Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Inspired by Vatican II, which attributed a special apostolate to the laity and affirmed their calling to holiness, this volume of original essays focuses on the shifting points of intersection between changing historical definitions of laity and sanctity. Ann W. Astell and ten other scholars examine a series of medieval and modern lay -saints- in order to explore how these figures perceived their own lay status and how this status has been perceived by others.
Through its examination of a series of specific historical figures and movements, Lay Sanctity, Medieval and Modern seeks answers to a set of recurring questions, such as what actually distinguishes the sanctity of the laity from that of the religious, why so few lay persons have been canonized, and to what extent the pursuit of sanctity requires lay saints to either deny or affirm their lay condition. Six essays seek to recover models for lay sanctity in the lives of early saints such as Catherine of Sienna and Angela of Foligno. The five studies of twentieth-century figures such as Elizabeth Leseuer and Jacques and Raissa Maritain suggest the emergence of new, secular ideals of lay sanctity.
Synopsis
Eleven papers, from a conference held in Wisconsin in 1992, focus on specific people or movements from the Middle Ages and from the 20th century in order to define the spiritual characteristics of the laity and to distinguish these elements from those of the religious. A principal aim is to answer the question of whether lay sanctity was regarded as inferior and to explain why so few saints came from the laity. The first six papers discuss the medieval period with subjects including pilgrimages, Angela of Foligno, Catherine of Siena, Margery Kempe and the pious infant. The remaining five papers consider the 20th century to discover the ways in which lay sanctity has changed, if at all. These papers examine Elizabeth Leseur, Gertraud von Bullion, Jacques Maritain and works of mercy.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p.193-232) and index.
Table of Contents
Lay sanctity and church reform in early medieval France / Mary S. Skinner -- A call to active devotion: pilgrimages to Jerusalem in the late Middle Ages / Kristine T. Utterback -- Angela of Foligno: a eucharistic model of lay sanctity / Mary Walsh Meany -- Catherine of Siena and lay sanctity in fourteenth-century Italy / Karen Scott -- "I wold ´ou wer closyd in a hows of ston": sexuality and lay sanctity in The book of Margery Kempe / Peter Pellegrin -- The pious infant: developments in popular piety during the high Middle Ages / Patricia Healy Wasyliw -- Elizabeth Leseur: a strangely forgotten modern saint / Janet K. Ruffing -- Lay apostolate and the Beruf of Gertraud von Bullion / Ann W. Astell -- Contemplation along the roads of the world: the reflections of Raissa and Jacques Maritain / Astrid O'Brien -- The political holiness of Dorothy Day: eschatology, social reform, and the works of mercy / Patricia M. Vinje -- A life between two fires: Chiara Lubich and lay sanctity / Donald W. Mitchell.