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Votive offerings are one of the most common devotional practices in Hindu temples of Kerala and are today resorted to by an ever-growing number of worshippers seeking divine help in times of need. As this article will show, these offerings are deeply embedded in the logics of the hyper-personalized and unmediated devotion that characterizes popular Hinduism in this part of India. They are also markers of the recent opening of religion to individual contribution and intervention, as well as active tools for the intimate worshipper–deity relationship. Ritual arts conducted as votive offerings allow us to dive even deeper into these considerations and open up new alleys of analysis, for they connect public and private worlds in specific ways and introduce unique aesthetic and transactional dimensions. This article draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the south Indian state of Kerala, with particular focus on the ritual performing art muṭiyēṯṯu', which is mainly conducted as a votive offering in high-caste temples devoted to the goddess Bhadrakāḷi. It pulls together anthropology, performance, and religious studies to analyze the current grassroot-level realities of lived popular religion through the prism of votive offerings in general and of ritual performing arts conducted as votive offerings in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws from the author's direct experience with material care, adaptation, renewal, and disposal made while working within Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhist practitioner communities as a museum professional, conservator, and object-based researcher. It considers the function and utility of Buddhist tantric religious objects in terms of their care and capacity for practitioner engagement. In addition to exploring specific examples of what is referred to here as 'devotional maintenance', this paper will discuss how these strategies for object custodianship are related to Tibetan and Himalayan religious life and the specific epistemological and soteriological paradigm in which these actions are performed. Working from the perspective of a non-practitioner and material specialist, this research builds on observations of material care-taking to engage with local concepts of continuity, value, and longevity, including practices of accumulation, renewal, or disposal. Thinking critically about the methods and standards of heritage preservation provokes a discussion of how they can be interpreted as acts of care. At the same time, this paper will explore material custodianship through the cultivation of merit and an object's capacity to transmit 'blessings' or the gift of beneficial influence (byin rlabs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the veneration of Hatixhe, an 18th-century Sufi saint from Tirana, Albania, whose legacy continues to resonate across religious and cultural boundaries. Despite limited historical records, Hatixhe's sainthood is venerated through hagiographic narratives that portray her as a compassionate healer, spiritual protector, and symbol of resilience. This study investigates the visual, ritual, and sensory dimensions of her shrine, which has become one of the focal points for interfaith devotion in post-socialist Albania. Embodied rituals—such as touching her tomb and lighting candles—allow devotees to connect with her shenjtëri ("sainthood"). Through these acts, Hatixhe's legacy as a grua e shenjt ("holy woman") or grua e mirë ("good woman") is anchored in both religious and cultural contexts, as her shenjtëri integrates local and national values, partly transcending Islamic frameworks. Hatixhe's teqe, preserved through the efforts of her female heirs during the communist era, serves as a unique testament to a female lineage in Albanian Sufism. By examining the spatial, material, and symbolic aspects of her veneration, this study underscores the significance of Hatixhe's shenjtëri as a site of blessing and communal solidarity for women, enriching the understanding of their roles in Albanian spiritual and social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "BETWEEN PARTIES AND POPULAR DEVOTIONS: INTERVIEW WITH SÉRGIO IVAN GIL BRAGA" highlights the importance of popular festivals in the Amazon region, focusing on the research of Professor Dr. Sérgio Ivan Gil Braga. He is recognized for his work in anthropology, especially in the study of festivals, religious celebrations, and popular devotions. The professor, who works at the Federal University of Amazonas, emphasizes the diversity of his research, including topics such as "bois-bumbás" (traditional Amazonian festivals), African religions, and popular Catholicism. Furthermore, he emphasizes the relevance of popular cultures and festivities for understanding the Amazon region and Brazil. [Extracted from the article]

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Recent Supreme Court opinions have upended laws that prohibited state support for and participation in devotional exercises, sectarian activities, and religious education. The Essay reviews a variety of historical antecedents that the Court formerly found highly persuasive to Establishment Clause jurisprudence. It next evaluates and critiques the Roberts Court's steady devaluation and erosion of disestablishment norms in opinions that struck down restraints on prayers at public school events and restrictions on public funding of religious schools. References to history and tradition in those cases are at best oblique and at worst misleading. Rather than formalistic recitations of the strict scrutiny test that exaggerate free exercise concerns, the Court should rely on nuanced contextual reasoning to protect the exercise of private religious convictions and maintain separation between religious beliefs and state actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ethos (0860-8024) is the property of John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The reliquary of Saint Hermión martyr arrived in the villa of Lagos in 1791. Since then, it has both been object of devotion –capable of granting miracles and “favors”– and given its name to the children of the families of Lagos. Between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it also established itself as a cultural object, source of legends, evocative of memory and an important reason for tourists to visit the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Minne (love, Middle High German) often appears in thirteenth-century Germanic female mystical texts as an object of devotional affection. In Ein vliessendes lieht der gotheit (The Flowing Light of the Godhead), Mechthild von Magdeburg (1208–1282) frequently portrays her minne as a person, effectively embodying or incarnating the concept of minne through language. In this text, we can consider that minne is an entity in some ways possessed of her own 'selfhood' because of her poetic embodiment through language; an embodiment which consequently also allows her to come into contact with other narratively embodied entities. In this essay, I will approach an understanding of the emotion minne – a culturally and linguistically dependent concept – through the feelings – cognitive and somatic concepts – by which she is articulated within the language of the text. I will argue for the linguistic and narrative embodiment of both minne 's selfhood and Mechthild's selfhood to explore how their narrative interaction creates an understanding of minne by means of the body. I suggest that Mechthild's minne is a concept which can be experienced, or felt, and understood outside thirteenth-century germanophone culture because of the textual and lexical embodiment that takes place through literary tropes and culturally coded metaphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In 1748, an image of Our Lady of Sorrows brought from Mexico by Marcos Torres, an Indiano born in Tenerife who made his fortune in New Spain, was enthroned with a festivity and sermon. The image of the Virgin was accompanied by a stuffed crocodile that can still be seen in the shrine. Torres claimed the Virgin saved him from the crocodile in Mexico and the animal became an extreme form of exvoto, an allegory, reminding him and fellow countrymen of the dangers and perils of becoming rich in the New World. The material history of these sacred objects transformed this singular Canarian shrine filled with American objects of devotion and local pieces. I explore how the material history of sacred objects can reveal information about their devotion, but also the circumstances surrounding them. In this case, the perils of transatlantic travel and American landscape for a foreigner as the Indiano, and how this materiality was explained and recontextualized in a new setting, reconfigured as a hybrid space hosting American devotions and peculiar exvotos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a synopsis and detailed program note of composer Ernest Bloch's Hebrew choral music "Avodath Ha-Kodesh: The Sacred Service." Portions of the Sacred Service discussed are exposition of man's love for God and the mighty acts of God, Kedusha sanctification, silent devotion, the Returning the Scroll to the Ark ritual in synagogue practice, and the chanted part declaring brotherhood, final communal recognition of Divine sovereignty and confrontation with death and mourning.

This article discusses Marian Societies in Nigeria with the aim of highlighting their various spiritualities and therefore, engender more devotion to our Blessed Mother. The Church has, in her various Mariological teachings, emphasized the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the history of salvation, as well as her maternal intercessory role in the lives of Christians. This has given rise to various Marian devotions with varying spiritualities. This study begins with an introduction and clarification of relevant terms. It presents the origin of Marian devotions and discusses five popular Marian devotions: Our Lady Queen of All Hearts, The Legion of Mary, The Blue Army of our Lady of Fatima, The Block Rosary Crusade and The Mary League Association. It emphasizes the importance of devotion to Mary and addresses some misconceptions about the Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, explaining the nature of true devotion. The article exposes the extremism of Marianism, which is a danger to Marian spirituality, and concludes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution introduces the project Pages of Prayer: The Ecosystem of Vernacular Prayer Books in the Late Medieval Low Countries, c. 1380-1550 [prayer] (erc Starting Grant, grant no. 101041517), which started at Leiden University on 1 March 2023. The aim of the project is to conduct the first large-scale investigation into the vast corpus of Middle Dutch prayer books of which the mainstay are books with one or more of the texts of ‘the Book of Hours’ in the translation ascribed to Geert Grote (1340-1384). Pages of Prayer aims to chart the entire ‘ecosystem’ in which the Dutch-language prayer books flourished and thrived. Apart from the shared transmission of texts in manuscripts and printed books, the project aims to map the inclusion of images, the roles of producers, owners, patrons, places, devotions, and the relations between all of these aspects over a long period of time by developing a cross-disciplinary approach: network philology. This approach aims to combine quantitative network analysis with advanced qualitative analysis to reach meaningful interpretations of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on government of piety in the Spanish Monarchy and basic features of this "monarchy of devotions. It mentions Elizabeth I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragon articulated a monarchy founded on the "reason of religion", which that implied the construction of a shared identity between their kingdoms and lordships. It also mentions Christian devotions operated as ties that linked very diverse peoples and peoples both in Europe and in the new spaces.

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The article analyzes the historical and cultural importance of the convent of San Esteban in Salamanca. It is based on thorough research that uses primary sources, such as parts of the building, written documentation, and archaeological reports. It highlights the importance of images as the main source for understanding the history of the convent. It also mentions the conclusions drawn from the review of documents, such as the correction of errors in dating the works and the reconstruction of the distribution of devotions in the temple. Additionally, it describes the architectural connection between the novitiate and the main structure of the convent of San Esteban in Salamanca. It mentions the influence of tradition and the ideology of the promoters in the works carried out in the convent. It also highlights the presence of images and sculptures representing the Incarnation and the importance of the figure of San Esteban in the Salamanca community. Furthermore, it mentions the influence of Baroque aesthetics in Dominican convents in America. [Extracted from the article]

This paper analyzes the evolution of the relations of benefactoría and protection between the nobility and the urban patriciate, on the one hand, and the religious orders, on the other, during the Castilian Late Middle Ages. The focus will be on the various monastic and conventual foundations carried out by these groups, as well as the donations and protection provided to religious centers. An overall analysis will be made of the different religious orders that were present in Castile during the study period: traditional -Benedictines, Cistercians and Premonstratensians-, mendicants -Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and Carmelites-, redeemers of captives -Trinitarians and Mercedarians- and the orders that entered Castile in the first Trastámara reigns -Hyeronimites and Carthusians-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article argues that English Puritanism transmitted certain forms of religious language and meditational practices from the Catholic religious orders to the Wesleys and to the Methodism of Phoebe Palmer. The focus will be on one form of Gospel meditation that is often mistakenly attributed to Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, but which developed centuries earlier. These devotional forms were widespread within early modern Christianity and were self-consciously adopted by English Puritanism, which acknowledged their Catholic sources. Early Methodist reflections, sermons, and hymns show the direct influence of this Puritan devotional practice. Palmer engaged elements of these language forms at key moments in her religious discourse, most notably in her popular hymn, "The Crimson Wave" and in her influential altar exercise. Recognition of the way this language works can aid our understanding of the texts we read and our appreciation of their religious ground in seeking the presence of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article compares two medieval cults at the royal free chapel of Wimborne minster, Dorset: the cult of St. Cuthburga, the minster’s patronal saint, and the cult of Henry VI, which was probably introduced there by Lady Margaret Beaufort. Using the parish’s exceptional churchwardens’ accounts, the fortunes and ultimately the fate of the two cults are compared in detail. Although the cult of Henry VI appears to have made little impact, the cult of St. Cuthburga remained popular until 1538, both with the parishioners and with pilgrims from the local area; other evidence suggests that Cuthburga was also the subject of sophisticated literate devotions within the parish and its environs. The article is a contribution to the existing literature on local and royal saints, and also the first to examine the relationship between royal administration and popular devotion at one of the king’s own free chapels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Portuguese America, the iconographic programs of the third carmelites and Franciscans follow the first orders installed on the coast and these, reproduce the models of devotion offered by the mendicant friars of the Iberian Empires. Such programs are configured in a religious heritage that encompasses a variety of objects whose symbolic representations value overlaps with the artistic and historical. The present study aims to analyze the particularities and contingencies of imagery programs found in the different spaces of the church of the third order of Carmen from Cachoeira (BA). The methodology applied was bibliographic research and photographic record in situ, as basic elements for the iconographic-iconological reading of carmelites and franciscan saints and the images and symbols of the Passion of Christ. Therefore, from the analysis of these artistic aspects it was possible to clarify the existence of a shared imagery program, the different types of devotions, the changes of predilections, habits and also establish relationships of sociability based on reciprocity between the third brothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hispania Sacra is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The following essay studies the early history of Islamic devotional tradition in the United States, particularly through the rise of the Sufi movements. I approach this study primarily from the vantage point of historical origins and development of Sufi groups in the U.S. during the twentieth century. This approach is grounded on the perspective of Sufism as a minority faith practice and its various manifestations in the U.S.—spiritual practices, devotional exercises, artistic expression, and cross-cultural dialogue. Since Sufism is one such manifestation, its career in the U.S. can be identified along multiple positions of ideology and practice: drawing from normative Islamic teaching and morals, following an eclectic and universalist approach, and transplanting of Sufi practices from parent societies, such as South Asia and Africa. The essay concludes by focusing on the dimension of transnationalism through the career of a South Asian Sufi master in Philadelphia, Bawa Muhaiyadeen. The following essay studies the early history of Islamic devotional tradition in the U.S. particularly through the rise of the Sufi movements. I intend to approach this study primarily from the vantage point of historical origins and development of Sufi groups in the U.S. from the late-20th century. This approach will be grounded on the perspective of Sufism as a minority faith practice and its various manifestations in the U.S – spiritual practices, devotional exercises, artistic expression, and cross-cultural dialogue. Sufism being one such manifestation, its career in the U.S. can be identified along multiple positions of ideology and practice – drawing from normative Islamic teaching and morals, following an eclectic and universalist approach, and transplantation of Sufi practices from parent societies, like South Asia and Africa. The essay will conclude by focusing on the dimension of transnationalism through the career of a South Asian Sufi master in Philadelphia – Bawa Muhaiyadeen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For British Catholic women, conversion was an empowering choice for oneself, rather than a path towards gaining institutionalized power. Lay female converts at the turn of the century were generally privileged, with a worldly understanding of the role of women in British society. Many converts drew on the spirit of female independence at the end of the 19th century to contest their place in British society. For some, their social and financial capital offered an additional position of power from which to push on notions of traditional Britishness and femininity. To have the freedom to choose conversion at all exemplifies this feeling of bodily and mental autonomy rarely exhibited by many women during the late 19th century and early 20th century. This article sheds new light on the expansiveness of the lived, lay Catholic experience in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the examples of Mabel Batten (1857–1916) and Radclyffe Hall (1880–1943). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue 14 of the magazine "CEM" addresses the theme "Image and Devotion" and is part of the research conducted by the CITCEM Research Group "Material and Immaterial Heritage". The objective of this volume is to promote reflection on images and devotional practices. The exhibition "Moving Images: Devotions and Cultural Practices in Porto Cathedral" demonstrated the dynamics of configuration and reconfiguration of ecclesiastical space. The text discusses the existence of images of Our Lady in the 11th century, based on documentary evidence. The articles offer a comprehensive and detailed view of devotion and the representation of religious images in different contexts and historical periods. The article "The Devil is on the loose: the cult of Saint Bartholomew in Foz do Douro" addresses the relationship between cults and images of devotion and playful practices in Foz do Douro, including the tradition of holy baths. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Historical Studies is the property of Canadian Catholic Historical Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article studies the construction process of the Argentine-Uruguayan Hortus Conclusus sanctuary, inaugurated in Palestine in 1902. It focuses on the project's diffusion and the construction of solidarity networks between Latin America, Rome and Palestine articulated by the Archbishop of Montevideo Mariano Soler. The central argument is that the case studied exhibits some particularities of the "global turn" of the Catholic Church in the Río de la Plata, which rather than being a passive recipient of congregations, images and devotions received from European "centers" of Catholic renovation, functioned as a dynamic space of appropriation and even universalization for many of these forms and images. This can be perceived by reconstructing the life of transnational agents and projects that linked different places in the world, amplifying the global consciousness of Catholicism at the local, national, and continental levels. Also, the article exemplifies how a Marian devotion was able to function as a symbolic space in service of political identities, and as a vehicle for (trans)national movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The struggle to resist dehumanization and maintain a sense of identity and dignity in the German concentration camps has been a key theme in survivor testimonies. Some prisoners assert the paramount importance of religious faith in mustering the inner strength needed to survive. However, the clandestine nature of religious practice in the camps has meant that memoirs provide only fragmentary glimpses of these practices and their significance in the camps. This article seeks to reconstruct a fuller picture of the religious life of Catholic Poles at the Gusen Concentration Camp in Upper Austria from 1940 to 1945. In particular, the article focuses on the activities of a living rosary group organized by Wacław Milke and Władysław Gębik. This group was unusual in the breadth of its activities and its extensive network of contacts. Not only did it organize religious devotions, but it also provided life-saving practical assistance to other prisoners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1870s, thousands of Catholics headed for old and new European shrines in mass national pilgrimages. The rise of mass pilgrimages as political demonstrations was the result of new devotional cultures and the long-term politicization of Catholic devotions. Pilgrimages were seen by participants as acts of reparation for the secularizing legislation implemented during the European culture wars and also as a way to increase Catholicism's presence and visibility in the contested public sphere. Likewise, the capture of Rome and the Roman Question fostered displays of solidarity with the Pope, contributing to the emergence of this new mass devotional culture. Finally, the convergent aims of Legitimists/monarchists and intransigent Catholics rapidly expanded these new mass religious demonstrations. This article seeks to re-evaluate the multi-faceted European crisis of the 1870s and the meanings of mass Catholic mobilizations in Europe by analysing the rise of mass pilgrimages in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the middle of the 16th century, Doutor João de Barros wrote Geographia d'Entre Douro e Minho e Trasos-Montes, a book that represented an important geographic and chorographic account of those regions, with interesting details that include not only urban and architectural descriptions, but also elements related to economic activities, social relationships, devotions, and legends, among many others. The city of Porto stands out for the detailed description in this book, recently republished. The analysis of other contemporary sources and recent historiographic studies will enlighten us about the historical rigor of this 16th century account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Furey, Hammerschlag, and Hollywood seem to share the same desire for cross-fertilization, but their project is different: the nature of their intervention is not metaphysical but more political. Indeed, Furey, Hammerschlag, and Hollywood's insights call to mind John Donne's I Devotions upon Emergent Occasions i (1624). By Constance M. Furey, Sarah Hammerschlag, and Amy Hollywood. [Extracted from the article]

The Royal Prayerbook contains a variety of entries aimed at staunching a flow of blood, three of which are related by a shared poetic motif. An examination of the elements in these texts suggests that all three are a meditation on a scene from the gospels, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. This article argues these texts were compiled in a learned milieu, probably within a female or double monastic house; from an Insular centre, they moved to the Continent, perhaps as a consequence of the involvement of women in the mission movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]