From the IJssel Valley to Paris and Rome via Montserrat: Ignatius of Loyola and Repositioning the Origins of Modern Piety
Abstract This essay aims to analyze the hitherto neglected (or deliberately avoided?) link between De spiritualibus ascentionibus (On spiritual ascents) by Zerbolt of Zutphen (1367–1398) and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola ( c . 1491–1556). Indeed, there is a more direct relationship b...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Church history and religious culture
Year: 2021, Volume: 101, Issue: 1, Pages: 33-60 |
| Further subjects: | B
Ignatius of Loyola
B Spiritual Exercises B Devotio Moderna B Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen B modern spirituality |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Abstract This essay aims to analyze the hitherto neglected (or deliberately avoided?) link between De spiritualibus ascentionibus (On spiritual ascents) by Zerbolt of Zutphen (1367–1398) and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola ( c . 1491–1556). Indeed, there is a more direct relationship between these two texts than between Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises and the Exercitatorio spiritual by Abbot García Jiménez de Cisneros (1455–1510) and the Imitatio Christi (Imitation of Christ) by Thomas à Kempis ( c . 1380–1441), which has received much more attention in the existing literature. A careful synoptic reading of these works reveals not only an intriguing congruence between Zerbolt and Loyola in terms of the scope and definition of their works; the general structure and vocabulary; humanistic soteriology and optimistic anthropology of human will; the role of introspection in reforming inordinate affections and affective devotion; the role of examen of conscience (both daily and general); frequent sacramental confession and Communion; the role of spiritual guide; the use of the five senses and composition of place as meditative techniques and importance of methodical mental prayer; and the centrality of imitation of Christ’s humanity, but also direct textual reciprocity. Zerbolt’s Spiritual Ascents appears to be a blueprint for Loyola’s Exercises . |
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| ISSN: | 1871-2428 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Church history and religious culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/18712428-bja10015 |