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Luciana Cuppo Csaki
Societas internationalis pro Vivario
e-mail:	[log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/athens/aegean/9891/
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   Without a nudge or a wink, I daresay that the Roman Catholic Church
did take much from Roman institutions, following St. Paul's exhortation,
"omnia autem probate, quod bonum est tenete" (Thess. 5.21). It is of
course debatable whether the "do ut des" belongs to the bona to be
retained, but it seems to me that to regard a contract, with saints or
anybody else, as binding, is not all that bad - at least it's honest.
Indeed, I'd like to know - perhaps some lurker or distinguished member
of this list can tell me - if the present distinction in the
CatholicChurch between a vow (binding under pain of sin) and a promise
(no sin if it is not kept) goes back to the Roman legal system, whose
courts of law could enforce a vow (James Brundage).
   Bargains with saints, ex-votos, etc. should be seen from yet another
angle: to believers, modern or medieval, saints are real people, not
mental constructions. They are friends, and, since they no longer sin,
not fair-weather frinds, but trustworthy ones. Hence the requests for
favors, which may or may not be done on a contractual basis; to James
Brundage's relief, there are certainly many more requests than ex-votos,
and the ex-voto itself may be a kind of thank-you note and a token of
gratitude. It's the thought that counts, and we cannot all be aesthetes,
alas, alas.
   More important, I think, are two principles underlying bargains and
devotions: that saints are (not "were") real persons, and that their
personality (minus sins and imperfections) did not change in its nature.
The second concept - to keep one's identity throughou eterniti - may
require some thought. "Saints are real" was easy to grasp for the
medieval mind, not so for us; consciously or subliminally, we are heirs
to German idealism andto Marx, who considered religion in its various
manifestations a product of conditions and developments in society. On a
more technical level (hagiography) the Bollandists were quite
influential in convincing people that many saints were not real, because
documentation about them was not sufficient or not sufficiently
scientific.
   The first results of a survey published as "Une enquete sur les
'spiritualites populaires'," in "Revue d'histoire de la spiritualite" 49
(1973) 493-504 are indicative of present trends, more pronounced now, if
anything, than in 1973. The questionnaire did not define "spiritualite",
but the respondents were asked to comment on the criteria that
distinguish "spiritualite populaire" from other types of spirituality.
In reply, Jean Becquet proposed "mentalite religieuse" for
non-systematic attitudes including "croyances (pensee), devotions
(sentiment), pratiques (comportement)" (495). Pierre Riche opted for
"mentalites religieuses populaires" (496). Guy Lobrichon expressed
interest in "phenomenes d'emission, de transmissiojn et de reception
(effective et officielle) des attitudes mentales, croyances et rites
dans les differents lieux sociaux de l'histoire spirituelle" (499).
These categories are no doubt illuminating for the reception of the
culture of the Middle Ages in later times, but if "spirituality" is a
mindset, then Guy Lobrichon said it best, "l'histoire de la spiritualite
se fait dans les auberges espagnoles" (495). The study of medieval
religion should try to look at religion, at least provisionally, as
people in the Middle Ages looked at it; some empathy (not the right
word, I am thinking of "Einfuehlunsvermoegen", any suggestions?) is
required. And in the Midle Ages, saints were not a mentalite, but a fact
of life.
   The second principle (saints are not dead and gone, but the same
people we read about or knew on earth)may explain, I think, some
peculiarities of devotion to saints. Take St. Coecilia: she was an
accomplished musician and becamethe patron saint of musicians
everywhere. This presupposes, it seems to me, that her interest in music
did not wane with life. Thats how believers looked at it, and I would be
interested in the theoretical formulation (before St. Thomas, that is)
that nature is perfected, not altered, in heaven. The identity of nature
is remarkable because we are also told that saints (in heaven) see God
in His essence, that is to say in a way impossible to saints on earth.
Thus, we have a strong affirmation of the "I" (I am what I am, come
heaven or high water) and the "Thou", a God not only generically present
to repentant sinners et al., in this life and in the next, but also
unattainable as He is to human beings on earth (1 Cor. 2.9). To keep
these two poles in mind may save us from seeing devotions to the saints
as a quaint, if often charming, mental aberration.
Luciana



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