medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I doubt that this has an origin in a particular author or work. The _setentia_ simply expresses a basic principle: to the repentant, the cross is a protective citadel. A wide variety of Scripture phrases hover in its penumbra but it need not be a direct quotation from scripture or any patristic or medieval author. It may have a precedent in earlier churches, altarpieces etc. which have been lost or perhaps someday may be found (or have been found and we on this list so far don't know they have been found--the art historians on the list can be much more help there than I can), but the main point is that it's exactly the sort of thought one might place in the setting you describe.
I would not link "lugens" partcularly to the Beatitudes but rather to tears shed over sin, repentance etc. The office of monks is to weep, was Jerome's classic formulatikon, but even for Jerome, it really meant anyone dedicated to a disciplined life of prayer, fasting (ascesis, training) out of sorrow for sins. But by extension, all Christian believers were to be repentant; the vowed religious merely makes professional, total, what every baptized believer was supposed to do as far as his station in life permitted. So "lugenti" could apply to any and all believers, calling on them to repent of sin. To them, then, the cross is not threatening but a source of protection and strength.
Our parish, which has become a leading patron of liturgical arts in the USA over the past 15 years, was faced with replacing the ancient tile floor that had cracked and buckled in the heat of the last really scorching Chicago summer about 6 years ago. A parishioner designed a hardwood floor with various Christian symbols inlaid in differeing colored woods. At the threshold of the center portal in the nave a phrase was inlaid, "From this point onward, to the humble mercy, to the proud, retribution" (Hinc hvmilibvs, venia, hinc retribvtio svperbis." ( http://www.cantius.org/Cyber-Tour-2.htm ). Where the phrase comes from, I don't know--I'm sure it has a pedigree, but the pastor of the parish most probably learned of it from seeing it in another setting, not from reading the writtings of one of the Fathers of the Church or any ecclesiastical author. Now I'm curious about it and will have to ask him the next time I see him.
Dennis Martin
>>> [log in to unmask] 11/10/2004 6:53:16 AM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thank you for the reply. Yes, men who weep, or those who mourn does refer
to the Beatitudes. Because the overall message of this altarpiece is the
saving power of the cross - there are 7 other inscriptions from Paul,
Ezekiel and the hymn Vexilla regis on this theme, and the Brazen Serpent and
Moses are prominent, the relationship to the reformation is obvious. My
present idea is to try the enchiridion of Erasmus as a possible source.
This was well known in antwerp at the period. I cant get hold of a copy in
Latin on the net to test the phrase in question. any ideas other then
reading the whole Latin text if I can get hold of it. Grace.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Winston E. Black" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 4:00 AM
Subject: [M-R] Crux crux
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi Grace,
Welcome to the list. I hope you find some illumination here.
The first thing to strike me about your phrase is the "lugens". That might
not
have a clear source other than a knowledge of the Beatitudes: "Beati qui
lugent, quoniam ipsi
consolabuntur."
Another possibility for your phrase is from a sermon of Isaac of Stella. I
think his sermons were
popular and lasted well into the early modern period.
"Infelix ego homo, ait quidam lugens mortuum suum, quis me liberabit de
corpore mortis hujus?
(Rom. VII.) Sed sequitur consolatio. Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum." PL
194, col. 1696C
Similarly, from a vision of Hildegard of Bingen:
"Et ita lugendo hominem cogit, ut his verbis Dominum adoret. «Miserere mei,
Domine, quoniam
animam meam in peccatis pollui, et sana contritiones cicatricum vulnerum
meorum, quia tibi soli
peccavi. O Deus meus, amplius, amplius doce me sancta et bona operari,
quibus anima mea
sanetur, quam multum perturbavi.» PL 197, col. 0869A
As for the "tutum praesidium" phrase, I've found it most commonly in
chronicles relating battles or
other hardships, which makes sense.
Good luck!
On Tue, 9 Nov 2004 15:16:39 -0000, grace cantillon
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>Hi all, Im new around here. I am researching a c.1600 multi image epitaph
altarpiece in the Hunt
Museum in Limerick, Ireland. Many problems remain. One is a mysterious
inscription that
appears both in Latin and in Old Dutch. The Latin version is 'Homini
lugenti crux christi tutum
praesidium'. It is not from the Patrologica Latina, nor from Luther. My
present idea is perhaps
Erasmus. Is ther anyone out there who can help to search for this or who
recognises it? It must
have been well known at the time as it is very prominent. In hope, grace.
>
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