The Mystical Presence of Christ: The Exceptional and the Ordinary in Late Medieval Religion (Medieval Societies, Religions, and Cultures)

378 Pages·2022·2.061 MB·English

by  Richard Kieckhefer

THE MYSTICAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST
A volume in the series
Medieval Socie ties, Religions, and Cultures
Edited by M. Cecilia Gaposchkin and Anne E. Lester
A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress . cornell . edu.
THE MYSTICAL
PRESENCE OF
CHRIST
THE EXCEPTIONAL AND THE ORDINARY
IN LATE MEDIEVAL RELIGION
Richard Kieckhefer
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2022 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review,
this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any
form without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Visit our website at cornellpress . cornell . edu.
First published 2022 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Kieckhefer, Richard, author.
Title: The mystical presence of Christ : the exceptional
and the ordinary in late medieval religion / Richard
Kieckhefer.
Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2022. |
Series: Medieval societies, religions, and cultures |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021052222 (print) | LCCN 2021052223
(ebook) | ISBN 9781501765117 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9781501765124 (epub) | ISBN 9781501765131 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Jesus Christ—Presence. | Jesus Christ—
Divinity. | Jesus Christ—Apparitions and miracles. |
Mystical union.
Classification: LCC BT590.P75 K54 2022 (print) | LCC
BT590.P75 (ebook) | DDC 231.7—dc23/eng/20220126
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052222
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov
/2021052223
Cover art: Katharina Muffel’s vision of Christ as the Man
of Sorrows in a mandorla, from the breviary of
Katharina Muffel of Eschenau, Bayerische Staatsbiblio-
thek München, Cgm 177, fol. XII verso, ca. 1500.
For Barbara
in una anima diu unum esse
And thus I saw him and sought him,
and I had him and I wanted him.
And this should be our common working
in this, as to my sight.
— Julian of Norwich, Showings, Long Text, c. 10
Figure 1. Christ and the soul, from the Thoofkijn van devotien (Antwerp: Gerhard Leeu, 1487),
fol. 22r, Dutch translation of Pierre d’Ailly, Le Jardin amoureux, from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek,
The Hague, No. 150 B 48.

Contents
Acknowl edgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: The Presence of Christ
as Exceptional and Ordinary 1
Part One: The Subject and Manner of
Manifestation 19
1. Divine Person, Divine and Human
Natures 21
2. Narrating the Presence of the God- Man 35
3. Presupposition, Intuition, and
Perception 88
Part Two: Contexts and Aspects of
Manifestation 131
4. Prayer, Meditation, and Presence 133
5. Liturgy and Presence 166
6. Person, Personality, and Gender 203
7. The Inculturation of Christ 225
8. The Presence of Christ in Social
Dynamics 255
9. Christ as Disciplinarian, Bridegroom,
and Teacher in the Life of Dorothea of
Montau 283
10. The Problematics of Presence 322
x Contents
Conclusion: Connected Themes in
Late Medieval Religion 334
Selected Bibliography 339
Index 357