On Mon, 30 Sep 1996, Otfried Lieberknecht wrote:
> > 4. Michael is not to be an impassioned and "honest" weigher of souls on the
> >Final Judgement, according to some texts. One family of antiphons distinctly
> >asks Michael to save the souls in the Great Judgement, and some visionary texts
> >claim that after the weighing and judging, Michael is to team up with Mary and
> >some other saints to "snatch" some of the souls from the ranks of damned, and
> >return them to the ranks of the saved. Aren't there some tympana that have
> >Michael cheating during the weighing of souls by pushing up on the pans from
> >below? or am I thinking of that old Rockwell painting of the sweet old lady and
> >the kindly butcher cheating each the other over a chicken?
>
> David,
>
> Thanks for the good info on Michael. Usually it's the devil who tries to
> cheat (by putting his finger on the scales, like on the tympanon at
> Conques), but it would be interesting to look for some (counter-)cheating on
> the part of Michael (or other angels).
>
> Otfried
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Otfried Lieberknecht
> Schoeneberger Str. 11
> D-12163 Berlin
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> ORB Dante: http://orb.rhodes.edu/encyclop/culture/lit/Italian/Danindex.html
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
For what it's worth, there is an exemplum (I don't have the Tubach number
handy) in which the scales are evenly balanced until a nail from the crucifix
falls into the dish containing the merits of the deceased, causing the scales
to come down on the side of salvation.
Peter Binkley
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