medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
My dictionary (Le Maxidico) gives the definition of "neuvaine" as follows:
1. Vx, Les neuf Muses. 2. Cath. Cycle de dévotions de neuf jours, visant à
obtenir une grace particuliere. Fin XIIIe s. (Sorry, my program won't do e
grave).
Aline Hornaday
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>Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 19:42:57 +0000
>From: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Novena?
>
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>Dear Listmembers,
>I have recently been coming across the French word "la neuvaine",
>which seems to want to be translated as "novena", but the contexts
>are somewhat different, I believe, from the modern conception of a
>novena. During the later Middle Ages, the sick slept for nine nights
>in the crypt of Chartres Cathedral, near the miraculous well, the
>Puits des Saints-Forts, and as well, tunics, imitating the Tunic of
>the Virgin, the major relic at Chartres Cathedral, were placed on the
>reliquary for nine days, during which masses were said, before they
>were sent to the queens of France, in order to aid them in conceiving
>a dauphin. Early modern chroniclers and 19th-century historians
>have described both practices as involving a "neuvaine". Do these
>practices fall within the modern conception of a novena? Does
>"novena" have a historical development? Thanks in advance for any
>information or references.
>Cheers,
>Jim Bugslag
Aline G. Hornaday
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