Includes bibliographical references (pages 4853-604) and indexes.
Contents:
The hours of the Virgin. A little history of the Office -- "Seven times a day I have praised you" (Psalm 118:164) -- Ave Maria. Saluting Mary : Ave -- Naming Mary : MARIA -- Antiphon and psalm. Mary in the temple -- Mary in the psalms -- Lesson and response. Lectio prima. Ars grammatica. Richard of Saint-Laurent and the name of Mary in scripture -- Lectio ii. Ars rhetorica. Conrad of Saxony on what the angel said to Mary -- Lectio iii. Ars dialectica. Pseudo-Albert's questions about what Mary knew -- Prayer. How to serve Mary -- Reasons to serve Mary -- Compline : Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda and the mystical city of God -- Appendix. Handlist of manuscripts and printed editions of Richard of Saint-Laurent's De laudibus beatae Mariae virginis libri XII.
Summary:
"Would you like to learn to pray like a medieval Christian? Rachel Fulton Brown traces the history of the medieval practice of praising Mary through the complex of prayers known as the Hours of the Virgin. More than just a work of comprehensive historical scholarship, the book asks readers to immerse themselves in the experience of believing in and praying to Mary. Mary and the Art of Prayer crosses the boundaries that modern scholars typically place between observation and experience, between the world of provable facts and the world of imagination, suggesting what it would have been like for medieval Christians to encounter Mary in prayer. Mary and the Art of Prayer opens with a history of the devotion of the Hours or "Little Office" of the Virgin. It then guides readers in the practice of saying this Office, including its invitatory (Ave Maria), antiphons, psalms, lessons, and prayers. The book works on several levels at once. It provides a new methodology for thinking about devotion and prayer; a new appreciation of the scope of and audience for the Hours of the Virgin; a new understanding of how Mary functions theologically and devotionally; and a new reading of sources not previously taken into account. A courageous and moving work, it will transform our ideas of what scholarship is and what it can accomplish."--Dust jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.