Preparing for death: Some liturgical and theological perspectives
During the Middle Ages visitations to sick and dying parishioners were central parts of the priest’s daily work. When a person fell seriously ill or was hovering between life and death, the priest would be called upon, and it was his duty to make his way to sick and dying people. Having arrived at the sickbed, the priest should hear confession and administer the sacraments of communion and extreme unction. The aim of these rites was to restore the person’s health or to enable him or her to die in a state of grace.
Apart from different kinds of scriptural sources which prescribe the liturgy of the visitation of the sick, there are also a few scenes in Swedish medieval altar pieces and mural paintings that represent central liturgical moments of the extreme unction. These sacramental scenes have rarely been considered by scholars. The present article, however, examines what kind of information these scenes, when studied together with scriptural sources, can provide about these central liturgical moments.
From such sources the article explores the ways in which the dying person received the unction from the priest or bishop, how the oil was applied to different parts of the body and what kind of tools and vessels were used. This kind of information is also found in scriptural sources. The scenes give however various information which is not to be found in scriptural sources, such as how relatives and friends could be active through intercession for the dying person.
The profane meal was an important part of social life during the Middle Ages and could take place within a single household, at a larger banquet or in the community of a guild. The focus of this article is on medieval material culture in relation to the meal. At the centre are cutlery and drinking vessels from medieval Sweden such as spoons, knives, jugs, drinking horns, bowls and goblets. These categories of objects have so far been studied only on a limited scale and mostly from the perspective of the material, technique, style, trade and practical use, while the function and meaning of inscriptions and images have not been thoroughly examined. The article points at the appearance of pious images and prayers in relation to Christ and the saints on utility goods as an expression of a desire for and a promise to receive help and protection in everyday life. Devotional images or short prayer inscriptions could in all likelihood generate a response in the form of a quick prayer or a pious thought. Objects such as the presented utility goods could accordingly activate devotion. Open to the senses in relation to devotion, the owner could view the images, read the prayers aloud or silently, touch the images and words with the fingertips, lips and tongue and in that way come in direct bodily contact with what was regarded as sacred.
Late medieval personal belongings such as jewellery, costume details, weapons and tools are sometimes provided with direct and indirect prayers for help and protection, images of Christ and saints relating to motifs in the church interior and in prayer books, and image composition giving associations to altar-screens and shrines. Taken altogether these objects explicitly have a devotional character, which has been further strengthened through analysis of written sources such as exempla and preserved more extensive prayers. This point towards the relevance of talking about these objects as instruments of small-scale and everyday devotion. People were in constant need of help and protection from everyday threats. By relating to preserved prayers and exempla from late medieval Sweden, the article shows that these objects with prayers and holy images were regarded as transmitting divine help, protection, consolation and blessing. Due to the small size and portability of the personal objects carried on the body, divine intervention could take place irrespective of time and space. Lived religion and everyday devotion could therefore be performed anywhere, including on the move.
When a person in the parish was in bed seriously ill or was hovering
between life and death, the priest would be called to him or her and it was part
of the priest’s duty in the medieval and Reformation traditions to make his way
to the sick or the dying whatever the weather or the state of the roads, a journey
that could be both long and arduous. When the priest arrived at the sickbed,
he could listen to confession and give communion and extreme unction. This
article gives an overview over the ways in which the pastoral visits to the sick
and the preparation for death should or could be carried out liturgically according
to Swedish medieval and Reformation sources. Some central conceptions of
dying are pointed out in the relevant liturgical parts, as well as their theological
and pious explanations.
The article shows how Swedish reformers – through the ordo for the blessing of the corpse and the funeral – introduced a new focus in relation to the medieval tradition: from the deceased to the living. The reformers rejected the medieval idea of purgatory and refused intercession and the celebration of Mass before funeral. Therefore, the relation between the living and the dead must have suffered and the living would no longer be reminded of those who departed to the same extent as before. Instead, according to the reformers, during the funeral service the living would be reminded of their own condition, their certain death and Christian hope. Sources from late sixteenth century which demonstrate prohibitions of certain customs emphasize that the Swedish Reformation did not mean a sudden break with earlier tradition and custom, but that it was a longue durée.