Cult Of Martyrs Research Articles

Églises doubles et groupes d'églises du point de vue de l'histoire de la liturgie

The author begins with some thoughts on vocabulary: ecclesia usually refers to the community of the faithful and not to the building, a rather late meaning of the word; ecclesia mater is a metaphor or later designates the mother church of a diocese, not the main building of a group of churches; ecclesia major does not necessarily imply a ecclesia minor. He stresses also that the common distinction in the 4th and 5th centuries between fideles and catechumeni may have had consequences for the physical organization of the church. The author then reviews some liturgical documents. The ordines from Trier, Paris and Lyon are not earlier than the 13th century and make no distinction between liturgical function for different buildings. The ordines from Milan and a church in northern Italy (probably Aquileia according to G. C. Menis and P. Piva) mention the separate distinction in the 11th century (since when ?) between ecclesia hiemalis and ecclesia aestiva and allude to scrutini for the catechumens, who, however, were children at this time. The medieval distinction between ecclesia clericorum and ecclesia laicorum is linked to the internal division of the main building by the rood-screen. The notion of cura animarum is a modern one. The cult of martyrs does not necessarily imply a separate church, since the Eucharist is also celebrated in those churches dedicated to a martyr. The distinction between the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist is valid only for the Early Church and implies separate locations for the fideles and the catechumeni, not buildings for the two liturgies. The liturgy of baptism during the Easter Vigil may have implied different spaces.

The Revival of Martyr Cults among Īlavar

No abstract available.

River of Blood: The Genesis of the Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600

River of Blood: The Genesis of the Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600

Poetry and the Cult of the Martyrs: The "Liber Peristephanon" of Prudentius.Michael Roberts

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsPoetry and the Cult of the Martyrs: The "Liber Peristephanon" of Prudentius. Michael Roberts Carole StrawCarole Straw Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Speculum Volume 71, Number 1Jan., 1996 The journal of the Medieval Academy of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2865252 Views: 3Total views on this site Copyright 1996 Medieval Academy of AmericaPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Varus of Egypt: a Fictitious Military Martyr

The attitude of the early church to war and military service is a subject which has long exercised the attention of many scholars, and doubtlessly this will continue to be the case. There are those who hold a pacifist viewpoint and argue that originally the early Christians completely rejected military service, and there are others who are opposed to this viewpoint. However, all agree on one issue, that there is far less early material on this subject than one would initially prefer. Thus, both sides have felt the need to utilise sources and materials which would otherwise lie neglected, the hagiographical accounts of the early military martyrs in particular. Debate has now centred upon a relatively small number of texts, those which have traditionally been accepted as the genuine acts of authentic military martyrs, to which ever increasing attention has been paid. Unfortunately, concentration upon these texts in particular seems to have led to a neglect of texts which are of great interest in their own right. This was inevitable given that the accounts of the military martyrs have normally been examined only as to their suitability for use as weapons in the ongoing polemic concerning the ‘true’ attitude of the early church to war. Seldom has the development of the cult of military martyrs been regarded as a historical phenomenon worthy of study in itself. Thus, it is the purpose of this note to begin to rectify this situation by drawing attention to the neglected acts of a military martyr, Varus, who allegedly suffered death in Egypt during the reign of Galerius Maximianus (305-311).

River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600

River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600

The Cult of the Martyrs in Egypt before Constantine: The Evidence of the Coptic "Apocalypse of Elijah"

The Cult of the Martyrs in Egypt before Constantine: The Evidence of the Coptic "Apocalypse of Elijah"

River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A. D. 1600

River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A. D. 1600

River of blood: the genesis of a martyr cult in southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600

The culmination of years of fieldwork in Southern Malawi, of Blood reconstructs the beginnings of the Mbona martyr cult, follows its history to the present day, and reveals the fascinating intersections of an indigenous belief system with European Christianity. In the cult of Mbona, the Central African mythology of the snake that is beheaded to make the rains come, has been combined with a more spiritual interpetation: the snake has been transformed into a human martyr and redeemer. According to the cult, the rainmaker Mbona was tracked down by his enemies; they cut off his head, and his blood formed the River of Blood. Schoffeleers recounts how the Portuguese presence in Zambezia in the period 1590-1622 led to more than three decades of internecine warfare and caused the people of Southern Malawi tremendous suffering. In response to this political oppression and social upheaval, Schoffeelers shows, the people looked to Mbona, their black Jesus for redemption. Beyond reconstructing the cult's genesis, Schoffeelers traces its recent history, particularly in political context. He provides texts of seven cult myths from different historical periods in both Chimang' anja and English. His analysis presents the Mbona myth as a continuous social construction and deconstruction. Emphasizing the impact of political and spiritual oppression on the cult, he distinguishes between the differing versions of the myth preserved by the aristocracy and by the commonalty and demonstrates how these disparate views unite to preserve historical information.

The Martyr Cult of the First World War

It is certain that the unrest of Europe of the past twenty years will be dispelled. It is even likely that our whole civilisation will be advanced.’ So wrote A. E. Lawrie, Rector of Old St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, in October of 1914. He was spending a three-month leave of absence as chaplain to an army hospital behind the lines in France. He added that the death of a particular soldier ‘spoke so loudly of Another Cruel Death, that one could not but link the two together—the spirit of self-indulgence will be trodden underfoot and exchanged for the spirit of self-discipline.’

The Persecutor's Envy and the Rise of the Martyr Cult: "Peristephanon" Hymns 1 and 4

The Persecutor's Envy and the Rise of the Martyr Cult: "Peristephanon" Hymns 1 and 4

The Persecutor's Envy and the Rise of the Martyr Cult: Peristephanon Hymns 1 and 41

The Persecutor's Envy and the Rise of the Martyr Cult: Peristephanon Hymns 1 and 41