Lapides vivi, Deus est lux, ecclesia est paradisus – the Cistercian church in the Middle Ages as a carrier of symbolic meanings
Journal Title: Architectus - Year 2016, Vol 20, Issue 2
Abstract
With its simple architectural solutions and furnishing, a Cistercian church shaped at the early stage of the Order’s formation, conveyed Cistercian spirituality and liturgy, its architecture and interior having been formed by the Order’s tradition and the spiritual contents it entailed. Based on the Cistercian sources, with a particular emphasis on the mystical elements present in the teaching of St Bernard of Clairvaux (especially in his homily series In Dedicatione Ecclesiae), symbolic meanings as expressed in the architecture and furnishing of mediaeval Cistercian churches are analyzed. Liturgy performed by monks in the monastic tradition of the Cistercians was perceived in unity with heavenly liturgy, celebrated by angels before God’s throne. Such understanding of liturgy had an impact on the symbolic interpretation of a monastic church. The earthly Church built of “living stones” (lapides vivi): monks, who sanctified it with their holiness, constituted a mystical unity with God’s Church in Heaven and heavenly liturgy celebrated by angels (officium divinum in conspectu Dei et angelorum). God’s presence in a Cistercian church was symbolized by sunlight, particularly present within the space of the sanctuarium, while the window composition in the presbytery gable wall symbolically expressed the truth of the unity and the Trinitarian character of the persons of the Holy Trinity. The symbolism of a Cistercian church was richly expressed in the décor and furnishing of its interior interpreted as the Paradise (ecclesia est Paradisus). Mystical and symbolic meanings of a monastic church shaped, among others, the ideological and iconographic sense of an architectural detail, monumental crucifixes above the rood screen (arbor vitae), choir stalls’ decoration (e.g. vine motif), as well as high altar retables.
Authors and Affiliations
Janusz Nowiński
Keywords
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