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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture According to Dominique Iogna-Prat, La Maison Dieu. Une histoire monumentale de l'Eglise au Moyen Age (v.800-v.1200) (Paris, 2006) -- which I believe I learned about from someone on this list -- this is part of the consecration rite that arose during the Carolingian period, and was performed by the officiating bishop, who entered the church alone while the rest of the officiants waited outside with the relics to be inserted in the altar. After inscribing the alphabets on the floor of the church, he exorcised, blessed and mixed the salt, water and cinders used for the aspersion of the church. He also prepared the mortar with which the relics would be sealed into their confessio in the altar. Finally, he blessed the whole building, its ornaments, vestments and liturgical vessels. He then left the church to join the other officiants outside, and after a litany and the blessing of the principal entrance, and a relic procession around the church, he preached a sermon before leading the procession with relics into the church. Cheers, Jim Andrew Larsen wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Might the use of the abcedarium be related to Christ's status as the > Alpha and the Omega, ie the totality of the alphabet? > > Andrew E. Larsen > > On Mar 30, 2010, at 7:34 AM, John Briggs <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and >> culture >> >> On 30/03/2010 12:04, Cate Gunn wrote: >>> The consecration ceremonies (in the 10th cent. Pontificale >>> Lanaletense and the 12th century Pontifical of Magdalen college) >>> require the 'abcdarium' to be inscribed in the corners of the church >>> - would this be the whole alphabet? What was the significance of this? >> >> The abcedarium (the whole alphabet) is inscribed (in ashes or sand) >> diagonally across the church from corner to corner, once in the Latin >> alphabet and the other time in the Greek alphabet. What was the >> significance of this? Well, the best guess (see John Wordsworth, On >> the Consectration of Churches, Especially in the Church of England: A >> Lecture [1899]) is that this is replicating the initiation ceremonies >> (baptism, confirmation, first communion) i.e. welcoming the church >> building as a member of the Christian community! The earliest ordos >> have the catechism with elements (e.g. the Creed) in both Latin and >> Greek. >> >> 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 > > ********************************************************************** > 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 > > ********************************************************************** 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