‘For those with hardened hearts’: Female mysticism, masculine piety and the divine mercy devotion

Abstract

This chapter explores the controversial history of the Divine Mercy devotion, including the highly charged and affective spiritual scripts surrounding the mystic visionary who established the cult, Saint Faustina. It analyses the lived religious experiences of a number of devotees, mapping the visual and material practices associated with these new prayers and rituals, as well as exploring parallels with the well-established seventeenth-century devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through close attention to the spiritual narratives of men and women who have developed an intense relationship with the Divine Mercy, this chapter elucidates the embodied and gendered intercessory strategies employed within an important strand of contemporary Catholic spirituality worldwide.