Dr. Bernadett Bigalke

Extreme fasting practices have been part of Christian piety since antiquity, primarily in monastic contexts. Later, in the early modern period, they formed part of practices focusing on the Passion of Jesus that were carried out by laypeople. This comparative case study concentrates on laywomen and the cults emerging around them in the 19^th and 20^th century in Western Europe.

There has been strong criticism of extreme fasting practices since at least the 18^th century. For example, during the Enlightenment, members of the scientific community labelled the practices as illegitimate attempts to deceive gullible believers who were constantly seeking miracles. They expressed concerns that the public would fall prey to such ‘false sanctity’. Alternatively, the young women were presented as socially underprivileged and mentally ill and in need of proper medical treatment. This debate soon became part of public discourse. Religious and non-religious actors discussed it at great length.

From a Study of Religions perspective, no judgment shall be made regarding whether these practices and the motivations behind them are (in)authentic, (il)legitimate, or pathological forms of Christian piety. What is interesting, is that formerly unproblematic religious bodily practices became controversial and even a medical and political issue. It is important to reconstruct extreme fasting as a form of Catholic practice that had its own cultural logic and internal dynamic (victim spirituality, contemporary miracle and sanctity discourse). In terms of theoretical approach, the primary focus will be on the contemporary concepts of person/personality involved, exploring this in terms of agency. Secondly, aspects of the fasting practices can be regarded as a non-verbal system of symbols, which falls under religious history of the body. Thirdly, as nearly all of those who were fasting were female, questions of gender specifics in relation to religious fasting must be raised.