Tag Archives: death

An eternal heart. The cardiac phenomena of St Teresa of Ávila

Leonardo Rossi For the Carmelite Order, 2022 is a year of important commemorations, being the anniversary of the death of Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) and the fourth centenary of her canonisation (1622). Pope Francis celebrated a memorial mass last 12 March to commemorate the Castilian mystic. However, apart from some initiatives by the SpanishContinue reading “An eternal heart. The cardiac phenomena of St Teresa of Ávila“

Of bodysnatching and lesser crimes

Kristof Smeyers The archives of the Franciscans in my hometown Hasselt, Belgium, hold a box that is labelled, in all capitals, ‘CRIME’. This surprises me. The box sits in a voluminous collection of records about the Franciscan brother Valentinus Paquay, who for more than a century now has been widely revered as the town’s mostContinue reading “Of bodysnatching and lesser crimes”

Gazing at death and the dead

Workshop report (by Linde Tuybens) The most dangerous person at a funeral is the body in the coffin –  Richard Cobb On May 5th and 6th, researchers from all over Europe and the USA met in Antwerp to explore a range of fascinating topics around death and the dead. An initiative of the Contested Bodies project, this workshopContinue reading “Gazing at death and the dead”

Breathing life into a body

by Kristof Smeyers Here is a story. One evening a nun sneaks down into the vault under a chapel. She has been contemplating this all day. She shivers: she is a little cold and more than a little nervous. It’s around nine o’clock and she is alone, but she doesn’t feel alone. In the cornerContinue reading “Breathing life into a body”