In this paper, I will be examining the major arguments that Miri Rubin presents in her book Emotion and Devotion: The Meaning of Mary in Medieval Religious Cultures. Rubin’s book is divided into three chapters or areas of focus which are: The Global “Middle Ages;” Mary, and Others; and lastly Emotions and Selves. In each of these chapters, Rubin explores a particular topic that she thinks is important to the understanding of the challenges that exist in studying the religious culture of the Middle ages—especially in their relation to the figure of Mary. I will begin this paper by drawing out the main argument that is offered in each chapter along with the supporting evidence that Rubin provides. Then, I will briefly evaluate the quality of become complex and variegated” because there existed a “global” aspect in Europe. Rubin thinks that it is important to realize that Europe was not regionally isolated during that period. “Medieval Europeans were travelers” and when they returned home they shared their “tales, experience and expertise.” This vast travel was possible because there was a “modicum of safety... on the road and in public spaces.” It is from within this milieu that missionaries were able to travel and so “the figure of Mary accompanied [them and their] initiatives of reform and renewal.” Because of these insights, Rubin thinks that “historians of medieval Europe may [need] to develop a practice that is
Jews and Muslims) that they perceived as “mock[ing] or threaten[ing] them” and their “pattern of life.” Rubin identifies “three modes by which the making of [an] identity operates” and these are: agonistic, specular, and traumatic. “The agonistic [identity] involves the emergence of identity through struggle, antagonism with a clearly identified and constructed persona.” “The specular [identity] involves a relationship of mirroring... and is characterized by the use of binary language [(i.e. an “us” and “them” kind of dichotomy)... in a polemical situation.” The traumatic identity is “prompted by [the] return to a single event, place or person, associated with loss, pain or separation.” All of these modes of identity are significant because they help pre-modern historians understand the “emergence of collective orientations in medieval Europe... [which are] akin to [an] identity.” The collective Christian identity of the “later medieval centuries” was emotionally influenced by the figure of Mary depicted as either “the young mother with her baby son, and the grieving mother [who] witness[es]... her grown son’s suffering and death.” These two images,
For a long while, Mary oscillated between good and bad days. One day in May 1771, Mary wrote "I mourn that I had no more communication with God " On a day in September she cried out, "H...
The pain she causes herself is Mariette being the vessel of God’s grace. Mariette’s intention to suffer displays a severe ambition and pride that she has a calling for a higher purpose. This purpose is also explored through Mariette’s experience with the stigmata. Mariette suddenly appears with the wounds of Jesus Christ, and Hansen creates a disturbance of power between female and male relationships to Christ. Mariette has been chosen above the male figures of the Church, and she shares in the appearance and bleeding of Christ wounds. Hansen connects female reproduction to Christ suffering. This ideology fits with Mariette because she has the capacity to perform the transfiguration of Christ, bringing the Grace of God to the World. This feminization of Christ allows Mariette to have a deeper connection with Him and reinforces the idea she has been chosen. Mariette’s intimacy in Christ’s pain is her desire to be more than just a sister, and even more than a Saint. Mariette associates His wounds with her own wounds, thus taking His ability to redeem as her having this capability too. Hansen uses Mariette’s relationship with Christ to draw on the theological formulation of Christ’s wounds as female reproduction. This idea challenges the notion of power within the priory and Roman
Emily Omakpokpose McCrary AP Lang – 4 3 December 2017 Create Your Own What influences a person’s identity? Does one get an identity when they are able to differentiate right from wrong, or are they born with it? There is not one thing that gives a person their identity, there are however, many different factors that contribute to one’s identity. From Contemplation in a World of Action written by Thomas Merton, Merton advocates identity by stating that “A person does not simply “receive” his or her identity. Identity is much more than the name or features one is born with.
At the start of Elizabeth’s reign she began by making selections for her council. In her predecessor’s, Queen Mary’s, council was all staunch Catholics because Mary wanted all o...
Voaden, Rosalynn. God's Words, Women's Voices: The Discernment of Spirits in the Writing of Late-Medieval Women Visionaries. York, UK: York Medieval Press, 1999.
The humanity of the world, and especially the humanity of Jesus Christ and his Passion and death, was the entire focus of the development of and the point of devotion in Christocentric and affective spirituality. Imagining scenes from Jesus' life on Earth and his human feelings in order to move oneself to compassion was a large part of the affective spirituality. Women of the medieval era used their femaleness as a sign of closeness to Christ, and that for Christ as "divinity is to humanity, [for women, it was] as male is to female" and the Incarnation of Christ was the "ultimate identification" (12). Women with the mentality of affective spirituality expresse\ confidence in the Incarnation in their devotion to the Eucharist, and revered "Christ's physicality, his corporality, his being-in-the-bodyness; Christ's humanity" as above all, that his humanity was his "body and blood"
Marie’s primary mode of expression is through her gift of tears, what the patriarchy would view as a typical female emotional reaction. The profuse crying began while “considering [Christ’s] torment upon the Cross, she found such grace of compunction and wept so abundantly” (Petroff 179). Seeing that Marie is a patriarchal woman, her words and opinions would be disregarded by any person, man, who could validate her mystical abilities. Therefore, drawing attention to herself and her connection to Christ through her tears is her most effective alternative. In his article “The Gift of Tears: Weeping in the Religious Imagination of Western Medieval Christianity” Jessie Gutgsell recognizes that “tears are from the heart, and thus are to be trusted as effective means of communication with the divine” (248). Following this emotional development, a priest within her church exercised his patriarchal male abilities and “exhorted her with honey-tongued rebukes to pray in silence and to restrain her tears” (179). At first, Marie takes on the subordinate female role and listens to this priest. However, she then reverses traditional gender roles, and exercises her first miracle by imploring Christ to impose the gift of tears to said priest. He was “sobbing frequently and with disordered and broken speech, he barely avoided total collapse” (179). Clearly, Marie thought that this priest needed
Religion in the Middle Ages takes on a character all of its own as it is lived out differently in the lives of medieval men and women spanning from ordinary laity to vehement devotees. Though it is difficult to identify what the average faith consists of in the Middle Ages, the life told of a radical devotee in The Book of Margery Kempe provides insight to the highly intense version of medieval paths of approaching Christ. Another medieval religious text, The Cloud of Unknowing, provides a record of approaching the same Christ. I will explore the consistencies and inconsistencies of both ways to approach Christ and religious fulfillment during the Middle Ages combined with the motivations to do so on the basis of both texts.
Vives, Juan Luis, and Charles Fantazzi. The education of a Christian woman a sixteenth-century manual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Print.
The Victorian England witnessed many developments ranging from the social to the literary fields. Literature being the very reflection of society since ages continued in the nineteenth century England also as the vehicle of expression. While the scientific advancement was the trend, there were many writers who sought a subjective involvement with life owing to the growth of uncertainty and doubts and took refuge from the religious domains. Poets like Matthew Arnold saw religion as the perfect hope for sustenance and apart from him, there were many other writers who made their say whether in the form of poetry or prose and contributed to the world literary domain. An effective woman voice of the period was Christian Georgina Rossetti. Rossetti was gifted with a great lyrical quality and belonging to the lineage of Italian art, she had an expertise with regard to the imagery and symbols. In addition to this, an important aspect that her art of poetry possessed was a devotional spirit. Rossetti was a woman of faith and her relationship with God was out of this world. The following paper will attempt at bringing into limelight the devotional fervour of her poetry and the way religion acted as a solace to her granting her and her work an extraordinary capacity to sustain through ages.
Emma wanted happiness and an end to suffering just like other Christians, and she knew that the solution lie in Love. In the convent, she was inspired by stories from the old maid who slipped her romance novels. In the holy atmosphere of the convent, these stories of “love, lovers, swee...
In literature, (or life) religion plays a large role in a character's identity. However, sometimes the writer's own religion and personal experiences shapes the character's identity more than his/her imagination does. A person's religion can play a big role in one's identity. Throughout his works, Philip Roth explores the theme of identity doubles. Roth's portrayal of identity formation in his characters is directly inspired by his own identity; his life.
Quietism was spread by Miguel De Molino words and teachings in the seventeenth century Spain. The audience of this book is those who are looking for a connection with God and to understand what it means to have a releationship with God. This book allows historians to better understand the controversies within Catholicism during the seventeenth century. Historians need to be wary of the biases attracted to this book because there is many different viewpoints coming from the 22st century and on how female were viewed in the Middle
Wooding, Lucy. "Christian Humanism: from Renaissance to Reformation." N.p., Sept. 2009. MasterFile Premier. Web. 22 May 2014.
In this assignment, I will discuss Mary’s concept, how they are important in reaching out to multi ethnic globalized societies mostly relating with the Christian message.