THE CONSECRATION OF A FRIEZE.

On a small rugged rock, under which a spring runs, stands a magical temple and a special rest for the spirit. A humble jewel of Palencia Romanesque, the temple of Santa Cecilia, in Vallespinoso de Aguilar, is an initiation itinerary where the rock, a divine word solidified and built upon by man, transmits all the telluric forces and the energy of creation.

Its carved figures on the cover, despite the passage of time, contain a spiritual aesthetic and a reflected reflection of their time, difficult to match.

Part of its frieze, an example of how difficult it is to give a definitive meaning to Romanesque sculptural representation, is the one that has created the most interpretation problems for specialists and experts.

It is due to the famous Miguel Ángel García Guinea the first attempt in describe it: “The first carries a kind of stick on her chest that she holds with both hands, the second with a musical instrument, the third carries something similar to a mace, the fourth with a violin on her knees, the fifth with a stick in the same position as the first. , the sixth with her right hand in an attitude of blessing and the left with an object on her knees that could be a book, the seventh with a kind of column on the left, and the eighth, very confused, perhaps with another”.

For his part, Jesús Herrera Marcos, taking advantage of the dedication of the temple, considers that we are before a representation of the “Eight Gregorian modes” referring to the musicians who fall under the patronage of the owner, Santa Cecilia. According to this author, each character with his instrument would symbolize: “the blessedness of the saints in heaven, prayer, pious souls, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the praise of the Saints to God, the tranquility of the just spirit and finally the cosmic order resulting from all of the above, generally represented by a character carrying a large rod as a baton, which establishes the musical rhythm”.

It would not, however, until the work of José Manuel Rodríguez Montañés and Pedro Luis Huerta Huerta, when the most consolidated and current theory was established in the current acceptance that we are facing the remains of a mensario:
“On the frieze on the right side of the cover we see a group of nine characters in different attitudes whose identification is extremely complex, both due to the complexity of the composition and the worn relief. In some the reference to agricultural activities seems clear, as in the case of the first of them, which carries a kind of flail. The next one holds a small pot or basket and a sharp object, possibly a reference to harvest work, while his partner handles an oblong object that could be interpreted as a character pouring wine from a wineskin into a barrel, as on the cover of Beleña de Sorbe (Guadalajara). The following two characters offer greater difficulty, the first stirring in a kind of bowl and the second holding an elongated object. The character to his right, accompanied by another small and very lost figure, appears before a table full of delicacies making a gesture of blessing with his right hand (index and heart extended). The scene concludes with two figures, separated by a kind of column, the extreme one wearing a hood and in an attitude of warming up. The set of characters, except for the smallest one next to the diner, form a coherent group, all dressed in tunics except for the rustic headdress with a hood, who wears a sayon. The canon of the figures is somewhat stocky and they are presented either barefoot or with pointed shoes. If the advanced attributions were confirmed, we would be here before a fragmentary mensario, of the type cited in Beleña de Sorbe”, a thesis that is supported and shared by Cristina Párbole who defends the thesis of an unfinished mensario or menology where the months of March, April and May would be missing, in which Julio would be the character located furthest to the left who carries a staff or scepter, while that August carries a basket, referring to the task of shelling the wheat, September the character pouring wine into a barrel, October represented with a container in his hands removing the contents of the container, November again carrying a scepter relating it to the slaughter of the pork, and December (the easiest to identify, in Cristina’s opinion) the so-called “Christmas banquet” with the table where the products that have been collected during the year are arranged, while a servant in a lower stratum carries something in her hands and she prepares to serve the table, while the gentleman appears with his index finger and middle finger raised in an attitude of blessing her.

We know of other theories that, detaching themselves from the commonly accepted thesis, that of the incomplete messenger, understand that it would be a question of a mutilated apostolary leaning, perhaps, on the figure that carries the keys and that they would relate to that of his lateral companion without taking into account that None of the figures on the frieze are provided with a nimbus or classical apostolic attributes, not to mention that they are mostly wearing shoes, all of which are issues that are repugnant to the most elementary interpretation of Romanesque symbology and message.

With the modesty and humility of those of us who are not experts or specialists but deep lovers and scholars of this sacred Art, we have decided to approach the interpretation of this part of the unique frieze of the Romanesque temple of Santa Cecilia de Vallespinoso which, for us, contains the exclusive peculiarity of being the only stone representation, the only sculpted document, of the ritual ceremony of DEDICATION OR CONSECRATION OF THE ROMANESQUE TEMPLE.

Paganism already knew the dedication of a temple, an altar, a theater or a city. Not in vain on May 11, 330 the dedication of Constantinople was celebrated with splendor. The rite always involved processions with sprinkling of lustral water, prayers and offering of sacrifices. The Old Testament also knew the dedication of altars (Num. 7, 10-11) and temples (1 Re 8, 1-66 and Esdr 6, 15-18), but it was not until the Middle Ages when the Christian liturgy of the ignited or inauguration (Jn 10,22), that is to say the “dedication” of the temple, will try to enrich its symbolism by taking the biblical substrate.

The development of the celebration of the “dedication” or consecration of a Romanesque temple was one of the most important liturgical ceremony that could be carried out. Perfectly coded in pontifical texts y orders diverse, it had appraised some initiation rites, a true liturgical game fruit of medieval symbology and revealing a specific theology, which began with a processional entrance to the temple. Everyone stops at the threshold so that the representatives of those who have collaborated in the construction, the principal(s), hand it over to the pastor of the new temple so that he can open its doors.

The new pastor, accessing the temple with the keys, will invite the people to enter while Psalm 23 is sung.

Finally, the door opens, and then a barefoot celebrant (” Do you want to find the basilica clean? So don’t dirty your soul with sin”…)

festively illuminates the temple (“ If you want it to be well illuminated, God also wants your soul not to be in darkness and to shine in us the light of good works…“, Cesáreo de Arlés) as a sign of joy while the song of Tobías is sung (Tob. 13,10-17), while the blessing of the Gregorian water (water, salt, ash and wine) is proceeded for the lustration of the altar and the entire building, sprinkling it with hyssop (Ordo XLII, 6) following the text of Sugero, abbot of San Denis (1.114) (“Lord, through the anointing of the holy chrism, you have united the material with the immaterial..”), while, according to the fourth-century tradition established by Saint Ambrose, a presbyter will transfer, in a paten, the relics of the holy martyr to be delivered to the celebrant.

Celebrating members of the entourage carrying a torch – barefoot -, hyssop with chrism anointing and a reliquary urn – also barefoot –

The procession ends with the celebrants bearers of the seal -monosandalic as a sign of the legal act of taking possession or property- and roll of the founding Act.

One of the most important moments of the rite was the deposition of teaks containing relics of the Saints along with portions of the Lord’s body (hosts) in a sanctuary or sepulcher located inside or under the altar itself (lipsanoteca).

Observe how the small figure of the acolyte pours the contents of a container onto the central point under the altar on which carved portions of hosts appear, while the celebrant, with a raised hand, performs the blessing rite before the gaze of the the only figure with a hood or a covered head – which shows its character as a female – and the man who, richly dressed, remains seated as a sign of his character as benefactor or client.

This formula of the consecration ritual called ” instead of coding the rest“, is already contained in the Daily book

papal dating from the sixth century and the Order Roman XLVII

of the eighth century, observing the custom instituted by Saint Ambrose when, upon discovering the remains of Saints Gervasio and Protasio (year 386), he placed them on the altar of the Basilica of Milan in a symbolic gesture that the triumphant victims had a place where Christ offers himself as a host: “on the altar, the one who offered himself for all; under the altar, those who were rescued by him with his passion“.

In the intimate conviction of having unveiled the exclusive stone representation of the only ignited or consecration of a Spanish Romanesque temple, we encourage the enhancement and conservation of this singular frieze of the temple of Santa Cecilia in Vallespinoso de Aguilar, unique witness and faithful language of the soul of the stones.

* Miguel Ángel García Guinea.

* José Manuel Rodríguez Montañés and Pedro Luis Huerta Huerta. Romanesque Encyclopedia.

* Cristina Párbole. Mensario in detail. The Romanesque Footprint.

* Consecrated walls. The medieval liturgical setting of the Bagüés lipsanoteca Gloria Fernández Somoza Ramón Llull University.

* Catholic Apologetics, “Giving Reason for Our Hope”, February 2015
* Dedication of Churches and altars, NLD