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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture George H. Brown wrote: > > There seems to be some confusion about the function of the piscina. > I always understood the need for the piscine to be not for the water > from the washing of the priest's hands at the "lavabo" (they're not > THAT sacred), but for the cleansing of the chalice (and ciborium) > which held the sacred species (even if the chalice is rinsed once and > the water from it drunk after communion) and the cleansing of the > priest's or deacon's hands after touching the hosts. Most Catholic > churches, including cathedrals,have only one such sink for the > priests or sacristan to use. Even though Ockham as a priest used > another basin for his shaving razor, I don't see any need to multiply > piscinae unnecessarily. We should, however, check the medieval > regulations. There is the phenomenon of the double piscina. This can be dated precisely: first half of the 14th century, I believe. This was in direct response to the requrement that a separate drain be provided for the ablutions. This was then changed to the priest consuming the ablutions, and a single piscina thereafter sufficed. (This from memory, so the precise details may not be correct.) John Briggs ********************************************************************** 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