Nancy Caciola
History, UCSD wrote
In some cases when a body was said to be wandering from its grave
at night, the proposed method of laying it to rest was to exhume the body
and place a letter of absolution on its breast.
I love this nearly-pagan idea of placing a letter on the body of the dead so
that it can find its rest, much as I am with the sense that a body
"wandering from its grave at night" was apparently so commonplace an
occurrence that a set of rituals had been formalized to respond thereto.
The letter of absolution on the breast reminds me of St. John the
Almsgiver's dying while bearing a request for absolution from a woman who
had committed "a sin so heinous" she had to write it on paper and seal it;
when she wept bitterly over his tomb, lamenting he had died before she
received forgiveness, the saint "came forth from the tomb in full pontifical
regalia and borne up on either side by two bishops" (No doubt he was afraid
he wouldn't make sufficient impression on the poor woman without proper
theatrics), and complained "Look! Our stoles are wet with your tears". It
is stunning poetry.
This idea, again and again, that six feet of earth and a marble slab are no
barrier whatsoever between the living and the gone (because, in a sense,
they're not) is compelling. I would love to read your article.
jm
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