Marthas and Marys

Lay Devotion and the Piety of the Poor Clares in the Seventeenth Century

Abstract

Framed by the biblical paradigm of Martha and Mary, this study analyzes how Catholic female identity was preserved and transmitted within a Protestant-ruled Principality of Transylvania. By recalling female figures of three generations of the Kornis family of Ruszka, it seeks to demonstrate the indispensable role women played in the preservation of confessional identity. The practices of Catholic piety, charitable activities, prayers, religious customs, and the veneration of holy images were all transmitted within the framework of family life through successive generations. Women did not enjoy genuine freedom of choice within the framework of traditional society; the course of their lives was determined not by their own decisions but by the actual circumstances of their family. As Catholic women, they embodied two traditional models: at times following Mary, at times Martha, yet always striving to bear the “crosses” laid upon them with faith, fidelity, and humility, and thus to fulfill the will of God.