Dominican Penitent Women

The Classics of Western Spirituality

by Maiju Lehmijoki-Gardner, Daniel E. Bornstein, E. Ann Matter

Dominican Penitent Women presents a fascinating overview of the spirituality, religious practices, and ways of life of medieval Italian women who belonged to the Dominican Order as lay members or penitents. Through selected texts, readers gain a fresh perspective on the institutional and spiritual foundations of Dominican lay life, but also an understanding of how these women refashioned Dominican ideals into practices that best responded to their individual and social means. Their way of life created an important alternative for women who sought religious perfection in the world. The first section consists of two penitent the Ordinationes of Munio from the late 13th century and the formal penitent rule of the early 15th century, which show how penitents were to organize and live their lives. The second section is dedicated to hagiographic sources. The third section is made up of penitent women's religious writing. The texts translated here present an overview of Dominican women's literary production that complements the writings of Catherine of Siena, already available in English. While Dominican penitent women held an important position in medieval piety, aside from Catherine of Siena, their spirituality has not attracted much scholarly attention. As the first comprehensive introduction to medieval Dominican laywomen and Dominican penitent spirituality in English, this book makes a significant scholarly and spiritual contribution. †

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2005

Reviews

[Andrew McHenry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good collection of writings from the 1200s to 1500s out of the Dominican tradition of Catholicism. Catherine of Siena is quickly named as a key figure from this era. I have not read much from her before. Perhaps that would be helpful, but this book can also serve as prefatory reading to give a sense of her broader context. Catherine is certainly the most renowned mystic from an era of limited opportunities for women. In that sense it was interesting to see how they were able to carve out spaces to be peopleof significance in ascetic/religious life.

A couple of Dominican rules/orders introduce the context at the start. They are followed by primary and secondary testimony material. A good portion of it is hagiography employed by men for purposes of their own religious leadership, but the content is always genuine and it draws back from the subjects' own passion for their faith, which included their relationships to these confessors and other leaders.

A lot of the content is from the era of the black plague, which seems to gravitate towards a fascination with Christ's sufferings. On the other hand, the letters of Osanna of Mantua make for a useful contrast on the practical side. She was able to use her relationships/clout with figures of political significance in order to get things done.

The heavy emphasis on mortification is overdone at times, but it's all a genuine part of that era. The same is true with the Marian content, though it makes it harder for some of us Protestants to relate to it.

But on the whole this is a good exposure to what women were doing and experiencing in their faith-life from a time of history where it's all too easy to focus exclusively on male leadership and writings. I'm glad I read this.

[Mick Maurer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good follow up to "The Wisdom of the Beguines" & "Meister Eckhart & Beguine Mystics".