WorldWithoutEnd.Amen. 405
mending them to the saints and angels who would lead them before the
judge of all:
R. Saints of God, come in aid; angels of the Lord, come in greet-
ing, * receive his soul, * bring it into the presence of the Most High.
V. May Christ, who has called you, receive you, and may his
angels lead you into the bosom of Abraham, * bring your soul into
the presence of the Most High. R.
V. Eternal rest grant unto him, Lord, and let perpetual light shine
upon him, * bring his soul into the presence of the Most High. R.^162At the church door, the deceased took leave of his family and friends. His
face was covered. Mourners surrendered their candles and torches, some-
times offering them to the priest who would conduct the funeral.^163 Some
mourners, however, held their candles throughout the Office and Mass and
carried them to the grave, giving the rites the flavor of an Easter vigil. Bodies
of laypeople entered the church feet first, facing the altar. The laity’s bier
stood in the nave, among the people, where the deceased had heard Office
and Mass while alive. Clerics were laid in the choir, their proper place, with
feet toward the congregation, as they would have faced them when giving a
blessing or preaching. Wherever the location, mourners crowded around the
body. At the funeral of the layman Ranieri of Pisa, who was laid out in the
choir because of his holiness, the people invaded that clerical preserve to be
near the body. They left so little room that the priests had to move his body
up into the pulpit. Mourners refused to be put off. They climbed the stair in
the choir screen to touch pieces of cloth to his body.^164
RequiemAeternam
The funeral Mass was conducted in the parish church.^165 When the mourn-
ers and body entered there, the focus of the funeral changed. The vigil and
Mass of the dead were the most ecclesiastical of rites. The chants and prayers
focused on Christ’s dread judgment and the fearful consummation of the
world. The church prayed, not only for the newly deceased, but for all who
would one day die and stand before the divine tribunal. The rites at the
church began with Vigils of the dead, an Office beginning with Vespers and
- Text from the Roman Ritual: ‘‘R. Subvenite Sancti Dei; occurrite Angeli Domini. Suscipientes
animam eius. Offerentes eam in conspectu Altissimi. V. Suscipiat te Christus, qui vocavit te, et in sinum
Abrahae Angeli deducant te. Suscipientes animam eius. Offerentes eam in conspectu Altissimi. V.
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Offerentes eam in conspectu altissimi.’’ - Reggio Stat. ( 1277 ), p. 48 ; Treviso Stat. ( 1233 ), 745 , 2 : 289 ; Modena Stat. ( 1327 ), 4. 173 , pp. 476
(which seeks to limit the offerings). - Benincasa of Pisa,Vita [S. Raynerii Pisani], 12. 125 ,p. 370.
- Siena seems unique in having all funerals at the duomo:Ordo Senensis, 2. 97 ,p. 503. On burial
rights in canon law, see Marantonio Sguerzo,Evoluzione, 287 – 95.