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Creating a Patron Saint of Renegades

Creating a Patron Saint of Renegades By Rosemary Lee I. INTRODUCTION Choosingamissionsite,masteringvernaculars,andacquiringinfluentialpatrons were all crucial items on the missionary’s to-do list. Choosing and promoting holyadvocateswereequallyimportantstepsforanymission.Thoughtheywould likely not have described it in the same way, missionaries recognized that evan- gelizationwasaprocessofcreatingnewidentitiesandculturesfortheirconverts. One of the most effective ways to do so was through the promotion of saints, who served as reservoirs of cultural memory for Christians both old and new, in Europeandtheoverseasmissions. Missionariesreliedonsaintsnotonlytoactas intercessors for their converts, but also to intercede for themselves. Through their relics and vitae, saints provided an equally portable counterpart to the roundofprayers,religiousservices,andprivatedevotionsthatsustainedmission- aries’senseof selfin far-flung missionsites. Examining missionaries’ efforts to identify and promote holy people reveal howmissionariesandtheirsupportersdefinedcommunitiesastargetsofconver- sion and how they perceived converts’ capacities for extraordinary holiness. Al- lan Greer, for example, has offered telling insight into how creole elites assessed indigenous women’s capacity for religious life by analyzing material concerning theMohawkholywomanCatherineTekakwitha(1656–1680)circulatinginco- lonial Mexico. For missionaries in Persia, who were not operating in a similar * Abbreviations: Archivium de Propaganda Fide, Rome: APF – APF, Scritture referite nei Congressi (SC) Mesopotamia 1, Scritture originali delle congregazioni generali (SOCG) 209: PersianMaterial.–ArchivioSegretoVaticano,Rome:ASV–ASVDellaValle-DelBufaloBusta 52:DellaValle’sLetters.–ASVDellaValle-DelBufaloBusta92:DellaValle’sWritings.–ASV DellaValle-DelBufaloBusta186:DellaValle’sDiary.–ASVDellaValle-DelBufaloBusta188: Della Valle’s Register. – Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome: BAV – BAV Vat. Lat. 9730, ff. 199–230: DellaValle’s InformationeSullaGeorgia. 1. For a http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History de Gruyter

Creating a Patron Saint of Renegades

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2021 by Gütersloher Verlagshaus
eISSN
2198-0489
DOI
10.14315/arg-2016-1070112
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Abstract

By Rosemary Lee I. INTRODUCTION Choosingamissionsite,masteringvernaculars,andacquiringinfluentialpatrons were all crucial items on the missionary’s to-do list. Choosing and promoting holyadvocateswereequallyimportantstepsforanymission.Thoughtheywould likely not have described it in the same way, missionaries recognized that evan- gelizationwasaprocessofcreatingnewidentitiesandculturesfortheirconverts. One of the most effective ways to do so was through the promotion of saints, who served as reservoirs of cultural memory for Christians both old and new, in Europeandtheoverseasmissions. Missionariesreliedonsaintsnotonlytoactas intercessors for their converts, but also to intercede for themselves. Through their relics and vitae, saints provided an equally portable counterpart to the roundofprayers,religiousservices,andprivatedevotionsthatsustainedmission- aries’senseof selfin far-flung missionsites. Examining missionaries’ efforts to identify and promote holy people reveal howmissionariesandtheirsupportersdefinedcommunitiesastargetsofconver- sion and how they perceived converts’ capacities for extraordinary holiness. Al- lan Greer, for example, has offered telling insight into how creole elites assessed indigenous women’s capacity for religious life by analyzing material concerning theMohawkholywomanCatherineTekakwitha(1656–1680)circulatinginco- lonial Mexico. For missionaries in Persia, who were not operating in a similar * Abbreviations: Archivium de Propaganda Fide, Rome: APF – APF, Scritture referite nei Congressi (SC) Mesopotamia 1, Scritture originali delle congregazioni generali (SOCG) 209: PersianMaterial.–ArchivioSegretoVaticano,Rome:ASV–ASVDellaValle-DelBufaloBusta 52:DellaValle’sLetters.–ASVDellaValle-DelBufaloBusta92:DellaValle’sWritings.–ASV DellaValle-DelBufaloBusta186:DellaValle’sDiary.–ASVDellaValle-DelBufaloBusta188: Della Valle’s Register. – Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome: BAV – BAV Vat. Lat. 9730, ff. 199–230: DellaValle’s InformationeSullaGeorgia. 1. For a

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Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History – de Gruyter

Published: Oct 1, 2016

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