Virtuous Magic: Women Saints and Their Meanings.

MAITLAND, Sara and MULFORD, Wendy.

ISBN 10: 082641074X / ISBN 13: 9780826410740

Published by Continuum, NY, 1998

About this Item

First edition. About fine in a fine dust jacket.

Seller Inventory # 34765

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Virtuous Magic: Women Saints and Their Meanings.
• Publisher: Continuum, NY
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 082641074X
• ISBN 13: 9780826410740
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Ideas of holiness continue to haunt us even in this secular age. Too often banished from rational discourse, these ideas lurk like shadows in the imagination. In Virtuous Magic, a novelist and a poet describe the lives and legends of 45 holy women from the beginnings of Christianity until today, from Martha of Bethany and Mary Magdalene to Edith Stein, Dorothy Day, and the women religious and poverty workers martyred in El Salvador in 1980. The focus is on women in three the arts of healing, the exercise of power, and the practice of mysticism. Playfully exploring the complex relationship between historical fact and spiritual truth, the authors employ poetry and fiction as well as historical narrative and the local records of cult centers to explore the many "meanings" of female sanctity. Intended as a book for browsing as well as for continuous reading, Virtuous Magic is for pilgrims, feminists, ordinary Christians, and anyone who has ever wondered about the strange magic exerted by saints throughout Christian history. Contents Veronica -- Bernadette of Lourdes -- Clare of Assisi -- Catherine of Sienna -- Katherine of Alexandria -- Empress Helena -- Brigit of Kildare -- Bridget of Sweden -- Hildegard of Bingen -- Wendreda -- Wilgefortis -- Rose of Lima -- Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz -- Margaret Clitherow -- Josephine Butler -- Amanda Berry Smith -- Julian of Norwich -- Teresa of Avila -- Godiva of Coventry

Synopsis

The double-page spread on each saint contains poems, stories, sermons and quotations as well as background information and references. The authors selected the 41 female saints for personal reasons and state that their texts are interpretations of interpretations for the reader to interpret further