The Virtues of the Mass
A Taxonomy of a Late Middle English Genre of Liturgical Significance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21838358 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Antje Elisa Chan (0000-0002-6324-2520, University of Oxford, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 77-115 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-13 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1947-6566 • E-ISSN: 2153-9650 |
| Publisher | The Pennsylvania State University Press (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5325/jmedirelicult.49.1.0077 |
| OpenAlex | W4317496745 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
The Virtues of the Mass is a literary corpus comprising around forty-four known Middle English texts. These writings expound the liturgical sequences of the Mass and/or its spiritual and physical benefits for both clerical and lay audiences, whether literate or illiterate. This article traces 107 manuscripts containing variants of the Virtues of the Mass (as examined in the appendix) to contend that this corpus of texts should be viewed as a comprehensive genre. It proposes a new taxonomy that categorizes the texts into two traditions: the first textual tradition focuses on the benefits of attending mass, while the second focuses on explaining the liturgical ceremony. This article contextualizes the genre in light of the renewed interest in corporate worship and communal devotional practices in England in the first half of the fifteenth century, and considers key themes associated with the genre such as prayer, soulhele, and liturgical habitus
Archaeology · Art · Ceremony · Ethnography · Habitus · Literature · Middle English · Prayer · Sociology · Theology · Worship · Anthropology · Computer Science · History · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Religious Tourism and Spaces
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |