Novena en obsequio de la incomparable virgen y mártir, Santa Cecilia... (1831)
About the Book
With a cover of worn leather and marbled paper, this quaint prayer book is but one of numerous novenas produced during the first half of the 19th century. As printed materials became inexpensive and widely available in Mexico, the Catholic Church saw the opportunity to capitalize on the accessibility of this new medium, funding the fabrication and distribution of a variety of religious resources. Novenas such as these were one of the most common forms of print, and were frequently distributed into the hands of Catholic clergy and laity alike throughout Mexico. These items surged in popularity during the latter half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, resulting in an increased demand for said items. Novenas in particular were the most popular. These short prayer books were dedicated to various saints and—most frequently—Mary, Queen of Heaven; this one centers around St. Cecilia, an early Roman martyr from the 3rd century A.D. known for her vow of chastity. The first page of the novena is an engraving of the saint in question; such engravings were typical of these novenas, although they were sometimes printed and distributed alongside the novena as a separate item. These engravings were printed onto paper using a rectangular plate bearing the design and were made of either wood or copper; the uniformity of the text in this particular example indicates that a copper plate was used in its production.
The contents of the book are organized according to a nine-day structure, with specific prayers intended for use on different days; the word “novena” itself deriving from “novem,” the Latin word for nine. The first prayer of each day is an act of contrition offered to Christ, establishing a theme of repentance that underpins the themes of the novena. Day one contains an introductory explication (the story of the saint), a daily exhortation, an antiphony, and invocation. An exhortation is a dire and urgent request, in this case to the reader’s soul. An antiphony in this context is a very short chant directed towards St. Cecilia, which is then followed by the invocation, which requests that the titular saint ask God to lend her virtues to the supplicant. The second and third days contain only the explication and antiphony, with the second day’s antiphony dedicated to St. Valerian, another early Christian martyr. Days five and six change the formula by replacing the antiphony with an ejaculatory, which is a wailful prayer offered in penitent repentance. Days six and seven return to the antiphony, this time giving said antiphony to Christ. Days eight and nine reintroduce the ejaculatory prayer. Separated from the daily prayers by an ornamental section break, the book lays out three more prayers, an antiphony, and a hymn, all dedicated to St. Cecilia and explicitly intended for daily use.
Water-damaged Leather Cover
Title Page + Engraving of St. Cecilia
Dedication + First Page
Day 2 Concluding Antophony + Day 3 Act of Contrition
Description
- Full Title: Novena en Obsequio de la Incomparable Virgen y Mártir, Santa Cecilia, Especial Abogada de la Pureza, E Insigne Bienhechora de Sus Devotos
- Publisher: Office of Alejandro Valdes
- Place of Publication: Calle de Santo Domingo, Número 12, Mexico City
- Date of Publication: 1831
- Object Type: Novena (Prayer Book)
- Number of Pages: 30
- Dimensions: 10.2cm in width, 15.1cm in length, and 8mm in spine thickness
Further Reading
Shrines and Miraculous Images by ISBN: 9780826348531Publication Date: 2011-06-15The vast literature on Our Lady of Guadalupe dominates the study of shrines and religious practices in Mexico. But there is much more to the story of shrines and images in Mexico's religious history than Guadalupe and Marian devotion. In this book, a distinguished historian brings together his new and recent essays on previously unstudied or reconsidered places, themes, patterns, and episodes in Mexican religious history during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. William Taylor explores the use of local and regional shrines, and devotion to images of Christ and Mary, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, to get to the heart of the politics and practices of faith in Mexico before the Reforma. Each of these essays touches on methodological and conceptual matters that open out to processes and paradoxes of change and continuity, exposing the symbolic complexity behind the material representations.
Pious Imperialism by ISBN: 9780826360267Publication Date: 2019-05-30This book analyzes Spanish rule and Catholic practice from the consolidation of Spanish control in the Americas in the sixteenth century to the loss of these colonies in the nineteenth century by following the life and afterlife of an accidental martyr, San Felipe de Jésus. Using Mexico City-native San Felipe as the central figure, Conover tracks the global aspirations of imperial Spain in places such as Japan and Rome without losing sight of the local forces affecting Catholicism. He demonstrates the ways Spanish religious attitudes motivated territorial expansion and transformed Catholic worship. Using Mexico City as an example, Conover also shows that the cult of saints continually refreshed the spiritual authority of the Spanish monarch and the message of loyalty of colonial peoples to a devout king. Such a political message in worship, Conover concludes, proved contentious in independent Mexico, thus setting the stage for the momentous conflicts of the nineteenth century in Latin American religious history.
Theater of a Thousand Wonders by ISBN: 9781107102675Publication Date: 2016-10-03The great many shrines of New Spain have become long-lived sites of shared devotion and contestation across social groups. They have provided a lasting sense of enchantment, of divine immanence in the present, and a hunger for epiphanies in daily life. This is a story of consolidation and growth during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rather than one of rise and decline in the face of early stages of modernization. Based on research in a wide array of manuscript and printed primary sources, and informed by recent scholarship in art history, religious studies, anthropology, and history, this is the first comprehensive study of shrines and miraculous images in any part of early modern Latin America.
