Easter Sepulchre Information
An Easter Sepulchre is a feature of English church architecture (interior design).
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Description
A straightforward undecorated example from St Marys Church, Grendon, NorthantsThe Easter Sepulchre is an arched recess generally in the north wall of the chancel, in which from Good Friday to Easter day were deposited the crucifix and sacred elements in commemoration of Christ's entombment and resurrection. It was generally only a wooden erection, which was placed in a recess or on a tomb.
Distribution
The Easter Sepulchre is only found in England, the practice having been peculiar to the Sarum Rite.
Usage
The Easter Sepulchre contained the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, the Host. Believing in a very real way that Jesus is indeed in the Host, the Lord was taken from the tabernacle of the Church on Good Friday evening and placed in a coffin-like box. Candles were lit around the sepulchre, burial clothes adorned it, and parishioners stood guard until early Easter morning at the first Mass. The Host was brought out, as Jesus came out of the tomb, and placed in the tabernacle in the center of the Church.[1]
Surviving examples
There are throughout England many fine examples in stone, some of which belong to the Decorated period, such as:
Devon
- Holcombe Burnell
Dorset
Herefordshire
Lincolnshire
Norfolk
- St. Andrew's Church, Northwold
Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Suffolk
Warwickshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
References
- ^ Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580, Yale University Press, 1992.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Sepulchre, Easter". Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Categories: Church architecture | Easter traditions | Holy Week
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