Habits of Devotion: Catholic Religious Practice in Twentieth-Century America (Cushwa Center Studies of Catholicism in Twentieth-Century America) - Hardcover

James M. O'Toole

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801442567 ISBN 13: 9780801442568

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2004

Synopsis

"For generations, American Catholics... lived out their faith through countless unremarkable routines. Deep questions of theology usually meant little to them, but parishioners clung to deeply ingrained habits of devotion, both public and private. Particular devotions changed over time, waxing or waning in popularity, but the habits endured: going to mass on Sunday, saying prayers privately and teaching their children to do the same, filling their homes with crucifixes and other religious images, participating in special services, blending the church's calendar of feast and fast days with the secular cycles of work and citizenship, negotiating their conformity (or not) to the church's demands regarding sexual behavior and even diet.... It was religious practice, carried out in daily and weekly observance, that embodied their faith, more than any abstract set of dogmas."―from the Introduction

In Habits of Devotion, four senior scholars take the measure of the central religious practices and devotions that by the middle of the twentieth century defined the "ordinary, week-to-week religion" of the majority of American Catholics. Their essays investigate prayer, devotion to Mary, confession, and the Eucharist as practiced by Catholics in the United States before and shortly after the Second Vatican Council.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"In this informative and persuasive collection, James M. O’Toole and his collaborators describe and explain how American Catholics lived out their faith in the twentieth century. Few of them grappled with theological questions but millions prayed, went to confession, took communion, and participated in devotions to the Virgin Mary. Habits of Devotion illuminates the way in which Catholic rituals were woven into the fabric of everyday life, and it shows how these rituals changed over the course of the century. This is a very fine book and an important addition to the growing literature on twentieth-century American Catholicism."—Patrick Allitt, Professor of History, Emory University

"Habits of Devotion will be an invaluable book for anyone interested in lived religion. Although the book’s four essays differ in tone and approach, each is distinguished by rigorous scholarship, creativity, and a seemingly intuitive understanding of the rhythms of Catholic life. Taken together, the essays provide remarkable insight into the changing contours of Catholic belief and practice in the twentieth century."—Leslie Tentler, The Catholic University of America

About the Author

James M. O'Toole is Professor of History at Boston College. He is the author of Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920 and Militant and Triumphant: William Henry O'Connell and the Catholic Church in Boston, 1859-1944. He is also coeditor of Boston's Histories: Essays in Honor of Thomas H. O'Connor.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0801442567
• ISBN 13: 9780801442568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 298