Guadalupe and Her Faithful: Latino Catholics in San Antonio, from Colonial Origins to the Present (Lived Religions) [Hardcover]

Timothy Matovina (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lived Religions | Publication Date: October 10, 2005

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most revered religious figure in Mexican Catholicism. Devotion to Guadalupe among Mexicans and Mexican Americans has evolved for nearly five centuries into a deeply rooted, multifaceted tradition. Here, religion scholar Timothy Matovina offers a thorough study of this tradition as it has been lived out by the parishioners of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas. He shows how the devotion to Guadalupe sustained this congregation through times of political turmoil, war and peace, and ecclesiastical and social changes over San Antonio's long history, from an agricultural settlement on the northern edge of New Spain to a dynamic U.S. metropolis.

Engaging recent scholarly analysis of ritual studies, lived religion, Latino theology and history, transnationalism, and ethnicity, Guadalupe and Her Faithful shows how religious traditions shape and are shaped by a faith community's shifting contexts and power dynamics. This fascinating account reveals the potential force—and the potential limitations—of devotion in people's lives and religious imagination.

(2006)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Matovina's work is... breath-taking.

(Jose Angel Gutierrez Journal of American Studies Associaton of Texas 2006)

Matovina has produced a solid piece of history that will be of interest to and enjoyed by professional historians and laypeople alike.

(Anthony Quiroz Journal of American History 2007)

A well-written and insightful evaluation.

(Kathleen Garces-Foley Journal of American Ethnic History 2007)

Gaudalupe... is shown in various lights — in all her glory, and at times her mystery is even slightly unveiled.

(Georgie Ann Weatherby Catholic Studies 2007)

A focused, well-researched, and generous book that captures well the various ways that Guadalupan devotion has been expressed and transformed over time... This study undoubtedly represents a high point in this ongoing endeavor.

(Chris Tirres Journal of the American Academy of Religion 2006)

This is clearly a substantial work of scholarship and a major contribution to Mexican American religious history... It deserves wide readership and acclaim.

(Roberto R. Treviño American Historical Review 2007)

Beautifully written to evoke the very practices being studied, Matovina's painstaking work on communal identity provides evidence that group traditions and identities are 'made, not born.'

(Paula Kane Religion and American Culture 2007)

Guadalupe and Her Faithful is one of those rare texts that bridge the academy, the church, pastors, grassroots devotees, and a wider public... This book increases appreciation and knowledge of the growing Latino population and its religious traditions.

(Virgilio Elizondo Spiritus: Journal of Christian Spirituality 2007)

Timothy Matovina's Guadalupe and her Faithful is a significant contribution to Guadalupan scholarship... Matovina taps into the corazón of the matter with his coverage of the religious and popular aspects of the devotion to La Virgen de Guadalupe.

(Tey Marianna Nunn Pacific Historical Review 2007)

Very engaging story... An excellent contribution to Mexican American history and Latino spirituality.

(Gilberto M. Hinojosa Southwestern Historical Quarterly 2007)

This study beautifully combines history, theology, and sociology in looking at Catholic worship in the Latino religious community surrounding San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas.

(Linda B. Hall Americas 2008)

In Guadalupe and Her Faithful we have a well researched and readable examination of a vibrant faith community.

(Jesús F. de la Teja Catholic Historical Review 2008)

A book that everyone... must read. It should be available in libraries across the nation, because any research on the Guadalupan legacy among Catholics, Hispanic or otherwise, would be incomplete without reference being made to Matovina's work.

(Patrick Foley Hispanic American Historical Review )

A well-researched and value addition to the literatures on popular Mexican and Chicano religiosities.

(Matthew Butler Ecclesiastical History )

This book belongs with other works that signal a welcome trend in scholarship where popular religion is, at last, no longer dismissed with condescension and scorn but deemed worthy or respect and study.

(Ramón Luzárraga American Catholic Studies )

About the Author

Timothy Matovina is associate professor of theology and the William and Anna Jean Cushwa Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.

(2006)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (October 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801879590
• ISBN-13: 978-0801879593
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,603,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Timothy Matovina is Professor of Theology and the William and Anna Jean Cushwa Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. His most recent books are Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church (Princeton, 2012), the edited volume Virgilio Elizondo: Spiritual Writings (Orbis, 2010), and Guadalupe and Her Faithful: Latino Catholics in San Antonio, from Colonial Origins to the Present (Johns Hopkins, 2005). Research support for Matovina's work encompasses competitive grant awards from nearly every major funding source that supports academic work in theology and religion: the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Academy of Religion, the Lilly Endowment, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Louisville Institute, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Association of Theological Schools. In 2010 he received the Virgilio Elizondo Award "for distinguished achievement in theology, in keeping with the mission of the Academy" from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS).