The stations of the cross in colonial Mexico : the Via crucis en mexicano by Fray Augustín de Vetancurt, and the spread of a devotion / John F. Schwaller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwaller, John Frederick, Author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Nahuatl

Spanish

Subjects (All):

Catholic Church--Mexico--History.

Catholic Church.

Mexico--Religious life and customs.

Mexico.

Stations of the Cross.

Vetancurt, Augustín de, 1620-1700. Via crucis.

Vetancurt, Augustín de.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

x, 241 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Via crucis en mexicano by Fray Augustín de Vetancurt

Place of Publication:

Norman, Oklahoma : University of Oklahoma Press ; San Diego : The Academy of American Franciscan History , 2021.

Summary:

"The book studies the spread of the devotion of the Stations of the Cross in colonial Mexico, focusing on a Nahuatl version from 1580 translated by Fr. Agustin de Vetancurt. It looks at Native culture to see why the devotion was embraced so strongly after the Spanish invasion. The book places the devotion in the context of the Catholic Reformation and of the Baroque, the two trends that exalted this type of religious expression. Finally, it includes an analysis of the Nahuatl translation and of the illustrations of the work"-- Provided by publisher.

"Walking the Stations of the Cross, the Christian faithful re-create the Passion, following the sorrowful path of Jesus Christ from condemnation to crucifixion. While this devotion, now so popular in the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations, first emerged in Jerusalem and began spreading through Western Europe in the fourteenth century, it did not assume its current form, and earn the Church's formal recognition, until almost three centuries later. It was at this time, in the last decades of the seventeenth century, that a Franciscan friar in colonial Mexico translated a devotional guide to the Stations of the Cross into the native Nahuatl. This little handbook, Fray Agustin de Vetancurt's Via crucis en mexicano, proved immensely popular, going through two editions, but survives today only in a copy made by a native scribe from Central Mexico. Reproduced here in Nahuatl and English, Vetancurt's handbook offers unique insight into the history, the practice, and the meaning of the Stations of the Cross in the New World and the Old. With the Via crucis en mexicano as a starting point, John F. Schwaller explores the history of the development and spread of the Stations of the Cross, placing the devotion in the context of the Catholic Reformation and the Baroque, the two trends that exalted this type of religious expression. He describes how the devotion, exported to New Spain in the sixteenth century, was embraced by Spanish and natives alike. For the native Americans, Schwaller suggests, the Via crucis resonated because of its performative aspects, reminiscent of rituals and observances from before the arrival of the Spanish. And for missionaries, the devotion offered a means of deepening the faith of the newly converted. In Schwaller's deft analysis-which extends from the origins of the devotion, to the processions and public rituals of the Mexica (Aztecs), to the text and illustrations of the Vetancurt manuscript-the Via crucis en mexicano opens a window on the practice and significance of the Stations of the Cross-and of private devotions generally-in Mexico, Hispanic America, and around the world. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: ch. 1 Introduction

ch. 2 The European Origins of the Stations of the Cross

ch. 3 Religious and Literary Culture in Mexico in the Middle Colonial Period

ch. 4 The Texts of the Stations of the Cross

ch. 5 Illustrating the Stations of the Cross

ch. 6 Conclusions: A Colony Embraces a Devotion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-234) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Contains:

Vetancurt, Augustín de, 1620-1700. Via crucis. English.

Vetancurt, Augustín de, 1620-1700. Via crucis. Nahuatl.

ISBN:

9780806176536

0806176539

OCLC:

1290245426