Paper short abstract:

The paper examines prayers of the so called ‘coercive’ formation to understand the constant re-activation of the clerical and lay practice, as well as the role that elemental human needs play in religious practice and also the manifestations of attitudes of the clergy in order to serve these needs.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines prayers of the so called ‘coercive’ formation using the methodology of religious anthropology and historical anthropology. These forms of prayer, beyond formulating a ‘request’ towards the transcendent forces, also include physical and/or pseudo-magical elements ‘demanding’ the manifestations of automatism. This exploration focusses on manifestations of Roman-Catholic practice. Historic examples were collected in part from 18th century records and library archives (with a primary focus on benedictions and exorcisms), while 19th century examples come from archival sources (on the example of the St. Miska movement in Bácska) while contemporary equivalents are a result of local collections in Pest County through data derived from fieldwork carried out in the form of participant observation.

By considering all the aforementioned sources we may come to understand the constant re-activation of the official and semi-official forms of the clerical and lay practice of prayers of this kind, as well as the role that elemental human needs play in defining religious practice and also the manifestations of the attitudes of the clergy in order to serve these needs.