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.