Symbol, Ritual, and Sacrament

2027 Call for Papers

Nik Rodewall, Loyola University-Chicago (IL)

nrodewald@luc.edu

Andi Theis-Cruz (Vanderbilt University, TN)

Andrea.n.theis@vanderbilt.edu

The 2027 CTS Convention Theme invites us to reflect on the polyvalent reality that Mary, the Mother of God, exhibits as a religious symbol. From Marian hymns sung protesting ICE to iconography depicting Mary and the Holy Family crushed beneath Palestinian rubble to bumper stickers exhorting drivers to “Help America, Pray the Rosary,” the Mother of God is a symbol that means many things to many different people. Moreover, various theologies of the symbol suggest different avenues for interpreting such polyvalent symbols: are symbols self-actualizing expressions of one’s being-in-another (Rahner)? Living realities that open new horizons of social thought and individual identity (Tillich)? Graced-filled exchanges that inscribe ecclesial identity on the body (Chauvet)? Owing to the rich diversity of theological approaches and the multifaceted deployment of Mary as a symbol in ritual, devotional, and liturgical life, the Symbol, Ritual, and Sacrament session anticipates rich discussion and conversation on this year’s theme of “Mary, Seat of Wisdom: Refuge and Rabble-Rouser.”

The Symbol, Ritual, and Sacrament session seeks scholarly engagement with sacraments, liturgy, rituals, devotional practices, and symbolic theology that unpack the complexity and multifaceted reality of Mary as a religious and theological symbol. The SRS session welcomes diverse methodologies and vantage points. Relevant engagements include, but are by no means limited to:

• Historical treatment of Marian devotion in the Church, universally or locally. What does historical exploration of Marian devotion and liturgical practice reveal about the individuals and communities devoted to her? 
• How has/does Marian devotion function—or not—to subvert, protest, unite, heal, etc.? How does Mary, as a symbol, reveal the complexities, ambivalence, or multiplicity of ecclesial and/or cultural identities?
• How does Marian iconography appear in artwork or broader popular culture? What is the relationship between religious art (including, but not limited to, hymns, stories, visual art) and depictions of Mary in pop culture? 
• How does ritual devotional practice form worshipers? How do queer, ecofeminist, or decolonial deployments of Mary function ritually? More traditional images? What kind of sacramental/liturgical theologies arise from these practices?
• How do Marian devotional practices function in the context of the liturgical life of the local Church? How do these practices shape the life of marginalized communities? How can Marian devotions transcend or enforce divisions of race, class, or national identity? What opportunities does Marian imagery and devotion offer for inculturation? 
• How does prayer and liturgy involving Marian texts, hymns, or devotions aid or inhibit ecumenical efforts and dialogue? 
• Explorations between the “dangerous memory” of Mary and Eucharistic anamnesis. How does the Church’s theology of anamnesis—which looks both back to the historical event of Christ’s passion and forward to the eschatological recapitulation of creation—inform the remembrance of Mary in liturgical and devotional praxis? What are the ecclesial/political ramifications of such Marian remembrance?