1*1 Library and Archives
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-80785-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-80785-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada The Saint of Pure Love: Examining Catherine of Genoa's Mystical Doctrine of Purgatory by © Michael Barrow A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Religious Studies Memorial University of Newfoundland May 2011 St. John's Newfoundland ii ABSTRACT Saint Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510) was a lay woman who underwent a mystical conversion at about the age of twenty-six. In this divine and transcendental moment, Catherine would come to understand God and the operation of God in her life as Pure Love. She continued to live in this divine condition throughout the rest of her life and, would eventually understand - through further divine infusion - that her mystical life was, in fact, a progression through purgatory that would lead her to the restoration of her true self in and as Pure Love. It is the objective of this study, therefore, to examine her doctrine of purgatory in its historical context, and theologically, through the religious element of "mysticism" in an effort to understand how the doctrine manifested itself in her life. Ill ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For their part from the commencement to the conclusion of this thesis, sincere appreciation must be expressed to the people who contributed significantly to this academic venture. Without their professional guidance and encouragement this study would have been impossible. My greatest debt is owed to Dr. David N. Bell from whom I was fortunate enough accumulate a wealth of knowledge. His diligence in assisting me, and his understanding and patience throughout the process has not gone unnoticed either. Because of Dr. Bell's guidance, I have had the privilege to complete my thesis and, of course, since he is a word smith of the word smiths, his corrections saved me from numerous embarrassing errors. I freely confess that any remaining mistakes must be charged to my account. As well, I would like to thank the entire Religious Studies Department at Memorial University. It is through monetary support, administrative assistance, and years of intellectual stimulation both in and out of the classroom that has enabled me to commence and complete this work. My final words of appreciation go to my parents, Ira and Amy Barrow. It is impossible for me to find words good enough to describe my appreciation for their encouragement and support. On a practical level, I would like to thank them for their help with the often tedious elements in the editing process. In particular a thank you to my father who helped me with some grammatical revisions. Again, sincere thanks to all involved in helping me complete this work. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgments iii Table of Contents iv Introduction 1 Chapter One: Purgatory's Foundation 9 Chapter Two: Catherine of Genoa's Formative Years 40 Chapter Three: The Pure Love of Catherine of Genoa's Mystical Conversion and Purgatory 61 Chapter Four: The Beginning of Catherine of Genoa's Mystical Purgatory 87 Chapter Five: The Mystical Manifestation of the Doctrine of Purgatory in the Life of Catherine of Genoa 106 Conclusion 165 Bibliography 168 1 INTRODUCTION My examination of Saint Catherine of Genoa's (1447-1510) doctrine of purgatory deals with three acknowledged and predominant points:1 first, that the doctrine is based a notion of pure love; second, that it has been recorded as a divinely infused revelation and, therefore, understood in terms of a "mystical theology"; third, that this doctrine manifested itself in the historical life of the saint, which has led scholars to conclude that the doctrine of purgatory is also the doctrine of her life. As we shall see, these three points are interconnected; however, it is the objective of this study to stress the importance of understanding her theological teachings on purgatory through the religious element of "mysticism" and understanding how these purgatorial teachings on pure love manifested themselves in her life. But what do we mean by "mysticism"? Questioning the meaning of "mysticism" has been a traditional exercise in numerous academic works because of the inherent mysteriousness and natural ambiguity of the word. As Bernard McGinn has said, "the word 'mysticism,' like 'time,' is both commonly used and resistant of easy description and definition."3 Michel de Certeau has pointed out that the word "mysticism" being used as In 1737, Saint Catherine of Genoa was beatified and then, just a few years later, canonized by Pope Benedict XIV. Her feast day is September 15th and she is patron of Italian hospitals and of her city of birth, Genoa ("Catherine of Genoa", The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, David Hugh Farmer. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. <http://www.oxfordreferencexom/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=tl00.e298>). : For examples see, Friedrich von HUgel, The Mystical Element of Religion: As Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and Her Friends, 2 vols. (London: James Clarke and Company Limited, 1961), vol. I, 246-250; Donald Christopher Nugent "Saint Catherine of Genoa: Mystic of Pure Love" in Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation, ed. Katharina M. Wilson (London: University of Georgia Press, 1987), 70; R. H. J. Steuart, Diversity in Holiness, 2nd ed (Freeport: Books for Libraries Press Incorporated, 1967), 113. 1 Bernard McGinn, The Foundations oj Mysticism, vol. 1 of The Presence of God: A History of Western 2 a noun started only at the beginning of the seventeenth-century in France, while in the English-speaking world, the term "mysticism" only began to be used frequently near the end of the nineteenth century when the term entered modern academic discussion.5 It has been acknowledged that some aspects of the term have been linked with the Greek adjective mystikos,6 but that "no definition could be both meaningful and sufficiently comprehensive to include all experiences that, at some point or other, have been described as 'mystical'."7 Nonetheless, some general conclusions may be made when speaking of the "mysticism" in the purgatorial life and teachings of Catherine of Genoa. In his Christian Mysticism, William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) defines "mysticism" as "the attempt to realise, in thought and feeling, the immanence of the temporal in the eternal, and of the eternal in the temporal."8 Moreover, he believed that "mysticism", as a form of religion, was based on the assumption that the soul, purified through the divine, can somehow partake of the divine who is understood as love.9 Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) understood "mysticism" as "the expression of the innate tendency of the human spirit towards complete harmony with transcendental order, Christian Mysticism (New York: Crossroad, 1992), 266. 4 Michel de Certeau, "Mystique' au XVIIe: Le probleme du langage 'mystique,'" in L'Homme devant Dieu: Melanges offerts au Pere Henri du Lubac, 3 vols. (Paris, Aubier, 1964), vol. 2, 267-291; ibid. 5 As taken from McGinn, "in the Germanic world, serious modern treatment of mysticism began with Catholic Romantics such as Johann Joseph von Gorres, whose four-volume Christliche Mystik appeared between 1836 and 1842, and theologians like Johann Sebastian Drey, whose article 'Uber das Verhaltnis des Mysticismus zum Katholicismus' was published in the Tehologische Quartalschrift in 1831" {ibid., 421). 6 For additional information concerning the development or evolution of the term "mysticism", see especially, Louis Bouyer, "Mysticism: An Essay on the History of the Word," in Understanding Mysticism, edited by Richard Woods,