The Vulnerable Therapeutic Water Spaces of Virgen de Caysasay

The Virgen de Caysasay is one of the oldest manifestations of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines. According to popular belief, a fisherman netted her statue in the Pansipit River in 1603. Many miraculous healing events, mostly involving water, have been attributed to her. Despite the devastating effects of the climate crisis, Caysasay water spaces endure as therapeutic, healing, and ritual places. This essay examines the interlocking dynamics and vulnerabilities of bodies of water associated with the Virgen de Caysasay, their contextual sacred spaces where pieties are performed, and their surrounding communities

Did the Justinianic Plague Truly Reach Frankish Europe around 543 AD?

This article focuses on the episodes of bubonic plague recorded around 543 AD in Frankish Europe which on re-reading appear doubtful. Beginning in 541 and for two centuries, the Justinianic plague ravaged the Mediterranean area over several successive waves. The first mentions concern Egypt; the plague then spreads northward to Constantinople and almost concomitantly or shortly afterward moves westward until it reaches Western Europe. For this last region, the main source is Bishop Gregory of Tours, who in both his historical and his hagiographic writings, provides numerous data on the first outbreaks that raged in Frankish Europe, episodes to which he was a contemporary (even if for the first, he was still in early childhood). According to Gregory, around 543, bubonic plague ravaged several areas under Frankish rule. However, among others, intertextual, contextualized and chronological analyses strongly suggest that these events were in fact fictional. Gregory seems to have wanted to balance during epidemics of plague, the behavior of two bishops of Clermont that were totally opposed. In the episode of 571, when plague struck the episcopal city, the unworthy Bishop Cautinus, to escape disease, had fled the city in cowardice. In the other episode, through the intercession of Gregory's paternal uncle, the virtuous Gallus, the immediate predecessor of Cautinus and that of a saint specific of the paternal branch, the city, including the diocese, was spared from the plague. Other references to similar events in which, through saints, the plague is driven out, or territories are protected from it are also dated arbitrarily from this period. Furthermore, unlike the episode of 571, the plague of 543 is never considered a punishment for sin; moreover, no miraculous healing of plague patients is recorded. Contemporary texts from other authors of Frankish Europe, although they are rare, do not mention any epidemic around 543 - especially the Vita of Caesarius of Arles, written shortly after the death of this bishop (from 542 to 547-9) by several hagiographers - while two of Gregory’s texts, which are repeated almost verbatim, indicate that the province of Arles was the region most affected. This fact underscores the decisive contribution that hagiographic texts can make in the analysis of facts considered to be historical. Finally, the dramatic deteriorations in the health situation described in Gregory’s reports could have a background of truth and be the consequence of the climatic cooling observed from 536, likely due to volcanic eruptions, but did not involve the bubonic plague.

Care for the Sick in Early Christianity: Lessons for the Current COVID-19 Stricken Church

Debates on whether early Christians relied solely on exorcism and other miraculous healing under the assumption that all diseases are a result of demonic activity, continue. On the one end of this scholarly continuum are those who hold that early Christians only approached disease and healing as purely spiritual phenomena (hence, focusing on exorcism and other kinds of miraculous healing), while, on the other end, others have argued that early Christians accepted a naturalistic view of the causes for diseases and, consequently, sought naturalistic solutions to diseases. However, like in many other areas of life and thought in early Christianity, there is truth in both of these contentions. Rather than choose sides in this debate, this paper will argue that, just like in other areas, early Christians chose and modified existing approaches to sickness and death based on their understanding of the scriptural teachings on these subjects. As such, their approaches provide some key lessons to the current Covid-19 stricken Church.

Pilgrimage in China

Pilgrims in China have historically traveled to locations considered to be ling—holding spiritual power. Such locations became known as sites where the sacred becomes manifest. A resident bodhisattva (enlightened being) might appear to travelers, or pilgrims might receive miraculous healing after having visited a mountain. Often through stories of such extraordinary events, sites became popular for their efficacious power, and pilgrims journeyed to them hoping to receive a vision, a healing, and/or a blessing in return. Ling differentiates a site as sacred, and in many Chinese religious traditions, ling is associated with mountains.

Lady Andrea Raymon and the Great Companies, 1361

This chapter cites Countess Delphine’s death on November 26, 1360 at the age of seventy-five, which was considered a momentous event for her close associates, the city of Apt, and the Agoult and Sabran families. It refers to witnesses that recalled many miracles that took place during Delphine’s vigil, proving her sanctity. It also recounts a familiar mark of sanctity that was witnessed by medical doctor and confessor, Master Durand Andree, when he stated that Delphine’s feet stayed pliable after her death as if she was still living. The chapter focuses on Lady Andrea Raymon, a fifty-one-year-old noblewoman living in Ansouis, who gained courage after a prayer to Delphine when she was ambushed by mercenaries. It also delves into Lady Andrea’s testimony of the miraculous healing of the brother of the prior of St. Peter’s church in Ansouis from a deadly fever.

Salus populi: Icons and the Protection of the People

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Pope Francis prayed before an icon of the Virgin and Child in Santa Maria Maggiore and a crucifix in San Marcello, two images associated with miraculous healing and intercessory power. He subsequently had the icon and crucifix moved to St. Peter’s where they flanked the pope as he offered a special Urbi et Orbi blessing on March 27, 2020. To contextualize Francis’s use of an icon during the coronavirus outbreak, this article will trace the role of cult images in Rome during occurrences of disease and will briefly discuss the specific importance of the Santa Maria Maggiore icon for the early Jesuit order.