The fabric of religion: vestments and devotional Catholicism in nineteenth-century America
Date
2004
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The nineteenth century was a period of significant change in the American Catholic Church, as the church transitioned from a loosely organized body, with a religious emphasis on interiority and “plain piety,” to a highly structured entity promoting an intensely sacramental and performative style of “devotional Catholicism.” Drawing on a wide variety of sources, including surviving objects, church goods catalogs, ecclesiastical legislation, and contemporary Catholic literature, this thesis argues that nineteenth-century vestments fostered and reflected these ecclesiological and theological developments. Throughout the century, bishops and church-sanctioned writers strove to control the use and meanings of vestments. Through their appearance and iconography, as well as the allegorical interpretations assigned to them, nineteenth-century vestments communicated key devotional Catholic tenets of the elevated position of the priest, the centrality of the Eucharist, and the internationalism and universality of the church.
Description
"Copyrighted materials in this document have not been scanned at the request of the author. They are available for consultation in the author's university library. [Pages] 87-90"--Unnumbered page inserted by UMI.