ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which contact, specifically sensory contact with matter in the form of bodily effluvia, acted as an affirmation of corporeal presence for the pious devotee while at the same time highlighting a devotional mechanism that encouraged tactility as a mode of piety. Mary's milk was the counterpart to Christ's blood, and like Christ's blood, Mary's milk was the vehicle through which her presence was seen, heard, felt, and tasted. Like Paula, Bernard was rewarded for his pious belief and veneration of the lactans image with the physical manifestation of Mary in the imbibable form of her milk. Fluids served as the vehicle for a sensory experience of the absent body; Christ's blood, sweat, and tears, along with Mary's milk were venerated as relics, hence physical proof of their bodily existence. Margaret's reward for her tear-filled piety was physical, bloody, and permanent.
