Resumen de Haptic Prayer, Devotional Books and Practices of Perception
In the medieval period, material and sensory objects were regarded as potential media of divine presence. Devotional books were particularly complex objects in this respect. They were not merely bodies of text, but objects of divine mediation by virtue of their material qualities. Devotional books mediated the presence of Christ and saints through images, words, skin and practice. The article focuses on a selection of prayers from Danish medieval prayer books that exemplify the fundamental centrality of the body and the senses in medieval devotion. The prayers illustrate that the act of praying was not merely an oral or visual matter, but also highly haptic. Images and prayers did not necessarily have to be looked at or read in order to be functional but could rather be performed with the body. These ‘haptic prayers’ illustrate an extremely complex theology and theory of devout perception. The singular senses were transcended, and the body turned into a devotional instrument—either with the application of other media or as a medium in itself. Haptic prayers are interactions with God characterized by the reciprocal relation between body and mind, between material presence and mental awareness.
