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
>
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