Based on Roman Catholic tradition, the Anima Sola or Lonely Soul is an image depicting a soul in purgatory , popular in Latin America as well as much of Andalusia , Naples , and Palermo .
47-982: While scholars have thus far not provided a history of the Anima Sola (or Ánimas del purgatorio in Spanish), the practice of praying for the souls in purgatory extends at least as far back as the Council of Trent in which the following was determined: "Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost , has from the Sacred Scriptures and the ancient tradition of the Fathers taught in Councils and very recently in this Ecumenical synod (Sess. VI, cap. XXX; Sess. XXII cap.ii, iii) that there
94-648: A compromise between the two theological systems. This proposal met the opposition of the Pope for it gave recognition to Protestants and also elevated the secular Princes of Europe above the clergy on church matters. Faced with a Turkish attack, Charles held the support of the Protestant German rulers, all of whom delayed the opening of the Council of Trent. In the to-and-fro of medieval politics , Pope Pius II , in his bull Execrabilis (1460) and his reply to
141-585: A council. Yet when he proposed the idea to his cardinals , it was almost unanimously opposed. Nonetheless, he sent nuncios throughout Europe to propose the idea. Paul III issued a decree for a general council to be held in Mantua , Italy, to begin on 23 May 1537. Martin Luther wrote the Smalcald Articles in preparation for the general council. The Smalcald Articles were designed to sharply define where
188-682: A general council due to partial support of the Protestant cause within France. Charles' younger brother Ferdinand of Austria , who ruled a huge swath of territory in central Europe, agreed in 1532 to the Nuremberg Religious Peace granting religious liberty to the Protestants, and in 1533 he further complicated matters when suggesting a general council to include both Catholic and Protestant rulers of Europe that would devise
235-582: A plague failed to take effect and the council was indefinitely prorogued on 17 September 1549. None of the three popes reigning over the duration of the council ever attended, which had been a condition of Charles V. Papal legates were appointed to represent the Papacy. Reopened at Trent on 1 May 1551 by the convocation of Pope Julius III (1550–1555), it was broken up by the sudden victory of Maurice, Elector of Saxony over Emperor Charles V and his march into surrounding state of Tirol on 28 April 1552. There
282-517: A record by the Emperor himself of his conversion, the profession of his new faith, and the privileges he conferred on Pope Sylvester I, his clergy, and their successors. According to it, Pope Sylvester was offered the imperial crown, which, however, he refused. Lu Santu Papa Silvestru , a story in Giuseppe Pitrè 's collection of Sicilian fables, recounts the legend as follows: Constantine
329-544: A sad expression. According to tradition this young man was a priest who ended up in Purgatory because of his sinful life or because he absolved so many people at his last mass that he had to go to purgatory in their place. In any case, the image of a male soul suffering in purgatory became popular in Mexico and diverse places with reproductions being created and distributed among the faithful. As with many Catholic symbols,
376-571: Is a purgatory, and that the souls therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar ; the Holy Synod enjoins on the Bishops that they diligently endeavor to have the sound doctrine of the Fathers in Councils regarding purgatory everywhere taught and preached, held and believed by the faithful" (Denzinger, "Enchiridon", 983). The Anima Sola
423-471: Is destined for heaven. Praying to the Anima Sola is a tradition in many ways unlike that of the more widespread cult of saints . In lieu of praying to a saint who then appeals to God, the Anima Sola represents souls in purgatory who require the assistance both of the living and the divine to ameliorate their sufferings in the afterlife. The Anima Sola is common throughout much of the Catholic world, though
470-732: Is grouped in a triad in some traditions with the Intranquil Spirit and the Dominant Spirit. Council of Trent Artists Clergy Monarchs Popes The Council of Trent ( Latin : Concilium Tridentinum ), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy , was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church . Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at
517-528: Is known as Silvester . In some other countries, too, the day is usually referred to as Saint Sylvester's Day or the Feast of Saint Sylvester . In São Paulo , Brazil, a long-distance running event called the Saint Silvester Road Race occurs every year on 31 December. The Donation of Constantine is a document fabricated in the second half of the eighth century, purporting to be
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#1732800988075564-529: Is perhaps strongest in Naples, where it is referred to as "the cult of the souls in Purgatory." In Latin America, one source reports, the Anima Sola is "a belief still deeply rooted in the mass of the campesinos . The devotion dates from the first colonizers who probably brought the image in which the soul is represented as a woman suffering torments in purgatory with chains binding her hands. The female depicted
611-460: Is sometimes called Celestina , however the anima sola is usually anonymous. According to legend, at the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday there were many people present: among them, a woman by the name of Celestina Abdenago. Her task was to give the three condemned men a drink of water. Celestina gave Dismas and Gestas a drink from her jar but she refused to give one to Jesus (who was very thirsty) as she despised him or feared retaliation from
658-528: Is taken to represent a soul suffering in purgatory. While in many cases chromolithographs depict a female soul, many other figures such as popes and other men are commonly depicted in chromolithographs, sculptures and paintings. In the most commonly known image of the Anima Sola, a woman is depicted as breaking free from her chains in a dungeon setting surrounded by flames, representing purgatory. She appears penitent and reverent, and her chains have been broken, an indication that, after her temporary suffering, she
705-742: Is that the sacred figures most frequently invoked include the Lonely Soul who requires prayers because of her predicament; San Silvestre , magical because of the date of his feast day; and Santa Elena and San Onofre . In Santería or Lukumi, the Afro-Caribbean religion of Cuba , there is a syncretization of the Anima Sola with the Eshu Alleguana or Allegwana. The Eshus are divine messengers, tricksters, and masters of roads and doors that are necessary for all prayers to reach their intended point. Eshu Alleguana, one Eshu among hundreds,
752-601: Is thought to be the oldest of the Eshus and to have existed on Earth since a primordial time long before not only people, but before many of the gods of the religion existed in the world. Therefore, he is syncretized with the Lonely Spirit as many of the African gods were syncretized with Catholic saints or hidden behind them in the first centuries of slavery when traditional African religions were suppressed. The Anima Sola
799-1016: The Arian controversy . His pontificate also coincided with the baptism of Roman Emperor Constantine I . Sylvester I's pontificate coincided with the construction of churches including Old St. Peter's Basilica , the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Santa Croce in Gerusalemme), as well as the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran . His feast is celebrated as Saint Sylvester's Day , on 31 December in Western Christianity, and on 2 January in Eastern Christianity . The accounts of his pontificate preserved in
846-581: The French Wars of Religion had occurred earlier in the year and the French Church, facing a significant and powerful Protestant minority in France, experienced iconoclasm violence regarding the use of sacred images. Such concerns were not primary in the Italian and Spanish Churches. The last-minute inclusion of a decree on sacred images was a French initiative, and the text, never discussed on
893-533: The University of Cologne (1463), had set aside the theory of the supremacy of general councils laid down by the Council of Constance , which had also called for frequent ecumenical councils every ten years to cope with the backlog of reform and heresies. Martin Luther had appealed for a general council, in response to the Papal bull Exsurge Domine of Pope Leo X (1520). In 1522 German diets joined in
940-681: The Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sacked Papal Rome in 1527, "raping, killing, burning, stealing, the like had not been seen since the Vandals ". Saint Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel were used for horses. Pope Clement, fearful of the potential for more violence, delayed calling the council. Charles V strongly favoured a council but needed the support of King Francis I of France, who attacked him militarily. Francis I generally opposed
987-662: The Franks, written in the 580s. Pope Sylvester II , himself a close associate of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor , chose the name Sylvester in imitation of Sylvester I. In the West, the liturgical feast of Saint Sylvester is on 31 December, the day of his burial in the Catacomb of Priscilla . This is now the last day in the year and, accordingly, in German-speaking countries and in some others close to them, New Year's Eve
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#17328009880751034-582: The German princes to oppose the papal Church at the time, if necessary with a council in Germany, open and free of the Papacy. After the Pope condemned in Exsurge Domine fifty-two of Luther's theses as heresy , German opinion considered a council the best method to reconcile existing differences. German Catholics, diminished in number, hoped for a council to clarify matters. It took a generation for
1081-543: The Lutherans could and could not compromise. The council was ordered by the Emperor and Pope Paul III to convene in Mantua on 23 May 1537. It failed to convene after another war broke out between France and Charles V, resulting in a non-attendance of French prelates . Protestants refused to attend as well. Financial difficulties in Mantua led the Pope in the autumn of 1537 to move the council to Vicenza , where participation
1128-639: The Pope's bridle as the papal groom. The Pope, in return, offered the crown of his own good will to Constantine, who abandoned Rome to the pope and took up residence in Constantinople . "The doctrine behind this charming story is a radical one," Norman F. Cantor observes: "The pope is supreme over all rulers, even the Roman emperor, who owes his crown to the pope and therefore may be deposed by papal decree". The legend gained wide circulation; Gregory of Tours referred to this political legend in his history of
1175-585: The Popes who had convoked the council, the emperor and the kings who had supported it, the papal legates, the cardinals, the ambassadors present, and the bishops, followed by acclamations of acceptance of the faith of the council and its decrees, and of anathema for all heretics. The French monarchy boycotted the entire council until the last minute when a delegation led by Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine finally arrived in November 1562. The first outbreak of
1222-513: The appeal, with Charles V seconding and pressing for a council as a means of reunifying the Church and settling the Reformation controversies. Pope Clement VII (1523–34) was vehemently against the idea of a council, agreeing with Francis I of France . The history of the council is divided into three distinct periods: 1545–1549, 1551–1552 and 1562–1563. The number of attending members in
1269-620: The council to materialise, partly due to papal fears over potentially renewing a schism over conciliarism ; partly because Lutherans demanded the exclusion of the papacy from the council; partly because of ongoing political rivalries between France and the Holy Roman Empire ; and partly due to the Turkish dangers in the Mediterranean. Under Pope Clement VII (1523–34), mutinous troops many of whom were Lutheran belonging to
1316-467: The council was delayed until 1545 and, as it happened, convened right before Luther's death. Unable, however, to resist the urging of Charles V, the pope, after proposing Mantua as the place of meeting, convened the council at Trent (at that time ruled by a prince-bishop under the Holy Roman Empire ), on 13 December 1545; the Pope's decision to transfer it to Bologna in March 1547 on the pretext of avoiding
1363-522: The council were also significant with regard to the Church's liturgy and censorship. The Council met for twenty-five sessions between 13 December 1545 and 4 December 1563. Pope Paul III , who convoked the council, oversaw the first eight sessions (1545–1547), while the twelfth to sixteenth sessions (1551–52) were overseen by Pope Julius III and the seventeenth to twenty-fifth sessions (1562–63) by Pope Pius IV . More than three hundred years passed until
1410-480: The early sixth-century Symmachean forgeries emanating from the curia of Pope Symmachus (died 514), the Emperor Constantine was cured of leprosy by the virtue of the baptismal water administered by Sylvester. The Emperor, abjectly grateful, not only confirmed the bishop of Rome as the primate above all other bishops, he resigned his imperial insignia and walked before Sylvester's horse holding
1457-426: The enemies of Jesus. For this reason she was condemned to suffer thirst and the constant heat of purgatory ." Sometimes an anonymous male figure is depicted as an anima sola, however the female soul was generally more common. Usually the male souls are shown as popes, priests or monks. In the cathedral of Guadalajara in Mexico there is a painting of a young monk or friar with a tonsure surrounded by flames and with
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1504-522: The faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life The main objectives of the council were twofold: Specific issues that were discussed included: Pope Sylvester I Pope Sylvester I (also Silvester , 285 – 31 December 335)
1551-415: The figure of Sylvester was embroidered upon in a fictional account of his relationship to Constantine, which seemed to successfully support the later Gelasian doctrine of papal supremacy , papal auctoritas (authority) guiding imperial potestas (power), the doctrine that is embodied in the forged Donation of Constantine of the eighth century. In the fiction, of which an early version is represented in
1598-414: The fire of Hell or does her heart burn with the fire of love? Allegedly unrequited love is what drew this poor soul into her predicament: the Anima Sola traded eternal salvation for the joys of temporal love. She is invoked in only the most desperate love spells, in which in return for obtaining the sought-after love the appellant agrees to replace Anima Sola in purgatory when they die. Another interpretation
1645-518: The floor of the council or referred to council theologians, was based on a French draft. Jus novum ( c. 1140 -1563) Jus novissimum ( c. 1563 -1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of
1692-778: The graves of martyrs . One of the Symmachian forgeries , the Constitutum Silvestri , is an apocryphal alleged account of a Roman council, which partially builds on legends in the Acts of Sylvester which has been preserved in Greek, Syriac , and in Latin and the fictional stories of Sylvester's close relationship with the first Christian emperor. These also appear in the Donation of Constantine . Long after his death,
1739-691: The image also appears in spiritist traditions. As described in The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes : Anima Sola translates as the "lone soul" or "lonely spirit" and refers to a very specific votive image. Based on Roman Catholic votive statues (but now a standardized chromolithograph), this image is particularly popular in Latin American magical traditions. It depicts a woman standing amidst flames, eternally burning yet never consumed. She gazes upwards, holding her chained hands towards heaven. Is her soul burning in
1786-504: The king wants to take a second wife, and asks Sylvester. Sylvester denies him permission, calling on heaven as witness; Constantine threatens him, and Sylvester, rather than give in, escapes into the woods. Not long after, Constantine falls ill; when he is desperate of ever regaining his health he has a dream which commands him to send for Sylvester. He obeys, and Sylvester receives Constantine's messengers in his cave and swiftly baptizes them, whereafter (having shown them several miracles) he
1833-790: The next ecumenical council, the First Vatican Council , was convened in 1869. On 15 March 1517, the Fifth Council of the Lateran closed its activities with a number of reform proposals (on the selection of bishops, taxation, censorship and preaching) but not on the new major problems that confronted the Church in Germany and other parts of Europe. A few months later, on 31 October 1517, Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses in Wittenberg . Luther's position on ecumenical councils shifted over time, but in 1520 he appealed to
1880-452: The passage of the most important decrees, not more than sixty prelates were present. Although most Protestants did not attend, ambassadors and theologians of Brandenburg, Württemberg, and Strasbourg attended having been granted an improved safe conduct . Pope Paul III (1534–1549), seeing that the Protestant Reformation was no longer confined to a few preachers, but had won over various princes, especially in Germany, to its ideas, desired
1927-453: The seventh- or eighth-century Liber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the church by Constantine I , although it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus. Large churches were founded and built during Sylvester I's pontificate, including Basilica of St. John Lateran , Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem , Old St. Peter's Basilica and several churches built over
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1974-666: The three periods varied considerably. The council was small to begin with, opening with only about 30 bishops. It increased toward the close, but never reached the number of the First Council of Nicaea (which had 318 members) nor of the First Vatican Council (which numbered 744). The decrees were signed in 1563 by 255 members, the highest attendance of the whole council, including four papal legates, two cardinals, three patriarchs, twenty-five archbishops, and 168 bishops, two-thirds of whom were Italians. The Italian and Spanish prelates were vastly preponderant in power and numbers. At
2021-599: The time, it has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation . The Council issued key statements and clarifications of the Church's doctrine and teachings, including scripture , the biblical canon , sacred tradition , original sin , justification , salvation , the sacraments , the Mass , and the veneration of saints and also issued condemnations of what it defined to be heresies committed by proponents of Protestantism . The consequences of
2068-417: Was begun especially as an attempt to prevent the formation of a general council including Protestants , as had been demanded by some in France. The council was reconvened by Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) for the last time, meeting from 18 January 1562 at Santa Maria Maggiore , and continued until its final adjournment on 4 December 1563. It closed with a series of ritual acclamations honouring the reigning Pope,
2115-478: Was no hope of reassembling the council while the very anti-Protestant Paul IV was Pope. During the second period, the Protestants present asked for a renewed discussion on points already defined and for bishops to be released from their oaths of allegiance to the Pope. When the last period began, all intentions of conciliating the Protestants was gone and the Jesuits had become a strong force. This last period
2162-638: Was poor. The council was postponed indefinitely on 21 May 1539. Pope Paul III then initiated several internal Church reforms while Emperor Charles V convened with Protestants and Cardinal Gasparo Contarini at the Diet of Regensburg , to reconcile differences. Mediating and conciliatory formulations were developed on certain topics. In particular, a two-part doctrine of justification was formulated that would later be rejected at Trent. Unity failed between Catholic and Protestant representatives "because of different concepts of Church and Justification ". However,
2209-514: Was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death on 31 December 335. He filled the See of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church , though very little is known of his life. During his pontificate, he notably convened the Council of Arles in 314, which condemned the separatist Donatist sect, and the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which aimed to resolve
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