Holy Monday at Santa Prassede : Stational Liturgy and Paschal I’s Mosaic Decoration
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Step by Step Towards the Sacred : Ritual, Movement, and Visual Culture in the Middle Ages |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | Santa Prassede; stational liturgy; stational procession; mosaic decoration; Holy Monday; Paschal I. |
| Description | The stational system is one the essential elements of early medieval Roman liturgy. To unite diverse Christian communities living in the city, popes presided over masses in many different churches during the liturgical year, processing to them with clerics and the laity through the Roman streets. During Lent, on Holy Monday, they would celebrate liturgy at Santa Prassede, an old titulus documented as early as 489, well-known for its mosaic decoration commissioned by Paschal I (817-824). The pope’s presence in the church made Holy Monday one of the most important events of the liturgical year at Santa Prassede. By analyzing the liturgical and historical sources for this stational/papal liturgy, the present article attempts to understand when Santa Prassede became a Holy Monday statio; which church served as the collecta on this occasion; and how the words delivered at Santa Prassede on Holy Monday affected, firstly, the worshippers’ experience of Paschal I’s mosaics, and secondly, the mosaic decoration itself. |
| Related projects: |