> > "This prayer is in honor of the Virgin Mary and was discovered under
> > her sepulchre in the valley of Josephat."
>
>Oriens wrote:
>The Valley of Jehosaphat is the Kedron Ravine, which divides Jerusalem
>from the Mount of Olives. The Church of the Assumption/Tomb of the
>Virgin is indeed there, and I have visited it several times.
To the original poster of the prayer honouring the Virgin:
In relation to the full text of the original prayer posted,
and possibly to the collection of materials, if any, with which it
was found, it may be a useful lead to note that as a topos of sacred
geographical lore, the identity of the Valley of Joasaphat ( Joel
3:1-2; 12 : "For behold in those days, and in that time when I shall
bring back the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem: I will gather
together all nations ,and will bring them down into the valley of
Joasaphat... Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the
valley of Joasaphat; for there I will sit to judge all nations round
about.." ) was coincidental with that of the site of the Last
Judgement. It was established in the tradition as early as a sixth c,
Breviary of Jerusalem ( Forma b, lines 134040, ed. Weber, Itineraria
et alia geographica..) and adopted as a commonplace in medieval
itineraries by the 11thc -12thc.(See Palestinian Pilgrim's Text
Society, 6, London 1984, repr. 1971, Anonymous Pilgrim 1)
For these medieval pilgrims and geographers, it was also no
coincidence that the other main reason to revere this valley was its
being the site of the tomb of the Virgin Mary ( traceable to the
apocryphal 5thc. Transitus Mariae) a commonplace accepted and well
absorbed in both popular and liturgical lore well before the high
middle ages. The particular formaulation of that prayer to the Virgin
may well have been shaped by similar petitionary prayers common to
the theme of the last judgement. I know there exists an annotated
collection of such petitionary prayers, and will try to locate the
exact citation for you.
While these suggestions may ultimately be of no help in specifically
identifying the prayer, they may well help pinning dowm the tone and
flavor.
Josef Gulka
>
Josef Gulka
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Tel: 215- 732-8420
Fax (215) 732-8420
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