Biblical inspirations on the example of the 18th century print "Pustynia w Ray zamieniona..."

Abstract

The article examines "Pustynia w Ray zamieniona.." [A desert turned into paradise], an 18th-century antique print written by a Dominican friar Jacek Majewski, describing the yet unknown history of the Marian cult in the parish of the Virgin Mary Visitation Church in Krasnobród near Zamość, and the then religious and cultural realities. The paper discusses several aspects of the broadly understood biblical inspiration of the work. In particular, the imaging and representation of the sacred sphere on different levels of language are shown. The analyses revealed that the abundance of biblical elements present in this old print may result from: the circumstances in which the print was published (Church authorities ordered it for the 100th anniversary of the Marian cult), social status of the author (Dominican, preaching in Lublin, professor of theology and philosophy), the author's primary goal (presenting the history that would inspire Christians and help the faithful practice the faith), the main role of this type of prints in the Saxon era (multiplying the reader's faith and presenting religious truths in a way suited to the recipient), genetic determinants (poetised preaching prose, sermon, prayer, alternate prayer-book pattern, etc.), the features of the counterreformation movement on the land that had so far been under the influence of Calvinism (Krasnobród in the mid-seventeenth century).