La devozione al Jesús de Medinaceli, “Redentor Redimido” ; tra storia e sensibilità religiosa

The image of “Christ of Medinaceli,” preserved in a church in Madrid, is still today an object of devotion in Spain, in several European countries, and overseas. In order to fully understand this devotion, this paper describes its historical development, from the recovery of the statue in Morocco at the end of the 17thcentury through the difficult years of the Spanish Civil War up until today. Additionally, this article examines the main features of the devotion to this image (brotherhoods, processions, and prayers). Recently, the Web has contributed greatly to spreading the fame of this statue, which was used as a symbol of the fourth station in the Way of the Cross of the World Youth Day (Madrid, summer 2011). Both the popular attitude and the Church’s control of this devotion are particularly interesting. The contemporary devotional practices around this image allow one to understand the expressions of popular religious sensibility, even at the basic level of emotions and religious feelings.