Blood Of Christ Research Articles

The Precious Blood of Christ: faith, rituals and civic and religious meaning during the centuries of Mantuan devotion

This article explores the main meanings given to the presence of the relic of the Precious Blood of Christ in the city of Mantua, and also highlights the links with the Altdorf-Weingarten relic of the same, which derives from it. For centuries the presence of this relic has intertwined in several ways with events in Mantua and has shaped some of their most significant religious and cultural expressions. Above all, during the Middle Ages, the Precious Blood had a widespread impact, destined to expand all over Europe. However, we possess vague and scarcely defined evidence of this, as much of the evidence was removed, mostly in the name of rationalist critique, and diminished with the passing of time. Within a long-term perspective, the text which follows here aims to tackle some relevant problematic issues, from a historical and historico-anthropological viewpoint. It attempts both to strengthen understanding of the local and wider intertwining which characterised the development of such a relevant religious experience of our culture, and also to enter into contact with essential aspects of it.

The good tidings of the Friday of the Precious Blood

This contribution is a sermon on the New Testament readings, Ephesians 4:1–13 and the Gospel of Luke 24:46–53, preached at the festive celebration of the vigil of Blutfreitag on the evening of the feast of the Ascension of our Lord in the Basilica of St Martin in Weingarten on 14 May 2015. It establishes a theological link between the solemnity of the Ascension of Christ and Blutfreitag (Friday of the Precious Blood), a local feast which has been celebrated for centuries on the day after Ascension Day.

The veneration of the Precious Blood in Weingarten: theological reflections in an ecumenical horizon

This article places the veneration of the Precious Blood in Weingarten in the wider horizon of the veneration of relics and saints in general. It takes into account that the Reformers, above all Martin Luther, were very critical about pilgrimages and the veneration of relics. Against this background it discusses the following points with regard to the veneration of the Precious Blood. First, what is the added value of pilgrimages? Secondly, what, or rather, who, is being venerated in what way in Weingarten? Thirdly, what is theologically legitimate in venerating a relic of the Precious Blood and could render it ecumenically justifiable? And, fourthly, what is the current meaning of the veneration of the Precious Blood? Answering these questions is vital for keeping the veneration of the Precious Blood in Weingarten a living tradition – especially in a time without a monastery.

Economy of the Liturgical Praxis in the Orthodox Christian Perspective

The Orthodox Church, although less known in the western Christian traditions, is a part of the changing world. The Church's liturgical tradition, however, remains largely unchanged. This article provides a detailed look at the Orthodox liturgical tradition practiced today in the Orthodox Church that may be unknown to Western Christians. The rite of the Holy Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ has central importance and place in the life of the Church. According to St. John of Kronstadt, “the Divine Liturgy is true heaven on earth.” This is why the celebrant preparing to serve the Liturgy is required to exercise particular care and strict adherence to tradition. Yet, even the most careful preparation and observance does not guarantee the prevention of unforeseen circumstances and omissions. This work presents some norms, solutions, and rules which guide the actions that follow such cases. Note that the material presented here reflects the Orthodox Slavic, and in some cases Byzantine, tradition, and will help non-Orthodox Christians deepen their familiarity and appreciation of the Orthodox liturgical theoglogy and praxis.

Kød, blod og ord. Om nadveren som litterært topos

The motif of the Eucharist seems, in different permutations, to persist in Western literature even in modern, secular times. This paper argues that the motif persists because it implies a discussion that is also central to literature: What is the relation between signifier and signified, vehicle and tenor – bread and body, wine and blood? Is it possible for the immaterial signified to become present in the materiality of the signifier? In his writings on the Eucharist Martin Luther insists that bread and wine do not represent the body and blood of Christ, they are his body and blood, because Christ has diffused into the world. The Eucharist implies the idea of the material presence of that which would in other cases be the absent signified of the signifier. This may be the reason why the Eucharist is a recurring metaphor in Marcel Proust, in his striving to make of his novel a cathedral where the reader receives the Eucharist wafer, like the madeleine cake that makes the past sensually present and possible to orally consume. The paper analyzes examples of the Eucharist motif from Proust, Paul Celan, Elfriede Jelinek, and the Danish contemporary author Bjørn Rasmussen, arguing the Eucharist to appear in texts that have a special interest in the way that the signified can or cannot be present in the material signifier, even when those texts are skeptical or critical towards the Christian discourse.

‘I cover myself in the blood of Jesus’: Born Again heritage making in Sierra Leone

This article concerns the risky terrain of heritage management in Sierra Leone and its navigation by devout Born Again Pentecostal Christians. It engages with the ever-expanding Born Again movement and its narrative of rupture, on the one hand, and the increasingly visible heritage sector and its focus on cultural continuity, on the other. These positions appear irreconcilable: one experiences the past as a dangerous satanic realm, the other as a valuable resource. However, as this article explores, they frequently meet in the workplace as many heritage professionals are also Born Again believers. I am interested in this meeting-point as demonic channels and godly practices converge. I argue that Freetown’s Born Again heritage professionals do not succeed in their roles despite their religion, but because of it.

Don Quixote: In Defense of Judaism

It seems that one of the episodes in Don Quixote includes a veiled defense of Judaism, in particular an argument that Jews are not guilty of deicide, have the right to be left unmolested, and that forced conversions are wrong. In Book I, chapter 12-14, Cervantes relates the story of the death of Grisostomo, a shepherd apparently about thirty years old who fell in love with Marcela, a shepherdess who was so beautiful that all who looked at her instantly fell in love with her. Grisostomo wrote plays for Christmas eve and allegorical dramas for the feast of Corpus Christi. Marcela rejected Grisostomo, who either died of love or killed himself. Don Quixote is told how Marcela caused Grisostomo death and travels to see his funeral. Some writers have focused on what the story tells us about the relative virtues of marriage and celibacy, the pastoral ideal of freedom, and the desire for literature to achieve a measure of immortality. I would like to suggest another dimension — the defense of Judaism from attacks based on Christian antisemitism. Just as Grisostomo was a writer of allegorical plays about the body and blood of Christ, the story of Grisostomo and Marcela can be read in part as an allegory about Jesus, the Church, and the Jews. While it seems that Cervantes may have wanted to disguise the allegory because of the controversial nature of its message, there are too many to clues as to meaning to be ignored.

, Kształtowanie się pojęcia ofiary w protestantyzmie reformowanym.

The aim of this elaboration is to present the concept of sacrifice in Reformed Protestantism. It was a result of the dispute with the Roman Catholics, did not use the definition of sacrifice regarding the Eucharist and replaced it with the term „Abendmahl” (Lord’s Supper). Renouncement of the concept as such does not mean that the content of the concept of sacrifice has been dispensed with. The doctrine of sacrifice with regard to the Eucharist was developing in the midst of the Reformation within a severe dispute in which Calvin was acting againts Luther and Zwingli. The common characteristic of both reformers and representatives of the Catholic Church was focusing on the aspect of the true presence of the glorified Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the form of sacrificial bread and wine.

‘Unusual Excrescences of Nature’: Collected Coral and the Study of Petrified Luxury in Early Modern Antwerp

ABSTRACTMany seventeenth-century Antwerp collections contained coral, both natural and crafted. Also, coral was a pictorial motif depicted by Antwerp artists on mythological scenes, still lifes, gallery pictures, and allegories. Coral was many things at the same time: a commodity crafted into jewellery and objets d’art, a popular collectable in its natural shape, a motif for Antwerp painters, an essential commodity in the European-Indian trade network, a naturalia associated with classical mythology as well as with the Blood of Christ, and a problematic naturalia that raised questions about classification, origins and natural processes. This paper provides an itinerary of coral in early seventeenth-century Antwerp. It is argued that collecting in general and collected coral in particular were related to new understandings of matter and material transformation. Coral functioned in the collection as: first, a place of appreciation for artisanal work - or ‘process appreciation’; second, as a conversation piece; and third, as a visual motif related to the understanding of matter and material transformation, the process of petrifaction in particular. Added up, this explains the value attached to this ‘unusual excrescence of nature’.

Rivers of Risk and Redemption in Gregory of Tours’ Writings

Rivers of Risk and Redemption in Gregory of Tours’ Writings

Seek, Suffer, and Trust: "Ese" and "Disese" in Julian of Norwich

Julian of Norwich's engagement with passion meditation and ars moriendi traditions is more radically inventive than critics have noticed. Charting Julian's interactions with texts including Heinrich Suso's Horologium sapientiae, William Flete's Remedies against Tribulation, Stimulus amoris, and Speculum Christiani, this article proposes that Julian tactically synthesizes generic tropes to posit Christ as the ultimate double signifier, at once physical and metaphysical, and comfort proffered by his destroying of death. Here, Revelations of Divine Love is literary artifact blending generic conventions, striving to elevate deathbed repertoire beyond programmatic ethical schemes to renewed understanding of Christ's redemptive suffering. Bodily sickness detaches mind from regular consciousness, enabling fleeting, intuited access to God's ineffable compassion; Julian's abject body sees—and experiences—Christ's blood stream in firmament. This radically deviates from accepted generic shape of ars moriendi, refiguring Christ's sacrifice as both eternal salvation and temporal consolation. Julian redirects genre from an affective focus on dying process to transcendent potential of Christus moriens as a man dying and speaking to us. In Revelations of Divine Love abject liminality of sekenes brings sufferer into new affective relationship with Christ, beheld with avisement in liminal space between time and immutability. Julian's newly holistic understanding of Christ's Passion affirms potential of literature to inscribe hypostatic sense-experience of dying revelation: her unfettered, syncretic creativity illuminates ease offered to those who seek, abide and trust in God while passing beyond time.

Athleta Christi

Count Tamás Erdődy (1558–1624), Ban of Slavonia and Croatia, one of the leading knights bannerets in the Kingdom of Hungary, pursued an illustrious political career: at different stages of his life he held several high offices of state, he was a successful participant in the fight against the Ottomans, he enjoyed the unconditional confidence of the Habsburg rulers, and he was nominated four times to the post of palatine, the highest position in the land, second only to the king. As a patron of the arts he was quick to recognise the potential power of visual devices. His support for the arts was closely connected to his political activities, and the works he commissioned, including the building work carried out on his estates, all played a part in his political ambitions and were linked to particular stages of his career. In his campaign to be elected palatine, he defined himself as Christ’s victorious warrior, a hero defending both his nation and the Christian faith. This was reflected in his chosen motto, “In Deo vici,” with its allusions to Constantine the Great; it was proven by the military title bestowed upon him, as a knight of the Order of the Precious Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ of Mantua; and this image was reinforced by the heroic pictures of him, and by the posthumous portraits painted after them. Though it failed to achieve its political objective – for Erdődy never became palatine – the complex programme of patronage he followed, rare in the extreme in the Kingdom of Hungary in the early modern period, still dominates the way we regard this eminent nobleman.

:The Blood of Christ in the Theology of William Tyndale

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Some reflections on the ‘new covenant’ in Hebrews 12:24

In Hebrews 12:24 Jesus is called the Mediator of a διαθήκη νέα [new covenant], instead of aδιαθήκη καινή, as elsewhere in the New Testament. This peculiar reference to the new covenantis investigated within its relation to ‘the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better thanthe blood of Abel’ (Heb 12:24). In the investigation considerations from the micro- andmacrocontext of the structure of Hebrews are taken into account, as well as intertextua considerations. Special attention is given to the revelation-historical meaning of the blood ofAbel who was murdered by his brother (Gn 4:1–16). The outcome of the investigation is thatHebrews 12:24 uses the phrase διαθήκη νέα since, in contrast to the rest of Hebrews, it does notcompare the new covenant to the old covenant with Israel, but to the situation of humankindin their depravity after the fall into sin. Although God’s promise of a seed (Christ) in Genesis 3:15 already brought a shimmering of hope for salvation to fallen humankind, the blood of themurdered Abel witnessed to the fact that in itself humankind was destined for God’sjudgement, without a possibility of reconciliation with God. However, in his covenant of graceas already foreseen in the promised seed, God created a completely new possibility, namelythe prospect that the blood of Christ will bring about complete reconciliation with God andsalvation from his vengeance. Within the hopeless situation as witnessed by the blood of Abel the covenant leading to the reconciliatory sacrifice of Christ was a completely new outcome – aδιαθήκη νέα.

La Sainte-Chapelle tra Parigi e Chambéry: un emblema “replicabile” della sacralità di corte (XV secolo)

In the history of the Saintes-Chapelles the 13th century is a cornerstone, for the extraordinary semantic value given by king of France Louis IX to the palatine chapel, built on behalf of Sacred Crown of Christ and as emblem of the sacredness of the kingdom. In the theological and political arena of 13th-15th century Europe, this high symbolic value gives a strong power of representation of the royalty to the Sainte-Chapelle of Paris, making it also the subject of much imitation and reproduction by other courts. However, contrary to what one might think, the paradigms of such imitations and reproductions stay mutable for a long time, and they are not solely identifiable with the devotion to the Passion and the Blood of Christ. That is the context in which the foundation of the Sainte-Chapelle of the Savoy dukedom takes shape in Chambery in the fifteenth century, with details, times and protagonists that this study considers. From this viewpoint, the theme of the Sainte-Chapelle joins with the objectives of an investigation of the politics of the Holy as explained by Ludovic Viallet in the Introduction , and studied through their articulation between central and local powers, political ideology and devotions, political and religious planning of space.

Signs of the Times: Betwixt Friday and Sunday: The Place of Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation

Signs of the Times: Betwixt Friday and Sunday: The Place of Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation

Book Review: Eyes Have I that See: Selected Poems

Have I That See: Selected Poems. By John Julian ojn. Brewster, Mass.: Paraclete Press, 2015. 96 pp. $18.00 (paper).Several poets, such as Rainer Maria Rilke and William Carlos Wilhams, looking back at the end of their Uves, have regretted rushing into print at a young age with nothing to say and no voice with which to say it. For example, in his Autobiography (New Directions Publishing, 1967), the sixty-eightyear-old William Carlos Wilhams chastised himself (not too gently) for publishing Poems 1909 when he was only twenty-six years old. He said: There is not one thing of the slightest value in the whole thin booklet-except the intent. In contrast, Have 1 That See is John Julians first book of poetry. The earliest poem in this book was published in 1959 and the most recent in 2015; forty-four of the poems have never appeared in journals or reviews, so no one can accuse the poet of rushing into print. And there is no denying that the book is well worth the wait.John Julian is an eight-one-year-old Episcopal priest and monk. He founded the contemplative monastic Order of Julian of Norwich in 1985, and is the author of nine scholarly books on Dame Julian and the devotional life. Along the way, through this extraordinarily fruitful fife journey, he has been writing poetry.Eyes Have 1 That See is a remarkable collection of poems which differ widely in style and genre, perhaps because they stretch in time and experience. Some of the poems have traditional rhyme patterns; others are in free verse. They alternate in style and theme, from the exquisite prayerpoem Oblation to a poignant eulogy, Vietnam Casualty #50,472; from Stigmata, a Don Quixote trio, to the koan Eyes Have I That See. The book culminates in and closes with a profound thirteen-part oratorio (my word) titled Ave Maria.The book opens with a powerful modern rendition of the fourteenthcentury prayer Anima Christi. John Julians twenty-first-century version is refreshingly modern yet captures the same passion and meaning of the original. John Julian's poem is infinitely livelier than the plodding translation created by Cardinal John Henry Newman in 1854. To my ears, John Julian's use of concrete words, internal rhyme, and consistent rhythm of Soul of Christ, O, consecrate me; / Flesh of Christ, emancipate me; / Blood of Christ, intoxicate me . (p. 7) work much better than Newman's now classic Soul of Christ, be my sanctification; / Body of Christ, be my salvation; / Blood of Christ, fill all my veins. …

The Wordless Book: The Visual and Material Culture of Evangelism in Victorian Britain

The Wordless Book is widely used today in programs of Christian teaching and evangelism across the world. It consists of a series of blank pages which are colored in accordance with religious symbolism (black in reference to sin, red in reference to the redeeming blood of Christ, and so forth). It is employed as a way of engaging those who cannot read the words of the gospel, particularly the very young and the illiterate. It was employed by British and American missionaries from the later decades of the nineteenth century in Africa, India, China and elsewhere. This article explores the context of the invention of The Wordless Book by Charles Haddon Spurgeon and its popularization by Dwight L. Moody. Firstly, it is explored for what it can tell us about the visual culture of Christian evangelism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Secondly, it is considered as a mass-produced material object that was circulated together with hundreds of thousands of Christian tracts. However, unlike their textually rich companions, the books without words have not been preserved in library collections. The study, therefore, of the appearance and subsequent disappearance of Victorian wordless books also provides us with valuable insights into the perceived importance of texts and abstract images during this period.

Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual by Frank C. Senn

Reviewed by: Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual by Frank C. Senn Mark Mattes Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual. By Frank C. Senn. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016. xxiii + 416 pp. Frank Senn is one of the best-known scholars of liturgical studies. This book originated in a course which he taught in 2014 at Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia, a school rooted in the Dutch Reformed tradition (xxi). Designed to present the basics of Christian liturgy and liturgical theology to college and seminary students, Senn’s Introduction advocates that liturgy should be seen through a unique perspective, human experience as embodied. For Senn, the reality of human embodiment can be established through the practice of yoga. Most chapters offer specific, guided yogic exercises designed to ground one’s body in the liturgical truths being examined. As an example, here is a short yoga sequence Senn offers in honor of the Holy Trinity: [End Page 489] Let us conclude with a bodily devotion to the Holy Trinity. This is the half-sun salutation . . . . Assume the standing (mountain) pose. Extend the arms overhead, “Glory”; backward bend, “to the Father”; forward fold to the earth, “and to the Son”; monkey pose, “and to the Holy Spirit”; stand, hands in prayer position over heart, “Amen.” 27–28. This exercise is shorter than others. For Senn, yoga serves as an auxiliary discipline to help remind us “of important aspects of our faith that we tend to forget” (327). So, for example, breathing exercises can remind us of the Holy Spirit’s work in our bodies. Postures can “influence a Christian’s self-understanding as a body created in the image of God and an object of unutterable dignity redeemed by the blood of Christ” (327). So, Senn secularizes yoga, divests it of any saving power that may have one time been attributed to it in Hinduism, and baptizes it, if you will, into a Christian context. His point is that with technology, a Cartesian mind/body split, and ambivalent feelings about the body, Westerners increasingly tend to take their bodies for granted, when in fact, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, liturgy, rightly understood, is a deeply embodied event, akin to the incarnation. Senn situates liturgy less in a theology of the word, as Protestant theology historically tended to do, and more in cultural practices. Thereby, he links Christian practices to practices in other faith traditions, showing analogies between them and indicating how liturgy itself is shared by all humans, regardless of confession or lack thereof. This book is ecumenical in spirit, though Senn does not hide his Lutheran roots. Sensitive to his readers, Senn repeatedly refers to experiences from his decades in the parish, such as his improvising Lenten offerings or his orchestrating chancel dramas. Anything related to Christian liturgy, including matters as unique as medieval and current flagellation (175ff), exorcism (218), Greek Orthodox youth “diving for the cross” on Epiphany Day, and numerous other examples, appear. But, the crux of liturgy, for Senn, is that it should “express a disinterested character as far as the world is concerned precisely so that it can see the world in a clearer light and be able to discern where prayer is needed and what should be done to fulfill the church’s mission in the world” (113). [End Page 490] Overall Senn’s work demonstrates a wider move from an erstwhile “penitential piety” of a previous Western Christianity focused on human guilt and divine forgiveness to a “creation spirituality” centered in joyful reception of creation as a gift. While many aspects of this move should be affirmed, it is obvious that confession and forgiveness, practices which in today’s world recovering addicts would be the quickest to remind us of, is not as strong here as it was in traditional Lutheranism. Given the need of humans to receive new, clean hearts, a path honoring both penance and celebration needs to be respected. That said, this is a brilliant, creative, and daring book, worthy of study, particularly for those inclined towards reimaging the church’s praxis. Mark Mattes Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University...

Impact of blood donor deferrals on blood availability in a tertiary care centre of Dakshina Kannada

Background: The need for the blood is much higher than its supply. A large number of voluntary blood donors are deferred due to various causes, identified through sensitive laboratory screening for the guaranteed safety of the recipients which lead to loss of precious blood required to save life. Even though blood supply is inadequate, donor selection remains an important task. Objective: This study was been undertaken to evaluate the causes of deferrals among voluntary blood donors and to find a strategy for management of the same. Materials and Methods: A preliminary single center-based study assessing the causes for donor deferral was conducted during the study period of January 2013 to December 2014. The deferral reasons were then classified into temporary and permanent causes and the details were enlisted. Observations and Results: Of the 5321 donors, 4424 were voluntary donors and 897 were replacement donors. From this a total of 406(7.63%) donors were deferred: 293(72.1%) belonged to temporary and 113(27.8%) belonged to permanent category. 3 most common causes observed in our study for temporary deferrals were history of antibiotics intake, anemia and alcohol consumption and for permanent deferrals were hypertension, hepatitis C and hepatitis B. Conclusion: In order to decrease the deferrals and increase the blood donors the blood transfusion centres should take a further step to notify and educate the donors who are temporarily deferred about the reason for doing so and positively encourage and council them to come back again after certain time to donate blood and become regular permanent donors. Keywords: Voluntary blood donors, deferrals, screening, temporary, permanent