Rites for Dedicating Churches

Abstract

There was never one rite for the dedication of churches in the Middle Ages, nor was the rite uniformly practised or enforced. Numerous studies concerning the dedication of churches have appeared in the last decade. Without significant groups of people observing the rite, it must be noted, the rite would have been an impotent means to assert the bishop's authority or social norms, such as the Peace. There is no single meaning for the rite and it was not uniformly practised, then clerical efforts to direct it or guide interpretation of it must be understood as precisely that, the efforts by a specific cleric to create significance for the rite for a specific audience. Scholars of church dedication rituals stress the connection between contemporaneous liturgical rites, sermons and commentaries. Interpretations of the rite reflect on the life and faith framed by the building.

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