On communion with the dead

摘要: Abstract When medieval liturgists articulated and interpreted rules for ritual behavior, they were not always rigidly bound by tradition. Indeed, frequently “discovered” new regulations reinterpreted old ones in response to a variety of needs. This is evident the way commentators twelfth thirteenth centuries dealt with dead. The this period all agreed that bodies dead be present at masses living was because “we [the living] do communicate dead.” represent departure both from actual liturgical practice tradition commentary, which had emphasized continuing communion between departed faithful. It may possible account positing change educated elite's emotional appears scholars century - unlike their predecessors experiencing as an alien potentially dangerous category. Liturgists who shared have tried limit contact compartmentalizing liturgy.