medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Again, this is a practice still done at particular churches in Greece.
DW
>
>> Perhaps "night-watching in porches" is related to the practice of
>> incubation, or passing the night at (or on or under or in) the shrine
>> of a saint in hope of healing. The roots of the practice were in
>> pagan antiquity, where sleeping at shrines (especially of Asclepius
>> but also of others) was associated with the search for revelatory
>> dreams and their interpretation as well as with healing (so
>> "night-sleeping in porches" might really be expected). Possibly in
>> Christian practice keeping vigil, with its biblical resonances, was
>> increasingly substituted for sleeping as the vision and dream
>> elements important in late antiquity faded. I suppose too that the
>> porch would be used if people were locked out of the church at night.
>
>
> There's also the physical factor: in the Middle Ages (I don't know
> about classical or late antiquity, but I doubt it was much different)
> few people had separate bedspace -- sharing the night with companions
> was normal. And so the idea of spending the night with the saint for
> healing (or, I daresay, for inspiration) was a perfectly natural
> transfer of practice, combining closeness to the person with the idea
> of a sacred place.
>
> Hal Cain
> Joint Theological Library
> Parkville, Victoria, Australia
> [log in to unmask]
>
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