It would be an interesting study, if not
>yet undertaken, to discuss the influence of the liturgical formularies in
>the popular absorption of scripture vs. the influence of the formal reading
>of the texts. Holy Week ceremonies, especially, were great dramatic plays
>come to life in ritual settings that were not easy to forget. Months of hard
>work and preparation often went into them, and the images they created were
>vivid and not readily forgotten. Is this merely an anachronistic idea?
On the contrary, it is an excellent idea and should be taken careful note of
by those who are not used to the idea of absorbing scripture in this way.
I have often noticed, for example, that many Catholics' knowledge of the
crucifixion story owes more to the familiar devotion of the "Stations of the
Cross" than it does to reading the Gospel accounts. Now that devotion is,
to say the least, an imaginative embellishment of the Gospel narrative.
There is the scene of Veronica wiping Jesus' face, which is purely legendary.
But beyond that, the Stations present three occasions when Jesus falls
beneath the weight of his cross. None of the gospels records any such fall.
In the synoptic gospels, Jesus does not carry his cross at all; it is
carried by Simon of Cyrene. Jesus did not fall beneath the cross, because
he was not carrying it. John's Gospel asserts, in contradiction to the
synoptic accounts, that Jesus carried his own cross (John 19:17); but this
is in keeping with John's theology of the passion, which is seen as a
triumph, Jesus being entirely in control of the situation. John certainly
does not conceive of Jesus as falling. The Stations harmonise the two
differing accounts by having Simon of Cyrene 'help' Jesus carry the cross;
but this is not what any of the narratives say.
Furthermore, the Stations have Jesus meet his mother Mary on the way to the
cross. None of the Gospels records such a meeting. Indeed the synoptic
gospels do not record Mary's presence in Jerusalem at all. Mark records
that "A number of women were also present . . ." (15:40), and names them.
Mary the mother of Jesus is not among them, and it would seem a curious
omission on Mark's part, had she been there. John alone records Mary's
presence under the cross (John 19:25 ff) and again this is consistent with
his theological standpoint. The familiar iconography of the 'pieta', Mary
holding her crucified son in her arms, is derived entirely from popular
devotion, not the Bible.
Oriens.
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