The Persistence of the Sacred: German Catholic Pilgrimage, 1832-1937

Author:   Skye Doney
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
ISBN:  

9781487543105


Pages:   372
Publication Date:   03 October 2022
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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The Persistence of the Sacred: German Catholic Pilgrimage, 1832-1937


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Overview

For millions of Catholic believers, pilgrimage has offered possible answers to the mysteries of sickness, life, and death. The Persistence of the Sacred explores the religious worldviews of Europeans who travelled to Trier and Aachen, two cities in Western Germany, to view the sacred relics in their cathedrals. The Persistence of the Sacred challenges the narrative of widespread secularization in Europe during the long nineteenth century and reveals that religious practices thrived well into the modern period. It shows both that men were more active in their faith than historians have realized and how clergy and pilgrims did not always agree about the meaning of relics. Drawing on private ephemeral and material sources including films, photographs, postcards, correspondence, and souvenirs, Skye Doney uncovers the enduring and diverse sacred worldview of German Catholics and argues that laity and clergy had very different perspectives on the meaning of pilgrimage. Recovering the history of Catholic pilgrimage, The Persistence of the Sacred aims to understand the relationship between relics and religiosity, between modernity and faith, and between humanity and God.

Full Product Details

Author:   Skye Doney
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
Imprint:   University of Toronto Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.80cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.60cm
Weight:   0.640kg
ISBN:  

9781487543105


ISBN 10:   1487543107
Pages:   372
Publication Date:   03 October 2022
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Archive Abbreviations Acknowledgments Select Dates in German Catholicism: 1813–1939 Introduction 1. What They Practiced: Prayer, Songs, and Processions 2. Modern Miracles 3. The Sacred Economy 4. Rending Religiosity: Johannes Ronge and the 1840s Trier Controversy 5. Clerical Crossroads: Medical Verifiability of the Sacred 6. Historical Authenticity as Presence Conclusion: Verifying Presence Appendix 1: Selected Pilgrim Songs in Translation, 1839–1933 Appendix 2: Daily Pilgrim Totals in 1891 Appendix 3: Daily Pilgrim Totals in 1933 Appendix 4: Holy Coat Songs in Trier Hymnal, 1846–1955 Appendix 5: Pilgrimage Dates Appendix 6: 1933 Trier Pilgrimage Sick Pilgrim Complaints Appendix 7: 1867 Aachen Closing Ceremony Procession Bibliography

Reviews

The study of religion in modern Germany is expanding rapidly and in many directions. The Persistence of the Sacred focuses on Catholic laity and pilgrimage across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Even as official, clerical definitions of miracles became ever more restrictive, millions travelled to Rhineland relic sites, in groups and on their own, to come into contact with the sacred. Doney's book is to be commended for the careful way it broadens our image of who took up pilgrimage and why, not least across lines of gender, occupation, class, and age. - Monica Black, Professor of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and author of A Demon-Haunted Land This deeply researched, engagingly written study analyses the vitality of Catholic pilgrimage in the Rhineland as a means of understanding popular devotional practices, ecclesiastical politics, and traditional piety's encounter with modern medicine and science across a crucial century in German history. Based on an impressive array of sources, Doney's book contributes importantly to our knowledge of modern Germany, modern Catholicism, and the character of religious belief and practice in modern Europe. - Brad S. Gregory, Henkels Family College Professor of History, University of Notre Dame Through meticulous use of archival evidence and stunning visual images, Skye Doney describes an enduring connection between many German Catholics and the divine through their most revered relics and the tension their fervour increasingly caused with religious leaders. The analysis of Johannes Ronge's attacks on the 1844 pilgrimage to Trier is compelling and sheds light on the growing concern among many Catholic clergy for how the devotional practices of pilgrims were perceived in the modern era. - Michael E. O'Sullivan, Professor of History, Marist College


Author Information

Skye Doney is the director of the George L. Mosse Program in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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