Esteemed list,
I've been going through Roger Wieck's exhibition catalogue, Painted
Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art (Pierpont
Morgan Library, 1997), and came across a fascinating reference to a
prayer in honour of the Virgin. It occurs in the "Hours of Charles
V" (MS M.696), made in Brussels in c.1540. Two folios, 40v and 41r,
are illustrated in this book, with an image of the Christ Child and
the beginning of the prayer on the recto, and the entire verso given
over to a "rubric" that explains the origins and efficacy of the
prayer. I cite Wieck's translation of the "rubric" in full:
"This prayer is in honor of the Virgin Mary and was discovered under
her sepulchre in the valley of Josephat. It is of such virtue that
he who says it or will say it, or carries it on his person will not
perish in water, nor in fire, nor in battle, nor will he be
vanquished by his enemies, and furthermore, if he has the devil in
his body, it will depart, and if he has the affliction of St John
[epilepsy], he will be cured. And the woman suffering pain in labor
who carries it or says it will then give birth. And he who carries
this on his person and says it everyday will see the Virgin Mary
three hundred days before his death."
The beginning only of the prayer itself is at the bottom of the recto
and begins, after my uncertain reading:
"Oratio. Domine iesu christe fili dei patrie omni potentie tu qui
es deus angelorum et filius virginus marie in ..."
Does anyone know anything about this prayer, its use or its history?
Is it usual that just carrying a copy of a prayer was considered
efficacious in the Middle Ages? Did such claims commonly accompany
prayers?
Many thanks in advance for any replies.
Jim Bugslag
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