S is for Saints: Combines Tradition with Contemporary Appeal

Syncretism

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In her last years, Meera lived in Dwarka or Vrindavan , where legends state she miraculously disappeared by merging into an idol of Krishna in A number of compositions by Meera Bai continue to be sung today in India, mostly as devotional songs bhajans though nearly all of them have a philosophical connotation. The largest collection of poems credited to her are in 19th-century manuscripts.

Martin of Tours

Scholars have attempted to establish authenticity based on both the poem and Meera being mentioned in other manuscripts as well as from style, linguistics and form. In her poems, Krishna is a yogi and lover, and she herself is a yogini ready to take her place by his side into a spiritual marital bliss. My Dark One has gone to an alien land.

He has left me behind, he's never returned, he's never sent me a single word. So I've stripped off my ornaments, jewels and adornments, cut my hair from my head. And put on holy garments, all on his account, seeking him in all four directions. Meera speaks of a personal relationship with Krishna as her lover, lord and mountain lifter.

The characteristic of her poetry is complete surrender. After making me fall for you so hard, where are you going?

The early papacy

Until the day I see you, no repose: For your sake I'll make myself a yogini, I'll hurl myself to death on the saw of Kashi. Mira's Lord is the clever Mountain Lifter, and I am his, a slave to his lotus feet. Meera is often classed with the northern Sant bhaktis who spoke of a formless divinity. Scholars acknowledge that Meera was one of the central poet-saints of the Bhakti movement, during a difficult period in Indian history filled with religious conflicts.

Yet, they simultaneously question the extent to which Meera was a canonical projection of social imagination that followed, where she became a symbol of people's suffering and a desire for an alternative. If one accepts that someone very akin to the Mira legend [about persecution and her devotion] existed as an actual social being, the power of her convictions broke the brutal feudal relationships that existed at that time. The Mira Bai of the popular imagination, then, is an intensely anachronistic figure by virtue of that anticipatory radical democracy which propels Meera out of the historicity that remains nonetheless ascribed to her.

Papal corruption and the humiliation of Boniface forced the papal court to move, under French influence, to Avignon in The Avignon popes, though skilled administrators, were not distinguished by their piety. Indeed, John XXII —34 is best known for his battle with the Spiritual Franciscans and his questionable views on the Beatific Vision the experience of God in the afterlife ; and Clement VI —52 , who protected the Jews against persecution by those who blamed them for the Black Death , established a reputation as a patron of the arts.

As the European world disintegrated into its component national parts, the universalism of the church and the papacy was challenged. The Italian Renaissance , sometimes dated from the death of Petrarch in , is generally seen as a break with medieval culture , but this was not entirely true, especially for the papacy, which witnessed the further development of many medieval themes.

Notably, the continued decline of the political power of the Holy See was accelerated by the Great Schism Western Schism ; — , in which rival factions of cardinals elected popes in both Rome and Avignon. The schism erupted as a result of the growing desire, voiced by Petrarch and by St. Catherine of Siena , among others, to see the papacy return to Rome. His successor, Urban VI —89 , acted in such a high-handed fashion that he alienated a considerable number of cardinals, who elected a new pope and returned to Avignon. Although Christians were divided in their loyalties, all of them recognized the dire nature of the situation.

Theologians responded with the doctrine of conciliarism , which holds that an ecumenical council has greater authority than the pope and may depose him. Although the conciliar movement ultimately collapsed under the weight of its own success, it did help to resolve the crisis. In the Council of Constance ended the schism by deposing or accepting the resignations of three rival popes one had been elected by the Council of Pisa in Under Pope Nicholas V —55 there was a revival of classical studies, which contributed to the development of humanism and the Renaissance.

Nicholas also envisioned the rebuilding of St. The vain and ostentatious Pope Paul II —71 , who had a virtual mania for gems and collectibles, built the magnificent Palazzo Venezia in Rome. His successor, Pope Sixtus IV —84 , proceeded with the beautification of the city. The secular outlook of the papacy reached a high point with the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI — and continued under Pope Julius II —13 , who proved a great patron of the arts. As Renaissance Rome became a centre of art, science, and politics, its religious role declined; thus began the steps that provoked the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Small wonder that these Renaissance popes, most of whom were more involved in political and financial alliances than in pastoral work, proved unable to respond effectively to the crisis. Only later did the papacy attempt to reform the church by calling the Council of Trent —63 , instituting the so-called Counter-Reformation.

The theological and ecclesiastical decisions of this council largely determined the shape of the Roman Catholic Church until the second half of the 20th century. The popes of this period found their programs challenged by the growing power of the nation-states. Nevertheless, there were some positive developments, including reform of the College of Cardinals and the founding of new orders such as the Theatines , the Barnabites , the Capuchins , and, perhaps most important of all, the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits These orders played a crucial role in the revitalization of the church and in the growing influence of the papacy.

The establishment of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in demonstrated the importance of the papacy in the missionary movement. The papacy also attempted to implement the policies of the Council of Trent but encountered political and diplomatic obstacles, as well as the reality that Christendom remained divided into competing states, whose religious aspirations were often subordinate to dynastic and national ambitions.

Determined to continue the campaign against heresy, the popes of the Counter-Reformation did so inconsistently, displaying an ambiguous attitude toward modernization. Although they opposed the increasing infringement on papal prerogatives by national governments, they embraced the idea of structural modernization, which led to greater centralization in the church around the papacy.

The 18th-century Enlightenment created a climate hostile to faith in general and to the papacy in particular. Philosophers and political leaders in France, Spain, Portugal, Naples, and elsewhere launched a two-pronged attack on the political and religious programs of the papacy, focusing much of their opposition on the Society of Jesus, which Pope Clement XIV —74 was compelled to suppress in To make matters worse, the centralization of the papacy was opposed by movements such as Gallicanism in France , Febronianism in Germany , and Josephism in Austria and Italy , each of which championed national ecclesiastical autonomy from Rome.

The revolutionary age in Europe, which opened with the French Revolution , continued the attack on the papacy. Although the conservative powers reestablished the Papal States at the Congress of Vienna —15 , the papacy now confronted Italian nationalism and the Risorgimento Italian: The alignment of the papacy with conservative political forces worked to undermine liberal and modernizing influences within the church and contributed to the loss of the Papal States to the new Kingdom of Italy in Divested of its remaining temporal power, the papacy increasingly relied on its spiritual or teaching authority, proclaiming papal infallibility and espousing ultramontanism the idea that the pope is the absolute ruler of the church.

The Lateran Treaty with the Fascist government of Italy created the minuscule state of Vatican City and granted the papacy formal temporal sovereignty over the territory. John sought an aggiornamento Italian: Although many conservative Catholics believed that the council went too far, especially in terminating the requirement of the traditional Latin mass , the theological and organizational changes made at Vatican II significantly revitalized the church and opened it to reform, ecumenical dialogue , and increased participation of bishops, clergy, and laity.

In response, Paul VI imposed new regulations specifying that cardinals who are age 80 or older cannot vote for a pope and limiting the number of voting cardinals to In John Paul issued a set of rules governing papal elections, one of which provided that under certain circumstances the traditionally required majority of two-thirds plus one could be replaced by a simple majority. This rule was repealed by his successor, Benedict XVI —13 , in The pontificate of John Paul II , one of the longest in history, left a profound mark on the church and the papacy. A charismatic and beloved figure, John Paul traveled more than all other popes combined, played a crucial role in the collapse of communism in Poland and the rest of eastern Europe, canonized numerous new saints, and made great strides toward interfaith dialogue with non-Christians.

He established formal and full diplomatic relations with Israel and sought greater reconciliation with the Jews and Judaism ; he was the first pope to worship in a synagogue, and he made a historic pilgrimage to Jerusalem, during which he prayed at the Western Wall.

The medieval papacy

He retained traditional positions on a number of issues, however, including the ordination of women, clerical marriage, homosexuality, birth control , and abortion, and he was implacably opposed to liberation theology , which he felt was uncomfortably close to Marxism. His stance against the use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases was criticized by human rights workers and some politicians for its perceived contribution to the spread of AIDS in Africa.

This controversy became part of a long-standing debate, joined by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, about whether the church had accommodated too much or too little to the secular, modern age. Francis I — , the first South American and the first Jesuit to become pope, was elected after Benedict, citing health reasons, became the first pope in almost six centuries to resign. Francis offered hope to clergy and laity alike that the church would confront the scandals and controversies of the previous decades.

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Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Popes and antipopes 1 1 Antipopes are in italics. Until the 4th century the popes were usually known only as bishops of Rome.

The issue has made the numbering of subsequent Stephens somewhat irregular. In current numbering there thus exists no pope by the name of John XX. The sense of movement is given not by the decoration, but by the walls themselves, which undulate and by concave and convex elements, including an oval tower and balcony inserted into a concave traverse.

The interior was equally revolutionary; the main space of the church was oval, beneath an oval dome. It appeared in Venice in the church of Santa Maria della Salute — by Baldassare Longhena , a highly original octagonal form crowned with an enormous cupola. It contrasted an extreme richness of ornament on the exterior with simplicity in the interior, divided into multiple spaces and using effects of light to create a sense of mystery.

Granada had only been liberated from the Moors in the 15th century, and had its own distinct variety of Baroque. The painter, sculptor and architect Alonso Cano designed the Baroque interior of Granada Cathedral between and his death in It features dramatic contrasts of the massive white columns and gold decor.

Some of the most and ornamental and lavishly decorated architecture of the period was designed by the brothers Churriguera , who worked primarily in Salamanca and Madrid. The Church of San Esteban in Salamanca is one of the most ornate baroque churches anywhere. Their other works include the buildings on the city's main square, the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca The architects of the Spanish Baroque had an effect far beyond Spain; their work was highly influential in the churches built in the Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines.

From to , many highly ornate cathedrals, abbeys, and pilgrimage churches were built in central Europe, in Bavaria, Austria, and what is now the Czech Republic. Some were in Rococo style, a distinct, more flamboyant and asymmetric style which emerged out of the Baroque, then replaced it in Central Europe in the first half of the 18th century, until it was replaced in turn by classicism. The princes of the multitude of states in that region also chose Baroque or Rococo for their palaces and residences, and often used Italian-trained architects to construct them.

Another work of baroque palace architecture is the Zwinger in Potsdam , the former orangerie of the palace of the Dukes of Saxony in the 18th century.

One of the best examples of a rococo church is the Basilika Vierzehnheiligen, or Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers , a pilgrimage church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, in Bavaria , southern Germany. The Basilica was designed by Balthasar Neumann and was constructed between and , its plan a series of interlocking circles around a central oval with the altar placed in the exact center of the church. The interior of this church illustrates the summit of Rococo decoration. Another notable example of the style is the Pilgrimage Church of Wies German: It was designed by the brothers J.

It is located in the foothills of the Alps , in the municipality of Steingaden in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria , Germany. Construction took place between and , and the interior was decorated with frescoes and with stuccowork in the tradition of the Wessobrunner School.

Another notable example is the St. Decoration covers all of walls of interior of the church.

The altar is placed in the nave beneath the central dome, and surrounded by chapels, Light comes down from the dome above and from the surrounding chapels. The altar is entirely surrounded by arches, columns, curved balustrades and pilasters of colored stone, which are richly decorated with statuary, creating a deliberate confusion between the real architecture and the decoration.

The architecture is transformed into a theater of light, color and movement.

Saint Patrick

France largely resisted the ornate baroque style of Italy, Spain, Vienna and the rest of Europe. The French Baroque style often termed Grand Classicism or simply Classicism in France is closely associated with the works built for Louis XIV and Louis XV ; it features more geometric order and measure than baroque, and less elaborate decoration on the facades and in the interiors.

Louis XIV invited the master of baroque, Bernini, to submit a design for the new wing of the Louvre, but rejected it in favor of a more classical design by Claude Perrault and Louis Le Vau. Mansart completed the Grand Trianon in The chapel, designed by de Cotte, was finished in The fountains in the gardens were designed to be seen from the interior, and to add to the dramatic effect.

The palace was admired and copied by other monarchs of Europe, particularly Peter the Great of Russia, who visited Versailles early in the reign of Louis XV, and built his own version at Peterhof Palace near Saint Petersburg, between and The debut of Russian Baroque, or Petrine Baroque , followed a long visit of Peter the Great to western Europe in —98, where he visited the Chateaux of Fontainebleu and Versailles and other architectural monuments.

He decided, on his return to Russia, to construct similar monuments in St. Petersburg, when he moved the Russian capital there in During the reign of Empress Anna and Elizaveta Petrovna , Russian architecture was dominated by the luxurious baroque style of Bartolomeo Rastrelli ; called Elizabethan Baroque. Baroque painters worked deliberately to set themselves apart from the painters of the Renaissance and the Mannerism period after it. In their palette, they used intense and warm colors, and particularly made use of the primary colors red, blue and yellow, frequently putting all three in close proximity.

In their composition, they avoided the tranquil scenes of Renaissance paintings, and chose the moments of the greatest movement and drama. Unlike the tranquil faces of Renaissance paintings, the faces in Baroque paintings clearly expressed their emotions. They often used asymmetry, with action occurring away from the center of the picture, and created axes that were neither vertical or horizontal, but slanting to the left or right, giving a sense of instability and movement.

The Saint John's Bible

They enhanced this impression of movement by having the costumes of the personages blown by the wind, or moved by their own gestures. The overall impressions were movement, emotion and drama. The earliest Baroque painters were the Italians the Caracci brothers, Annibale and Agostino , in the last score of the 16th century, and Caravaggio in the last decade of the century. Caravaggio's realistic approach to the human figure, painted directly from life and dramatically spotlit against a dark background, shocked his contemporaries and opened a new chapter in the history of painting. Poussin and La Tour adopted a "classical" Baroque style with less focus on emotion and greater attention to the line of the figures in the painting than colour.

Peter Paul Rubens was the most important painter of the Flemish Baroque style. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, color, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation.

Rubens specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. One important domain of Baroque painting was Quadratura , or paintings in trompe-l'oeil , which literally "fooled the eye". These were usually painted on the stucco of ceilings or upper walls and balustrades, and gave the impression to those on the ground looking up were that they were seeing the heavens populated with crowds of angels, saints and other heavenly figures, set against painted skies and imaginary architecture.

In Italy, artists often collaborated with architects on interior decoration; Pietro da Cortona was one of the painters of the 17th century who employed this illusionist way of painting. Among his most important commissions were the frescoes he painted for the Palace of the Barberini family —39 , to glorify the reign of Pope Urban VIII.

He designed tapestries, carpets and theater decoration as well as painting. His paintings featured mythological romantic, and mildly erotic themes.

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The dominant figure in baroque sculpture was Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Under the patronage of Pope Urban VIII , he made a remarkable series of monumental statues of saints and figures whose faces and gestures vividly expressed their emotions, as well as portrait busts of exceptional realism, and highly decorative works for the Vatican, including the imposing Chair of St. Peter beneath the dome in St. In addition, he designed fountains with monumental groups of sculpture to decorate the major squares of Rome.

When he visited Paris in , Bernini addressed the students at the Academy of painting and sculpture, he advised the students to work from classical models, rather than from nature. He told the students, "When I had trouble with my first statue, i consulted the Antinous like an oracle. Pigalle was commissioned by Frederick the Great to make statues for Frederick's own version of Versailles at Sanssouci in Potsdam , Germany. Falconet also received an important foreign commission, creating the famous statue of Peter the Great on horseback found in St.

In Spain, the sculptor Francisco Salzillo worked exclusively on religious themes, using polychromed wood. Some of the finest baroque sculptural craftsmanship was found in the gilded stucco altars of churches of the Spanish colonies of the New World, made by local craftsmen; examples include the Rosary Chapel of the Church of Santo Domingo in Oaxaca, Mexico — The term Baroque is also used to designate the style of music composed during a period that overlaps with that of Baroque art.

The first uses of the term 'baroque' for music were criticisms.

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