> To all listmembers:
> Recently, while skimming the ordo for the celebration of the
> Mass on Sunday according to the Use of Salisbury ( ca.1400), I came
> across the directive for the reading of the Gospel: Sung by deacon at
>
> lecturn on pulpitum facing North.
> Why NORTH ?
Dare I opine that it probably said 'lectern'. Though there are
alternative spellings for wirewolves, there is only one legitimate
spelling for lectern.
I can remember seeing (I speak of many years ago) deacons facing north
to read the gospel, no doubt in obedience to the Sarum rubric. I
suspect a misunderstanding of that rubric. The Gospel has always been
read from the pulpitum on the north side of the church (the Gospel
side) as opposed to the one on the south side (the Epistle side). This
is in accordance with the positional symbolism much employed in the
liturgy. Imagine Christ painted, seated in majesty, on the ceiling of
the apse in the east end of the church. His right hand (i.e. the
north) is the abode of the blessed, those invited to enter into the joy
of their lord (cf. Matthew 25:33). On his left hand are the goats, as
opposed to the sheep, those who are cast out of the kingdom. Hence the
north side is used for the better things, e.g the Gospel; the south
side is used for bad things, or at least things which are not so good:
the Old Testament and epistle, though good in themselves, are not as
high in the scale of things as the gospel.
For more on the subject see O.B. Hardison, jr. "Christian Rite and
Christian Drama in the Middle Ages" from which I quote (p. 49-50):
" . . . This is the first instance of positional symbolism, which is an
important factor in the unfolding drama. The right side of the altar,
[from the point of view of the Bishop sitting behind the altar] the
favored position, is associated by amalarius with paradise, the elect,
the Gentiles, and with safety. Conversely, the left side is associated
with hell, the temporal world, the Hebrews, strife, and danger. The
ninth-century practice of placing women on the right and men on the
left was explained by the rationalization that women, being the weaker
sex, should be protected. The movement of the gospel from left to
right for the reading was interpreted as symbolic that Christ preached
first to the Jews and then, when reject by them, was accepted by the
Gentiles. Its return to the left at the end of the service foreshadows
the conversion of the Jews."
And many such things he writes.
The Supple Doctor.
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