Sanctissimum, the Senses and Rhetoric. Cycle of Poems from 2nd half of the 17th century, Dedicated to the Eucharistic Mystery, by Students of the Jesuit College in Orsza

Abstract

The article is concerned with the handwritten cycle of poems "Głosy piąci zmysłów" [“Speeches of Five Senses”], that comes from the 2nd half of the 17th century. The text is part of a codex containing other rhetorical exercises by students of the Jesuit college in Orsza (Belarus). "Głosy piąci zmysłów" develop the issue of the Eucharistic mystery – voices of the five senses try to explore this problem and the Mind is their leader. But it turns out that four senses – eyesight, taste, the senses of touch and of smell – have failed. Only hearing can prove that the truth about this sacrament was revealed in the words of Christ and the saints. The hardest task is to believe them.