ABSTRACT
The phrase “on the sunday” is repeated thirteen times in the thirty-three lines of the prayers, becoming a leitmotif that turns Erasmus into a “Sunday saint”: one who not only performed holy actions on Sundays, but whose aid and example will help his devotees in their own Sunday observances. The hours of Sunday should be invested for spiritual gain, and Sunday’s time should be managed with the same care as weekday time. As a Sunday saint, Erasmus thereby reinforced the mercantile virtue of not wasting time and the honoring of Sunday’s sacredness by emphasizing Sunday as a day for spiritual instead of monetary gain. Several witnesses display a marked affinity with other mercantile issues and/or were sponsored by merchants. The individuals cited for selling on holy days are those of the artisanal classes – butchers, bakers, shoemakers – rather than the elite merchant classes of mercers, goldsmiths, or grocers.
