Devotion

This article surveys scholarly contributions to the study of Catholic devotional practice in the Americas, tracing how historical, sociological, and ethnographic studies have examined the relationship between devotion, gender, and embodiment. Scholars have explored how the saints have been brought to bear on the conditions of daily life including immigration and migration, suffering, and social change. Women's devotion has been at the center of studies of gender and lived religion, as scholars explore the creative and tensile ways, women's religious practice has exceeded the institutional authority and architectural boundaries of the church. This essay ends with a provocation about how the study of men and masculinities can challenge the portrayal of devotion as an exclusively feminine domain and complicate the binary of (male) clerical authorities/women that pervades studies of religious practice and materiality.

Chap. 13. The end of the donor portrait in the Dutch Republic left a gap in the artistic repertoire of spiritual self-imagination. The absence of portraits in ecclesiastical environments, as part of a commemorative cult, has stimulated the rise of the autonomous biblical portrait historié in secular spaces. Since the rise of the Modern Devotion, being portrayed in a religious scene was a way to testify in person of one’s search for forgiveness, mercy and rapprochement to God. The primacy of Scripture and the “Word-oriented” visual culture of the Reformation, in connection to the Dutch Israel imagery, attested to the popularity of the biblical portrait historié in civic context. Biblical portraiture could be theologically legitimised on the basis of guidelines in commentaries on catechisms, although this does not explain its practical purpose. It has been argued that secularized mentality penetrated devotional art and destroyed it from within. It remains unclear whether or not a family portrait with a biblical subject a for private home actually differs in use from an altarpiece or other devotional works of art containing portraits. To attend to this matter, general questions about functionality and devotional practice of portraits need to be studied first. The debates about the Andachtsbild and the differences between private and public art also complicate an overall interpretation of the portrait historié.

Before the Reformation, Dutch artists were already aware of the symbolic relationship between subject matter and form (or function) of religious paintings. In the autonomous biblical portrait historié – i.e. the secularised type – form, figuration and fashion were often linked to the discussion on the functionality of religious art. Often one finds critial references to pious practises: e.g. the pseudo-donor portrait in Delff’s Jacob and Esau: a criticism on intercession of saints; or the fact that Fabritius’s centurion before Peter does not kneel in veneration of the apostle. Catholic defenses against the reproach of idolatry and reactions from Protestants make clear how portraiture and remembrance were viewed from a religious perspective. According to the Reformed view, there is an essential distinction between paintings in the church and those at the home because of a difference in use. Portraits were allowed at home according to Ursinus’s guidelines, that fitted seamlessly with Calvin’s approval of representations of visible creatures. In the Reformed restrictions of art, one can find further explanation for the success of the biblical portrait historié. Not only does this type of portrait only have a civic use, but it also meets all the requirements that were set for art. For it serves as a remembrance, not only of the portrayed, in the Paulinic sense, but also of the biblical story, while the image as a rule also contains a moralistic message.

The reasons given for portrayal as a specific biblical figure or participant in a biblical scene, mainly explain the choice of subject rather than the motivations for that identification. Reformed critiques of the phenomenon portrait historié have not been handed down, and its assessment can only be interpreted indirectly. In some catechetical texts dramatically performed roles are discussed, which may offer some insight into how this kind of role play in religious art was judged – though views differ widely. Biblical parallels and comparison between persons were often justified in an euhemeric way, because of the conformity with God. Both the perfectionist pursuit of conformity with Christ and the imitation of exemplary figures in calvinist sanctification can be seen as adaptations of the medieval imitatio Christi to the Reformed theology of predestination. By following in the footsteps of Old Testament forerunners, and by being portrayed as patriarchs and the people elect, the Dutch placed themselves, as it were, in the succession from the Old to the New Covenant. In the biblical portrait historié, the Christian actually portrays himself as a Christian; in Old Testament scenes without risk of a personal glorification, so as to disprove allegations of vainglory and idolatry. The analogy in Old Testament portraits histories was seldom based on individual parallels. The choice of subject seems to have been as important as the identification with a biblical figure. The autonomous biblical portrait historié is a painterly representation of the personal empathy of the people portrayed with the Dutch Israel. Inherent to the doctrine of predestination is that biblical figures, as representatives of the contemporary persons, are not actually the acting figures of the story, but God, who works in the form of the Holy Spirit, who reveals himself in Grace who remains invisible to the believer and the spectator.

13. Religieuze portretkunst in context 579
13.1. Het bijbelse portrait historié als gedachtenis 579
13.2. Nog één maal de bijbelse rol 598
13.3. Euhemerisme en gelijkvormigheid aan Christus in de zeventiende eeuw 601
13.4. Nawoord 605

Chapitre 8 de la thèse de doctorat de Bruno Restif, soutenue en décembre 2004 à l'Université Rennes 2 Haute-Bretagne sous la direction d'Alain Croix : La Paroisse, cadre d'application de la Réforme catholique en Haute-Bretagne (diocèses de Rennes, Dol et Saint-Malo). Histoire d'un processus de transformation religieuse et culturelle (XVIe et XVIIe siècles). Titre du chapitre 8 : Les dévotions : évolutions et permanences.

The folio is a depiction of the arma Christi or Weapons of Christ – instruments used during Christ’s Passion. The instruments of the Passion first appear in visual imagery in the ninth century in the Utrecht Psalter (figure 2).  In figure 2 they can be seen in the background next to the cross hanging from it or leaning against it, thus implying their connection with the Crucifixion.  Here and in slightly later works they are used as signs of “Christ’s triumph over death, of his authority. They were, as the name implies, coats of arms, signs of nobility and power; and as arma, they were also defensive (shields against the devil and his works) or offensive (weapons of attack against the enemies of Christ).”  However, in the later middle ages the meaning of the weapons changed they became “quasi-heraldic badges of pain and shame”  signs of torture that served as triggers to remind Christians of what God did for them.  Moreover the number of instruments and type of instruments were not dependant on the gospel tradition as seems to be the case in the Utrecht psalter but on the medieval elaborations on the narrative such as the arma Christi poem.

"Representations", N. 129, Winter 2015.

The essay analyzes the project of maintaining the body of V. I. Lenin in the Mausoleum in Moscow for the past ninety years, focusing on the unique biological science that developed around this project, and the unexpected political role this body has performed.

This essay is an analytical study of Narayan Waman Tilak's life and its impact on Hindu-Christian interactions. Tilak was an Indian Christian from a Brahmin background who advocated Christ-Bhakti (a profound Indianised experience of Christ) as a more sensible approach to lead Indians into a relationship with Christ. The paper describes the various phases of Tilak's life and how they influenced his theology culminating in the development of the idea of Christ-bhakti and Darbar (a hybrid of Indian and Western forms of Christianity).

Artigo originalmente publicado em Religião & Sociedade,  v. 24, n.1, p. 46-64, 2004.

O artigo analisa os pedidos feitos a Santo Antônio de Pádua (ou de Lisboa) em um santuário católico da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A partir de material coletado em pesquisa de campo, a análise focaliza as características gerais do ato de pedir e os padrões que aparecem no pedidos escritos. Sobre esse último ponto, foi possível perceber que "saber pedir a coisa certa ao santo certo" aparecia no santuário em dois sentidos: no primeiro, tratava-se de deter conhecimentos suficientes para realizar um pedido eficaz, isto é, que consiguisse obter resultados. No segundo sentido, tratava-se de realizar um pedido apropriado, que se mantivesse dentro dos limites adequados a um bom cristão e a um bom devoto, e que seguisse uma "etiqueta do pedido" em operação no local.


Abstract:
To know how to ask for:  the etiquette of the request to the saints.

The article analyses the requests posed to Saint Anthony of Padue (or Lisbon), through data collected during fieldwork at a catholic sanctuary in Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil. The analyse focus first on general characteristics of the act of  asking for the saints, then in the existence of some patterns on the written requests. From this last point, it was possible to see that the idea of "to ask the right saint for the right thing" has two local senses. The first one was to do a request with efficacy, which means to be able to manipulate knowledge about the saint's life and specialities, and to use some expressions in the request, to obtain results. But "to do the right request" has also another sense. It means also to do a request using some parameters of being a good catholic, to respect some limits in the request, to follow an "etiquette of the request" that operates locally.

Da oltre mezzo secolo la letteratura scientifica sui quadroni di san Carlo Borromeo, apparato effimero - silloge di ‘storie’ e miracoli carolini - realizzato per il Duomo di Milano, fa costante riferimento alle pionieristiche e imprescindibili indagini di Marco Rosci (1965). Mentre, tuttavia, sulla prima serie di teleri realizzati in funzione della canonizzazione (1602-1604), i dubbi che ancor’oggi permangono sono circoscritti, le rade acquisizioni guadagnate sulla successiva integrazione della galleria agiografica in cattedrale, invece, non hanno contribuito a svelare gli enigmi lasciati impregiudicati anche dall’indimenticato Rosci.
Ora, la ricomposizione di un nucleo di carte e registri, oggi divisi tra gli archivi della Veneranda Fabbrica e del Capitolo del Duomo di Milano, non solo ha consentito di tratteggiare la nascita, l’evoluzione e l’assetto di un’istituzione poco nota come la Congregazione dello Scurolo di S. Carlo, bensì di illuminare retroscena e genesi degli otto più recenti quadroni.
In virtù della documentazione ricuperata dall’oblio, infatti, sono state precisate cronologia (ca. 1678-84; 1690-1694), attribuzioni (Cesare Fiori, Filippo Abbiati, Federico Panza, Giorgio Bonola, Andrea Lanzani, Carlo Preda, Giacomo Parravicini e Federico Maccagno), nonché committenza dei teleri confezionati nella seconda metà del ’600, ricondotti nel contempo ad un consapevole progetto unitario che, assecondato finanziariamente dall’entourage milanese del governo spagnolo, seppe coinvolgere più compagini del tessuto sociale urbano: singoli devoti, corporazioni di mestiere, rappresentanti del potere politico, istituzioni ecclesiastiche.

La ricostruzione delle vicende collegate agli imponenti dipinti ‘biografici’ «a sguazo» ha altresì imposto un serrato confronto anche con i più piccoli teleri consacrati ai miracoli di san Carlo, di cui sono pendant: un’altra crux desperationis storiografica, questa, solo in minima parte esplorata. E’ stato perciò necessario arretrare fino al 1610, alla serie primigenia: solo dopo averla ridefinita nel dettaglio, e non senza sorprese, si è potuto meglio comprendere il più tardo manipolo, legato tra l’altro a doppio filo con i coevi quadroni dedicati alla vita. Se i dipinti realizzati per la canonizzazione si rivelano una fedele riproduzione “fotografica” dei miracoli ufficiali (o quasi), così come son descritti negli atti processuali e nelle agiografie, proponendosi, nella loro icasticità, quale paradigma parenetico di ‘regolata devozione’, i teleri successivi sfuggono a questa logica e possono essere interpretati come veri e propri ex voto di lusso. Prova ne è il cosiddetto “miracolo di Marco Spagnolo” (con questo titolo lo tramandò ai posteri il Rosci) eseguito da Giorgio Bonola: una rappresentazione che con la guarigione a suo tempo narrata dal Giussani (1610) ben poco ha a che fare; la convergenza di parallelismi fisiognomici e biografici, asseverata dalle fonti documentarie, induce, invece, a ipotizzare che l’effigiato/miracolato sia il medesimo pittore cusiano.

La commissione dell’ultimo segmento dei teleri carolini, pertanto, forse scaturita da una banale esigenza pratica (adornare le spoglie navate del Duomo, da poco ultimate), fu orchestrata in modo da far convergere mai sopite, anzi riemergenti istanze devozionali, strategie politiche, economiche ed autopromozionali, offrendoci così un vivace spaccato non solo sul culto nei confronti del Borromeo, ma anche sulla plurilivellare intersezione tra vita religiosa, politico-economica, culturale e artistica nella Milano di fine ’600.

In appendice, tra edizioni documentarie e tavole sinottiche, si segnalano le «Idee date a’ dipintori per rappresentare le azioni eroiche di s. Carlo, forse per celebrare la festa della di Lui canonizazione», in realtà un fascicoletto manoscritto da ricondurre – almeno nell’ideazione – a Federico Borromeo, dove prende forma il dettagliatissimo progetto iconografico, mai definitivamente attuato, che prevedeva una serie di affreschi narranti le ‘storie’ di san Carlo nell’Almo Collegio Borromeo di Pavia.

Chiude il volume una ‘Postilla’ che prospetta ulteriori percorsi di ricerca in margine ai disegni conservati nella Biblioteca Ambrosiana e all’iconografia seriale di san Carlo tra ’600 e ’700, iconografia spesso ‘parlante’ e frutto di tangenza tra pittura e incisioni; ma che, soprattutto, offre un supplemento d’indagine sul notaio Giovanni Tommaso Buzzi, personaggio decisivo nel corroborare l’esistenza di una intensa affinità tra la Congregazione dello Scurolo e il milieu artistico-culturale ruotante attorno all’Ambrosiana.

Recensioni: G. Archetti, «Rivista di storia della Chiesa in Italia», 65 (2011); F. Baini, «Arte cristiana», 861 (2010); E. Bianchi, «Aevum», 85 (2011), pp. 1000-1001; P.M. Jones, «Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa», 47 (2011); G. Picasso, «Osservatore Romano», 12 agosto 2010; G. Virgilio, «La Provincia di Lecco», 13 settembre 2010; D. Zardin, «Lineatempo - Rivista online di ricerca storica letteratura e arte»,  15 (2010)

It is not easy to understand the nature of the guru and understanding the nature of the guru can be bewildering. There is often bewilderment about the guru. One source of the bewilderment is that people think that the guru is an individual person and for most people the understanding that the guru is not a person has been foreclosed. The guru is not a person. And when people see and believe the guru is a person, such a belief will create illusions about the person whom they think is the guru, and their own relationship with the person whom they see as the guru will fall into various forms of the psychology of transference. Moreover, the true and pervasive nature of the guru will be concealed and the power of the guru limited and anthropomorphized, and politicized. To use Heideggerian language the ontic dimension will become the focus and the ontological dimension becomes foreclosed. In fact, the guru is not an entity, the guru is not a thing, and the guru is not even a being. The guru is the field of Being. The guru is the field of Being's manifestation of understanding, manifestation of protection and manifestation of self-revelation. The guru is the radiance of primordial awareness. The contemporary master of Kashmir Shavism, Swami Muktananda would teach, using the language of theology, " the guru is the grace bestowing power of God. " He would also say " The guru is your own innermost awareness and you must get beyond your mind to experience the guru as your own awareness. " Vehicle-ness It is also equally true that a person can be vehicle of the guru. Even you and I can be a vehicle for the guru. The light of the guru can manifest and shine forth through you and me, and through everyone. The power of the guru does not manifest only through institutional religious teachers as some would like you to think, but most often this manifestation is through

"Saint Pantaleon of "Oporto": a paradigm on invention of relics in the late Middle
Ages.
Nuno Resende
Abstract, objective and empirical support: The purpose of our work is to evaluate the importance of the presence, in the city of Oporto (Portugal), the body or relics of Saint Pantaleon, a martyr of the East which became patron of the city in the sixteenth century. The arrival of the city as sacred spoils (the entire body was a key issue in assessing the importance of relics) has enabled the city, growing as an commercial harbour, to become a center of pilgrimage, alongside with Lisbon and Braga, active poles with concentration of relics. Also Pantaleon became a powerful symbol of urban identity disputed by the Senate and the Chapter with various purposes. Accordingly we have the following aims: a) understanding of the invention of the relics of St. Pantalone in the problem of furta sacra and commerce of sacred relics in the Iberian and European space b) deconstruct the myth of the arrival of the body, which copies other models known in domestic and foreign space, c) understand the uses of political and religious relics in the context of urban identity formation and consequent tensions arising from competition for the possession of the body or by expressions of the sacred source of power that emanate from it. Although there is little documentation concerning the alleged transfer of the rellics (from Constantinopla to Miragaia a district outside the wall city, in 1453 and from here to the cathedral in 1499) the one that is known is apocryphal. So we use literary sources to initially deconstruct the inventio of the relics and then, in light of the Senate and Chapter's documentation we'll try to understand and explain the dialogue between both institutions
on the disputed holy body. Although ignored by the historiography of relics as the theme engine of economic development should be assessed, especially in urban contexts, where it is known that their presence sanction spaces which create centralities and manifestations of social and spiritual dynamics.
Keywords: Relics, sacredness, urban identity, spirituality"

Frauhammer Krisztina volt az első hazai néprajzkutató, aki könyvet írt az imádságnak egy fé-lig-meddig rejtett, ám annál elterjedtebb fajtájáról, a kegyhelyeken, templomi vendégköny-vekben hagyott írásokról, melyekben az emberek rövid fohászaikat, kéréseiket fogalmazzák meg az égiek felé (Levelek Máriához. A máriakálnoki kegyhely vendégkönyve. Szeged, 1999). Évek munkájával a szerző összehasonlító elemzéssel bővítette ki kutatásait: újabb könyvében öt kegyhely szövegeit mutatja be és elemzi. A bevezetés tágas elméleti keretben segít elhe-lyezni a sok ezernyi kikutatott szöveget a műfaji keretekben és a szakrális kommunikáció rend-szerében. A második fejezet a tartalmi és műfaji elemzés után a számokba sűríthető jellemző-ket veszi sorra, a harmadik pedig minderre alapozva körültekintő értelmezéssel hozza közelebb az olvasókhoz a mai vallásosság szerteágazó gyakorlatának olyan fontos kérdéseit, mint az írá-sok profán és a rituális funkciói, terápiás és a közösségteremtő lehetőségei. Milyen hit, milyen vallásosság van e jelenségkör mögött, hogyan keresik az emberek a kapcsolatot a szenttel, s eközben milyen kép rajzolódik ki vágyaikról, érzéseikről a szigetközi Máriakálnokon, a szlová-kiai Egyházasbást-Vecseklőn, a palócföldi Mátraverebély-Szentkúton, a baranyai Máriagyű-dön és a nyírségi Máriapócson? A könyvet nemcsak azoknak ajánljuk, akik kíváncsiak a nép-rajz legjobb hagyományainak mai fejleményeire, hanem mindazon szakembereknek és érdek-lődőknek, akiket foglalkoztat a vallás gyakorlásának új meg új formákat kialakító folyamata.
Mohay Tamás

Themes : Choir, architecture and liturgy in the French cathedrals ; History of the Rheims Cathedral ; Gallicanism and liturgy in 18th Century France ; Images and meditation in the 17th century ; Religious painting in Brittany during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Bruno Restif, « Art et liturgie à l'époque moderne. Bulletin critique » (Book reviews), Revue d’Histoire de l’Église de France : t. 97, 2011, n° 239, p. 346-361.

Available in open access: https://www.storiapatriagenova.it/BD_vs_contenitore.aspx?Id_Scheda_Bibliografica_Padre=6108&Id_Progetto=0

This article analyses two wills drawn up by Manuele Zaccaria, scion of a powerful family of merchants, and brother of Benedetto, in the late thirteenth century. Manuele dictated his first will in April 1271, a few days after promising his daughter in marriage to the son of Oberto Spinola, the newly-elected capitano del popolo. This first document reflects Manuele’s need to protect his wealth in view of this marriage alliance. The second will, drawn up more than twenty years later, is telling of Manuele’s religious inclinations and his concern for saving his soul.

Chapitre 5 de la thèse de doctorat de Bruno Restif, soutenue en décembre 2004 à l'Université Rennes 2 Haute-Bretagne sous la direction d'Alain Croix : La Paroisse, cadre d'application de la Réforme catholique en Haute-Bretagne (diocèses de Rennes, Dol et Saint-Malo). Histoire d'un processus de transformation religieuse et culturelle (XVIe et XVIIe siècles). Titre du chapitre 5 : Christianiser la société.

Este trabalho reconstitui e interpreta o relacionamento entre o antropólogo Luiz de Castro Faria e o arqueólogo Pe. João Alfredo Rohr, S.J., conforme este é testemunhado pela documentação epistolar, administrativa e fotográfica constante no Acervo Castro Faria, custodiado pelo Arquivo de História da Ciência do Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins (Rio de Janeiro). Tal relação se constituiu em torno das questões interligadas do estudo e da conservação dos sítios arqueológicos pré-colombianos conhecidos como sambaquis, e, de forma mais específica, daqueles localizados no litoral do Estado de Santa Catarina. A produção e uso imediato da documentação referida estendeu-se de 1960 a 1971, e, para fazê-la mais rentável como fonte para a história da ciência, incluiu-se junto de sua análise a consideração de outros documentos que dizem respeito a como Castro Faria avaliava a obra de Pe. Rohr, e de como ambos se situavam na estrutura objetiva do campo científico da arqueologia brasileira e em relação aos debates aí surgidos. Para dar conta desta análise de forma satisfatória, reconstituindo a prática científica e a militância em favor da preservação dos sambaquis nas quais se empenharam estes agentes, buscou-se compor uma imagem de suas trajetórias culturais e vínculos sociais diversos, ponderando a respeito de quais afinidades e divergências estes lhe propunham, e de como eles concorreram para dar uma feição especifica à sua interação. § This work reconstructs and interprets the relationship between the anthropologist Luiz de Castro Faria and archaeologist Fr. João Alfredo Rohr, S. J., as testified by the documentation epistolary, administrative and photographic in the Castro Faria Collection, under custody of the Archives of the History of Science from the Astronomy and Sciences Museum (Rio de Janeiro). Such relationship was constituted around the interconnected issues of the study and preservation of pre-Columbian archaeological sites known as middens (sambaquis), and, more specifically, those located on the coast of the State of Santa Catarina. The production and use of the referred documentation were from 1960 to 1971, and to make it more effective as a source for the History of Science, it included their analysis, considering other documents that concern how Castro Faria evaluated the work of Fr Rohr, and how both had a position in the objective structure of the scientific field of Brazilian archeology and about the debates arisen then. To account this analysis in a satisfactory way, reconstituting the scientific practice and the militancy in favor of the preservation of the middens, in which these agents were engaged, we attempted to compose a picture of their cultural backgrounds and different social ties, considering which affinities and divergences they proposed, and how they combined to give a specific feature of their interaction.

La traduction française du dernier livre de Patti Smith, Devotion, est parue en octobre 2018 chez Gallimard.
Estimant que l'essentiel n'avait pas été dit, Pascale Mottura expose ici un point de vue différent des - généralement bonnes- critiques parues.
Dévotion est un acte de dévouement au Verbe. C’est un livre simple et saisissant qui mérite qu’on y vienne avec attention, et qu’on y revienne, parce qu’il est cryptique.

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya)

Now, at the beginning of the twentyfirst century, Darwin's theory of evolution is rapidly losing its scientific crediHbility. This theory, which materialists embraced at the turn of the 20th century and imposed on the masses as scientific fact, has now been clearly recognized as invalid.

The most influential factors behind this were developments taking place in microbiology, paleontology and biochemistry, all sciences that have a bearing on evolutionary theory. Discoveries in these scientific fields revealed that life could not have evolved progressively, by chance and through trial and error, as Darwin's theory proposed. (For details see the chapter "The Evolution Misconception")

The theory of evolution could never provide scientific evidence for its claims about the origins of life. Also, it left unanswered questions about the origins of living creatures' countless extraordinary features. One of the many considerations that led the theory of evolution into an impasse is the devotion shown by living beings—the subject of this book.

Animals in nature often display acts of devotion and altruism, form relationships based on solidarity and cooperation; and exhibit tender behavior toward one another. These all represent important, irresolvable issues for the theory of evolution.

Since the nineteenth century, Bernhard Plockhorst's Jesus as the Good Shepherd has enjoyed great popularity and is reproduced in a wide variety of media, appearing in American homes, schools, and churches and even Hollywood sets. Jesus as a Good Shepherd is traced to the early Christian period through the fourth century when he disappears from the iconographic lexicon. He regains popularity during the Protestant Reformation as a didactic tool. Resurging once again in the nineteenth and twentieth century, this Good Shepherd is markedly different from his historical iterations. Tracking visual comparanda and textual sources, the Plockhorst Good Shepherd emerges as a figure that engenders strong emotions of love, protection, and community only possible in a post-agricultural society.

This paper discusses the experiences and challenges of the Legion of Mary (LOM) in the Philippines using descriptive qualitative research in the form of oral interview and text survey methods among the selected Legionaries. LOM is a Catholic lay apostolic association which promotes the devotion to Mother Mary and supports the Church. The Legion was previously documented as one of the biggest lay apostolic organization in the Philippines. It helps the Church in many of its apostolic works such as evangelization, catechism, and works of mercy for the spiritually and materially poor. However, propagation of the church's work is weakened due to the decreasing number of members. There are proposals to strengthen the membership and pastoral works of the Legion of Mary. Hence, this research paper hopes to determine the experiences of the available or existing Legionaries residing in the different parts of the Philippines. The data showed positive experiences among the Legionaries while the challenges lie on the recruitment of members as well as on the demands of the apostolate. Due to these findings, it is highly recommended to have better pastoral care and devotion promotion involving the greater number of youth in the Churc

in La memoria di Ambrogio di Milano. Usi politici di una autorità patristica in Italia (secc. V-XVIII), a cura di Patrick BOUCHERON – Stéphane GIOANNI, Roma-Paris 2015 (Collection de l’École Française de Rome, 503; Publications de la Sorbonne, Histoire ancienne et médiévale, 133; Série du LAMOP, 2), pp. 155-207.

Da: Federico Zuliani, recensione a PATRICK BUCHERON, STÉPHANE GIOANNI (a cura di), La memoria di Ambrogio di Milano. Usi politici di una autorità patristica in Italia (secc. V-XVIII), Roma, École française de Rome, 2015, «Società e storia», 157 (2017), pp. 610-612 [pp. 610-611].
“In un dotto articolo, nel solco degli studi sul voluto parallelismo tra san Carlo e sant’Ambrogio, Annalisa Albuzzi (La barba di Ambrogio. Iconografia, erudizione agiografica e propaganda nella Milano dei due Borromeo, pp. 155-205) si concentra sulla presenza o meno della barba nei ritratti di Ambrogio realizzati nell’arco di tempo che va dall’episcopato di Carlo Borromeo a quello del cugino Federico. Il saggio prende le mosse dalla celebre proibizione di Carlo contro la barba dei chierici e dalla forte opposizione che essa suscitò, a diversi livelli (pp. 164-165; cfr. pp. 165-167 per reazioni contrarie, a partire da ragioni erudite, provenienti anche da circoli colti), e dalla conseguente battaglia borromaica per far rappresentare Ambrogio glabro (p. 167). L’autrice, in una ampia, ricca e precisa analisi delle vicende legate alla produzione di diversi pezzi artistici raffiguranti il santo (pp. 177-195) dimostra la correttezza della sua ipotesi di lavoro di partenza, e cioè che «la barba di Ambrogio nel contesto iconografico può costituire una cartina di tornasole (…) utile a cogliere e ad interpretare (…) un ampio spettro di complesse dinamiche legate alla normativa e al disciplinamento, ai rapporti tra potere spirituale e temporale, alla costruzione di modelli di santità» (pp. 168-169)".

First, the author presents theoretical and methodological presuppositions: it is necessary, especially for the iconography of the post-Tridentin period, to explain sample details and encoded representations. Thus, after having studied the cultural, pastoral and ecclesiological context, the author focuses on a detail: the presence or the absence of the beard in Ambrose’s portraits realised from the episcopate of Carlo Borromeo till that of his cousin Federico. This detail is very interesting to interpret the standards, the discipline and the relations between spiritual and temporal power, as well as the construction of models of holiness.

The paper analyses the role of pilgrimage sites in Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary in the representation of Emperor Leopold I. This subject illustrates the strong relations between the kingdoms and regions once constituting the Habsburg Empire, consequently the interdependence of historical and art historical research in and about the different countries in Central Europe.

Resumo: Conhecida pela tradição ocidental e pela Igreja como padroeira da música, Santa Cecília é, na verdade, apenas uma mártir cristã. O artigo parte de três representações paulistas de Santa Cecília martirizada executadas pelos artistas Benedito Calixto de Jesus, Marino del Favero e Cândido Portinari, a fim de analisar e problematizar a circulação iconográfica do corpo jacente da santa, no contexto republicano em São Paulo no início do século XX. Propõe-se, então, sua iconografia martirial como discurso hagiográfico, histórico, teológico e artístico. Palavras-chave: Santa Cecília. Iconografia martirial. Circulação hagiográfica.
Abstract: Known by both Western tradition and Church as music patron, Saint Cecilia is, actually, only a Christian Martyr. The article starts from three Paulista representations of martyrized Saint Cecilia that are executed by artists Benedito Calixto de Jesus, Marino del Favero and Candido Portinari, in order to analyze and problematize the iconographic circulation of the saint lying body in the Republican context in the early twentieth century Sao Paulo. One proposes, therefore, her martirial iconography as hagiographic, historic, theological and artistic discourse.
Keywords: Saint Cecilia. Martirial Iconography. Hagiographic circulation.

This contribution explores a peculiar kind of annotation in Arabic multiple-text manuscripts. These manuscripts were often compiled as a personal ‘one-volume library’, containing copies and excerpts of a unique selection of texts. Further, they were often used for less guided writing activities. The owners left notes, lists and sometimes even sketches in the margins or on blank pages between the texts. Among these, lists of life dates of relatives are a valuable source for studies on domestic devotion. On the one hand, they give glimpses on the composition of households. How many people lived together and who were they? These lists inform us about names regardless of gender. On the other hand, the penning of these list is in itself a trace of a practice intricately tied to the familial and domestic spheres. These lists are usually the only place, in which the memory of those people is preserved.

La première partie de ce texte explore les transformations subjectives
déchaînées par le processus de formation des réductions, plus concrètement, la manière dont le modèle de la personne indigène s’est progressivement déplacé vers le culte des images, refusé par les « sorciers » dans un premier temps. La deuxième partie présente un panorama du fonctionnement des « congrégations » missionnaires, en mettant l’accent sur le rôle des acteurs dans la promotion de dévotions et du maintien des bonnes moeurs chrétiennes. La troisième partie se concentre sur l’analyse de la production d’une mémoire missionnaire associée au travail des congrégations missionnaires. La dernière partie analyse les conséquences de l’exercice autonome de certaines fonctions par les indigènes et sa persistance dans la période qui a suivi l’expulsion des jésuites.

This essay explores the pedagogy of Dza Patrul Rinpoche (1808–1887), a well-respected Buddhist teacher from Eastern Tibet, by considering examples where Patrul frames his teachings as oratorical performances. Patrul operates under the guiding pedagogical principle that self-promoting performance is good teaching. The term " performance " describes the competitive exchanges that appear in certain of Patrul's writings, where the quality of the sermons in question is at issue. Patrul habitually directs focus to his teachings' delivery, including instances where his lessons emerge out of conversations between invented characters. Patrul puts the oratorical capacity of his protagonists under a microscope and accentuates the artistry of their teachings. In so doing, he draws attention back to his own mastery, prolixity, cunning, and wordplay. His style allows him to communicate content while demonstrating competence and creativity. By telegraphing these qualities, he interests students in aspiring to similar expertise and provides them with opportunities to generate devotion towards him. According to Patrul, devotion is a crucial mechanism for learning, as it transforms and empowers each step of students' progress along the path to awakening.