In trying to find out what Bruno thought of his…
““In trying to find out what Bruno thought of his priesthood, we now have a serious problem which we did not have before. In Venice, he told his fellow-prisoners that he was an enemy of the mass, and thought transubstantiation a ridiculous idea and the Catholic ritual bestial and blasphemous. He compared the elevation of the host to hanging somebody on a gallows, or perhaps to lifting him up on a pitchfork. He told somebody who had dreamt of going to mass that that was a terrible omen; and he performed a mock mass with Ovid's Art of Love instead of a missal. He joked about hungry priests going off from mass to a good breakfast. He spoke particularly ill of the mass as a sacrifice, and said that Abel, the archetype of the sacrificing priest, was a criminal butcher who was rightly killed by the vegetarian Cain. A phrase he used elsewhere, apparently about Christ's passion and not directly about the mass itself, seems nevertheless to express rather exactly his attitude to is: he called it 'some kind of a cabbalistic tragedy'.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Bruno’s radical critique of Catholic rites portrays the mass as grotesque, reflecting deep theological dissent and personal rebellion.
In simple terms: Question authority and tradition when they conflict with reason.
Key Takeaway
Critically assess religious practices.
Themes
religion
theology
rebellion
critique
history
Mood
analytical
provocative
Type
blasphemy:1
eucharist:1
giordano bruno:1
love:1
ovid:1
priesthood:1
roman catholic:1
transubstantiation:1
bruno thought:1
sacrificing priest:1
bestial blasphemous:1
priest criminal:1
missal joked:1
When to use this quote
- academic seminars
- theological debate
- personal reflection
- literary criticism
- cultural studies
Key Concepts
philosophy
historical analysis
literature
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance respect and critique?
- What alternative spiritual practices resonate with you?
A Different Perspective
Strong language may alienate believers.