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

(Darren Dugan) #1

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.^162

At 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



  1. 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.’’

  2. Reggio Stat. ( 1277 ), p. 48 ; Treviso Stat. ( 1233 ), 745 , 2 : 289 ; Modena Stat. ( 1327 ), 4. 173 , pp. 476
    (which seeks to limit the offerings).

  3. Benincasa of Pisa,Vita [S. Raynerii Pisani], 12. 125 ,p. 370.

  4. 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.

Free download pdf