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
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