medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The
> anonymous
> Vita Prima describes her remaining in her parents house after they
> had gone
> to church 'in order to bring with her what was necessary for the
> Mass, that
> is, fire and water with salt'. This looks like the Great Vigil for
> Easter,
> though the account doesn't say so.
You wouldn't be taking fire to the Easter Vigil, for the fire on that
occasion is of its nature a New Fire, not lit from any existing flame
but struck anew from a flint. This is an important part of its
significance, representing as it does the resurrection of Christ. Holy
Winnie might of course have been taking a brazier to the church, but it
would have been unlit at this point. Fire would be needed at every
other service except the Easter Vigil, for lighting candles and
thuribles, so perhaps the account doesn't say it was the Easter Vigil
for the good reason that it was not.
This year at the Easter Vigil, in order to ensure a crisp start to the
service, I prepared a brazier (cunningly adapted from a liturgical
Quality Street tin) of dry wood-shavings, which I soused with lighter
fluid. The resulting explosion nearly took my hand off, but achieved
the desired end of starting the Vigil with a bang and gaining people's
attention.
Bill.
=====
___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|