, among others–are integrated into a comprehensive agenda.
Beth Kreitzer
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195166545
- eISBN:
- 9780199835188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019516654X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This introductory chapter begins with an explanation of why sermons were selected as source material for this study. It presents evaluations of Martin Luther’s ideas and writings, and discusses the ...
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This introductory chapter begins with an explanation of why sermons were selected as source material for this study. It presents evaluations of Martin Luther’s ideas and writings, and discusses the situation of Marian devotion and theology on the “eve” of the Reformation to develop a context for the presentation of Virgin Mary by Luther and his followers. An overview of the chapters included in the volume is then presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with an explanation of why sermons were selected as source material for this study. It presents evaluations of Martin Luther’s ideas and writings, and discusses the situation of Marian devotion and theology on the “eve” of the Reformation to develop a context for the presentation of Virgin Mary by Luther and his followers. An overview of the chapters included in the volume is then presented.
J. M. Wallace‐Hadrill
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269069
- eISBN:
- 9780191600777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269064.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Discusses the development, nature and role of the most characteristic form of Merovingian literature, the Lives of the Saints. This can be seen in the volumes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, ...
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Discusses the development, nature and role of the most characteristic form of Merovingian literature, the Lives of the Saints. This can be seen in the volumes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, and also in an enormous number of manuscripts that contain collections of them, most of which are from the 12th to 14th centuries, although some are earlier. They are not ‘biographies’ in the usual sense of the word, but are rather an elaborate literary exercise conducted by the Frankish Church to attract and hold popular devotion (they were to be read aloud on saints’ feast days), to define the nature of sanctity, and to keep the cult of holy men within the structure of the Church. The various Lives written by Gregory, Venantius, Jonas and others are discussed, and the changes in the sort of Saint's Life wanted by the Church in the 12th century described, of which the most significant was the inclusion of the Lives of martyred political bishops. Later Merovingian Lives are richer in personal and political detail, although they were still composed as proofs of sanctity as traditionally understood.Less
Discusses the development, nature and role of the most characteristic form of Merovingian literature, the Lives of the Saints. This can be seen in the volumes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, and also in an enormous number of manuscripts that contain collections of them, most of which are from the 12th to 14th centuries, although some are earlier. They are not ‘biographies’ in the usual sense of the word, but are rather an elaborate literary exercise conducted by the Frankish Church to attract and hold popular devotion (they were to be read aloud on saints’ feast days), to define the nature of sanctity, and to keep the cult of holy men within the structure of the Church. The various Lives written by Gregory, Venantius, Jonas and others are discussed, and the changes in the sort of Saint's Life wanted by the Church in the 12th century described, of which the most significant was the inclusion of the Lives of martyred political bishops. Later Merovingian Lives are richer in personal and political detail, although they were still composed as proofs of sanctity as traditionally understood.
John E. Cort
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195132342
- eISBN:
- 9780199834112
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195132343.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The defining ritual activity of the Svetambar Murtipujak Jains of Patan is image‐worship, conducted in temples to images of the Jinas. The chapter gives detailed explanations of both the prescribed ...
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The defining ritual activity of the Svetambar Murtipujak Jains of Patan is image‐worship, conducted in temples to images of the Jinas. The chapter gives detailed explanations of both the prescribed ideals and the actual practice of image‐veneration (caitya‐vandan), the eightfold image‐worship (murti‐puja), and viewing (darsan). To understand the intentions of the worshipers, one must also understand both Jain devotion (bhakti) and Jain theology. The Jains posit that God – the sum total of liberated souls – resides in infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite bliss, and infinite power, but at the same time embodies a total lack of desire that results in his being inactive in the world. Jains therefore understand worship to ”work” through a process of meditative self‐reflection rather than the intervention of a divine being.Less
The defining ritual activity of the Svetambar Murtipujak Jains of Patan is image‐worship, conducted in temples to images of the Jinas. The chapter gives detailed explanations of both the prescribed ideals and the actual practice of image‐veneration (caitya‐vandan), the eightfold image‐worship (murti‐puja), and viewing (darsan). To understand the intentions of the worshipers, one must also understand both Jain devotion (bhakti) and Jain theology. The Jains posit that God – the sum total of liberated souls – resides in infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite bliss, and infinite power, but at the same time embodies a total lack of desire that results in his being inactive in the world. Jains therefore understand worship to ”work” through a process of meditative self‐reflection rather than the intervention of a divine being.
John E. Cort
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195132342
- eISBN:
- 9780199834112
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195132343.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The world‐renouncing monks and nuns – the mendicants of the Jain tradition – are the living examples of the path to liberation. This chapter details their daily practice, which revolves around ...
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The world‐renouncing monks and nuns – the mendicants of the Jain tradition – are the living examples of the path to liberation. This chapter details their daily practice, which revolves around practices designed to reduce the karma that binds them to suffering and rebirth. The mendicants are also teachers of the laity, and so are expected to deliver frequent sermons on religious topics. The mendicants are dependent upon the laity for food, and the gifting of food provides Jain laity the opportunity to increase their meritorious karma (punya) and wear away sinful or demeritorious karma (pap). Jains understand that this process is accentuated if the layperson expresses great devotion (bhakti) to the mendicants, who in return shower their grace upon their lay devotees.Less
The world‐renouncing monks and nuns – the mendicants of the Jain tradition – are the living examples of the path to liberation. This chapter details their daily practice, which revolves around practices designed to reduce the karma that binds them to suffering and rebirth. The mendicants are also teachers of the laity, and so are expected to deliver frequent sermons on religious topics. The mendicants are dependent upon the laity for food, and the gifting of food provides Jain laity the opportunity to increase their meritorious karma (punya) and wear away sinful or demeritorious karma (pap). Jains understand that this process is accentuated if the layperson expresses great devotion (bhakti) to the mendicants, who in return shower their grace upon their lay devotees.
Judith Herrin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153216
- eISBN:
- 9781400845217
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153216.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This chapter discusses the place of icons in worship, their character, and the way they came to symbolize the holy and mediate between earth and heaven. In particular, as icons became a vivid focus ...
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This chapter discusses the place of icons in worship, their character, and the way they came to symbolize the holy and mediate between earth and heaven. In particular, as icons became a vivid focus of devotion, they began to embody human relations with God the Creator and Ruler of the entire Christian world. It is argued that women played a notable part in this developing cult of icons. The chapter concentrates on some features of Late Antique Mediterranean culture, shared by Jews and Gentiles, pagan and Christian alike. These provided a common social experience within which the artistic evolution of the Christian church took place. In particular, the first part of this chapter is devoted to a discussion of funerary art, for this represents one of the most striking ways whereby Christians transmitted pagan rituals and artistic forms to their new faith. The second part examines some of the reasons for the preservation of these forms, once assimilated to a Christian mode, when they came under attack in the East. It asks how much that response informs us about the role of women in the cult of icons.Less
This chapter discusses the place of icons in worship, their character, and the way they came to symbolize the holy and mediate between earth and heaven. In particular, as icons became a vivid focus of devotion, they began to embody human relations with God the Creator and Ruler of the entire Christian world. It is argued that women played a notable part in this developing cult of icons. The chapter concentrates on some features of Late Antique Mediterranean culture, shared by Jews and Gentiles, pagan and Christian alike. These provided a common social experience within which the artistic evolution of the Christian church took place. In particular, the first part of this chapter is devoted to a discussion of funerary art, for this represents one of the most striking ways whereby Christians transmitted pagan rituals and artistic forms to their new faith. The second part examines some of the reasons for the preservation of these forms, once assimilated to a Christian mode, when they came under attack in the East. It asks how much that response informs us about the role of women in the cult of icons.
