by The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library – part of Special Collections in the Saint Louis University Libraries – announces the opening of the exhibition “Keeping Time Through Prayer: Liturgy in the Middle Ages.”
Curated by Benjamin Winter, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Research Assistant in the Vatican Film Library and doctoral student in the Department of Theological Studies of Saint Louis University, this new exhibition introduces viewers to the practice of liturgy in the medieval period. It draws from as many regional, lingual, and theological contexts as possible. At this time in Western European history, the celebration of Mass was seen as an essential function of society. For more than a millennium the daily lives of religious, canonical, and lay people were ordered by liturgy’s sacred rhythm and ritual.
The medieval and Renaissance manuscripts on exhibit are drawn from the teaching collection of the Vatican Film Library. The exhibition includes liturgical calendars and manuscripts related to the cult of saints that show how liturgy dictated the rhythm of time and set the boundaries of humanity’s relationship to God. These aspects are evident in the universal celebration of events in the “Church Year,” and in the particular and highly varied practices of local communities with their unique feasts and cults.
Also on display are liturgical manuscripts that include performance instructions—examples of how worship practices were shaped by the abilities and resources of participants. The relationships between various types of mass books (such as antiphonals, breviaries, and graduals) are also explored, as a tribute to the complexity of the manuscript tradition within which these treasures of medieval life are preserved.
The exhibition is free and open to the public and will be on display Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, through 31 August 2015 in the Vatican Film Library of Pius XII Memorial Library (Room 105). A Curator’s Talk by Benjamin Winter will take place on Thursday, March 19, at 3:30 pm, to be followed by a reception. For further information, contact Susan L’Engle, Assistant Director of the Vatican Film Library, at 314-977-3084, lengles@slu.edu.
Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections — Rare Books and the Vatican Film Library — houses the rare book and medieval manuscript studies collections of the University Libraries and provides a laboratory for learning and research that enables students, faculty, and visiting scholars to engage directly with unique, rare, and original materials. Visit Special Collections in Pius XII Memorial Library or online or follow our blog.
