Singing in Heaven and Shouting on Earth

Ritual Prayer and the Mystical Voice in the Life of Pirona the Recluse

Bibliographic Data

ID4313655
AuthorsLaura Moncion (University of Tübingen, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume16
Issue9
Pages1169
Publication date2025-09-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel16091169
OpenAlexW4414134573
LanguageEN
References cited22

This paper explores the role of voice in the fifteenth-century hagiography of the recluse Pirona, who lived a religious life while voluntarily enclosed in a dwelling attached to the church of St. Nicholas outside the city walls of Mechelen. Her hagiographer-confessor describes Pirona's voice and foregrounds her speech throughout the text. His representations of her words and the quality of her voice illustrate Pirona's mystical proximity to the divine and underline her connection to himself and his fellow friars. In scenes that include ritual prayers or liturgical chants, Pirona's voice transforms her mind and body, testing the limits of her humanity and bringing her closer to the divine

Heaven · Humanity · Mysticism · Prayer · Recluse · Religious experience · Singing · Historical and Archaeological Studies · Medieval Literature and History · Renaissance Literature and Culture

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