The paper examines the changes in piety in the Habsburg monarchy during the so-called Reform Catholicism of the second half of the 18th century. The relationship between religion, society, and the individual is discussed using the example of three intertwined themes: the role of pious confraternities, the question of charity, and the concept of penance. In all areas, the transformation of religious sensibility and pious emotions is traced in relation to the changing social structure. All three themes are related to the question of funerary and other rituals, the analysis of which makes it possible to hear Luhmann’s call to also take into account space as a media that structures systems of interaction between actors and, therefore, shapes their emotions and ideas. Spatial studies offer a range of stimuli in this area that can help to understand the multi-layered nature of social and cultural change.