Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes 1125-1325

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Resurrection andRenewal 329 


in procession to kiss the candle. No other candle was lighted.^124 At Verona,


the fire and candle ceremonies all occurred in the baptistery, where that


city’s Easter candle was enthroned. There, after the blessings, the procession


returned to the cathedral for the readings of the vigil.^125 Elsewhere, the read-


ings simply followed the Exultet. In Bishop Sicardo’s Cremona, the number


of readings had already been reduced to the later Tridentine norm of four.


But in Siena, Modena, Verona, and most probably elsewhere, the vigil pre-


served the ancient set of twelve readings.^126


After the responsory to the last reading, cantors intoned the chant ‘‘Rex


Sanctorum.’’ As this was sung, the congregation and clergy left the cathedral


in procession by the west doors and went to the baptistery, usually situated


directly outside. The procession circumambulated the baptistery, singing the


litany of the saints.^127 They entered the baptistery and stopped the litany at


the invocation ‘‘Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.’’ To the allegorists, the


invoking of the saints during the procession around the baptistery evoked


the image of the rainbow both as a glory circling the throne of God in Rev.


4 and as a sign of God’s mercy after Noah’s flood.^128 When all had assembled


in the baptistery, the litany resumed and continued up to the invocation of


‘‘All saints of God, pray for us.’’ The bishop then blessed the water of the


font. Into it he plunged either a small lighted candle, symbolizing the pillar


of fire in the desert of Exodus, or two candles, representing the burning love


of God and of neighbor. Using the lighted wick, a cleric then lighted the


catechumens’ candles.^129 The Womb of the Church was now ready for its


fruitful work.


At Siena, the bishop performed the first three baptisms; in most other


places, the first two. Having removed his fine vestments, the bishop put on a


cheaper set (viliora paramenta). He received a boy from his parents and bap-


tized him with the name Giovanni, then a girl from her parents and baptized


her with the name Maria. Last, he baptized a boy with the name Pietro.


Elsewhere, the first two children were also baptized Giovanni and Maria,


the names of Saint John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin.^130 Baptism was


done by a triple immersion, invoking the three persons of the Blessed Trinity.


124 .Ordo Senensis, 1. 166 – 87 , pp. 146 – 71.
125. See Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare,ms lxxxiv, fol. 97 v; ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 3. 28 ,p. 172.
126. Siena: Sicardo,Mitrale, 6. 14 , col. 228 (his readings were from Gen. 1 , Exod. 14 , Isa. 4 , and Rom.
11 );Ordo Senensis, 1. 174 , pp. 153 – 54. Modena: Parma, Biblioteca Palatina,msPar. 996 , 52 r– 60 v. Verona:
Biblioteca Capitolare,ms lxxxiv, fols. 100 r–v; ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 3. 28 ,p. 172.
127. Sicardo,Mitrale, 6. 14 , col. 337 ; ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 6 ,p. 213.
128. Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale,msMagl.xiv. 49 , fol. 63 v; for the extended allegory of
these ceremonies, seeOrdo Officiorum della cattedrale [volterrana], 117 – 18 (San Gimignanoms 3, fols. 51 r– 53 v;
Volterrams 222, fols. 46 r– 47 r).
129. On these blessings, see Sicardo,Mitrale, 6. 14 , cols. 230 – 32 ; Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare,ms
lxxxiv, fols. 101 r– 102 r;Ordo Officiorum della cattedrale [volterrana], 116 (Volterrams 222, fol. 45 r).
130 .Ordo Senensis, 1. 177 – 86 , pp. 157 – 68 ; Parma, Biblioteca Palatina,msPar. 996 , fols. 57 v– 58 r. For a
sermon on such biblical names, see Bartolomeo of Vicenza,Sermones de Beata Virgine ( 1266 ),Sermo 61. 2 ,
p. 403 – 4.

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