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Accepted Paper:
Cross-border cults and local religious healing practices
Bartosz Arkuszewski
(Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Jagiellonian University)
Paper short abstract:
Using the example of religious healing practices related to the cult of Saint Charbel and Saint Rita in Krakow, I am going to to analyze the process of being ill as a religious experience.
Paper long abstract:
The cult of Saint Rita and Saint Charbel in Krakow are examples of how the local dimension of the cross-border cults looks like. The faithful experience their diseases religiously and take part in religious healing practices aimed at healing the sick body by participating in monthly services to Saint Rita and Saint Charbel. Material religious objects remain the main healing medium, through which, according to the faithful, the body is healed, namely: roses dedicated to Saint Rita and the oil of Saint Charbel.
In my presentation, based on the collected empirical material, I would like to analyze the process of experiencing an illness in a religious context. Rational measures, such as medical assistance, often turn out to be insufficient in reliving the burden that comes with a disease. Religious healing practices open the faithful to the holistic experience of their illness. Through religion, they seek agency in their powerlessness against disease.