Focusing on the life of Christ, this influential devotional work from the later Middle Ages employs lively dialogue and narrative realism to evoke deep emotions. Its poignant portrayals of key events like the Nativity and Passion encourage readers to cultivate love and compassion. The Meditations significantly shaped devotional practices, religious art, and meditative literature, while also influencing vernacular drama and the development of affective experiences in spirituality.
Sarah McNamer Book order



- 2018
- 2009
Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion
- 320 pages
- 12 hours of reading
Focusing on the role of women, this book explores the development of affective meditations on the Passion in medieval literature. It highlights how these meditative scripts not only facilitated the performance of prayer but also shaped compassion as a deeply personal and feminine emotion. Through this lens, the work redefines the historical significance of this genre and its impact on emotional expression during that era.
- 1996
The two middle English translations of the Revelations of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
- 136 pages
- 5 hours of reading