"I am wholly your own": Liturgical piety and community among the nuns of helfta

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Abstract

When William James long ago characterized the God of the thirteenth century Cistercian cloister of Helfta, in Saxony, as "full of partiality for his individual favorites,"^ he might have illustrated his claim with any number of passages from three of the surviving works composed by the nuns of Helfta, the Book of Special Grace, associated with Mechtild of Hackebom (1241-ca. 1298/99), the Herald of Divine Love, associated with Gertrude of Helfta (1256-ca. 1301/02), and the Spiritual Exercises, written by Gertrude.^ James drew his readers' attention to the following account from the Herald.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)549-583
Number of pages35
JournalChurch History
Volume78
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2009

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • History
  • Religious studies

Disciplines

  • Religion

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