Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Lying in state

Some readers keep asking for more photos of prelates lying in state. I have a really hard time finding these and I am sorry that I kept you waiting for so long. I hope the following three photos will make up for that:


Antolín Cardinal Monescillo y Viso, Bishop of Calahorra y la Calzada (1861-1865), Bishop Jaén (1865-1877), Archbishop of Valencia (1877-1892), Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain (1892 - 1897). This photo was taken in the chapel of the archiepiscopal palace in Toledo in 1897. I don't even know if it qualifies as "lying in state", since there is no coffin. Does anybody know anything about this? Why is the late Cardinal lying on the ground?



Two photos of Franziskus Cardinal von Bettinger, Archbishop of Munich (1909-1917).

2 comments:

Embajador said...

Not really sure why Cardinal Monescillo is lying on the ground. However, I do recall from my childhood having seen a couple of dead Opus Dei priests lying on the ground at their homes. It must be some sort of old Spanish tradition for priests.

Pastor in Monte said...

In the cathedral at Toledo there is a tomb (I think for one of the bishops of the last hundred or so years) with no name, but simply with the motto: pulver aut nihil: which is to say, what lies here is simply dust, or even less. St Francis of Assissi insisted on dying on the ground as an act of humility; being laid out on the ground might be a similar idea.