Would one of my Roman Catholic friends tell me what the book of gospels is?
The media is calling the red book laid on the top of Pope John II’s coffin, the book of gospels.
Calling the pope’s funeral a ’spiritual woodstock’ doesn’t make sense either.
Published 3 years, 4 months ago
Search
Subscribe 
You are currently browsing the Bene Diction Blogs On weblog archives.
Related Entries
For blog design, Wordpress or MovableType coding or blog consulting, see cre8d design.
This is a very untechnical and incomplete explanation.
The Book of Gospels is literally a book with only Gospel readings in it. Since the Gospels are the words of Christ, they symbolize in a special Christ’s presence at Mass. At the beginning of Mass, the priest or deacon processes in with the book of gospels and lays it on the altar.
There are three scripture readings at Sunday Mass, the first is from the Old Testament, the second from the New Testament and the third from the Gospels.
The first and second reading are read by lay people, but the Gospel can only be read by one who is ordained, i.e., priest or deacon. After the second reading, the lay person puts the book with the OT and NT readings away and then the priest or deacon processes with the Book of Gospels to the ambo or lectern and reads/proclaims the Gospel.
Because the book of gospels is highly symbolic and used for the processing in, they tend to be pretty ornate.
Many priests, like to own their own personal copy of the Book of Gospels and thus buy copies that match their sentiments artwise, etc.
As for the symbolism of placing it on the coffin, I don’t know. Like a good Catholic, I could make something up:)
Ono, thank you.
That is an excellent explanation for someone as ignorant as I am.
When I’ve been to mass, I have to admit I haven’t noticed the nuances well. (too scared I’ll make a mistake - how sad) I know I’ve been drawn back because so much scripture is read and it feeds me.
Would that red book of gospels have been his personal copy?
It was oddly striking on top of the coffin and I thought the media had goofed.
Red is a traditional color for the book of the Gospels. I think it symbolizes the blood of Christ. The church has a long tradition of using various colours in vestments, decorations, etc, to communicate the meaning of various feast days etc. For example, Lent and Advent are violet/purple with one pink sunday for each of these seasons. The color is of both royalty and also of somberness. Feast days of martyrs are red, as is Pentecost. One for blood, the other for fire. Easter is Gold or White.
The reasons for this tradition are similar to the reasons for stained glass and statues. Throughout much of the history of the world, including the history of Christianity, most persons could not read and had no access to books. So the furnishings of the church buildings and all the physical ambience was designed to reach and to teach. It was a further reinforcement of the scriptures that were read aloud at every worhsip service, be it a Mass or a part of the Liturgy of the hours. Many faithful but illiterate Christians were then able to memorize the Psalms and other prayers of the church, simply by repetition - and the stories told in stained glass and statuary also helped to teach the faith.
A memorized catechism is another teaching/learning tool that does not make the assumption of literacy. I personally think that it is a bad thing that we have gone away from rote memorization. It is a good first step in the learning process.
When I became Catholic and started figuring out that everything (every. single. thing.) in the Catholic church has this sort of symbolism it blew me away … and made it that much more interesting to see that there is always a reinforcement of various messages going on on all levels of the sense.
I found this in USA Today about the Book of Gospels on the casket.
“The change in papal funerals was expressed most starkly in the first to be held after Vatican II. Pope Paul VI’s instructions for the service broke with tradition, which had been to bury the pope as if he were a Renaissance prince. Paul’s funeral, the first in modern times held in St. Peter’s Square, was striking in its simplicity. His coffin rested on the ground, not the elaborate catafalque that had supported popes’ remains for centuries. Instead of a crown, all that rested on the coffin’s lid was an open book of the Gospels.
“He was a man of the word, and that book was a powerful symbol of that,” said Driscoll, the Notre Dame theologian. “What I remember is the utter simplicity of it.”
Paul’s successor, John Paul I, died a month after he was elected. Again, the trappings were minimal. Again, the gospel book sat atop the casket. But this time, the rain and wind in St. Peter’s Square blew the pages this way and that — like the breath of the Holy Spirit, some said. In his homily, Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri said the pope “had flashed like a meteor across the sky.” “
Bene, as a Roman Catholic lecter (reader) at Sunday Mass, I had never before heard the term “Book of Gospels”. What I am familiar with are the titles “Liturgy of the Word” and “Lectionary”. As Catholics we come to celebrate Mass first as the ongoing sacrifice at Calvary. The transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ is our form of worship’s first priority. As a consequence the “LTW” is an incorperation and combination of both Scriptural passage and time honoured prayers and incantations that together, through the medium of Priest, effect the miracle of Holy Communion.
The “Liturgy of the Word” and this is my interpretation here, is the “Bible” of the Priest. While it isn’t forbidden for the laity to read, know of or hear, it isn’t distributed among the faithful as Scripture is. The expressions contained within it are meant solely for the priest to express at Mass, albeit with some responsorial inclusions. The one at our church is red and leatherbound with gold colored gilded pages.
The “Lectionary” as was described in another comment is a compilation of biblical passages from various books of the Bible. It is a campanion volume to LTW not including prayer/incantation that is read by both laity and Priest or deacon. 2 different lecters each read a passage from the bible. One from the old testament,the “First Reading” and one from the new testament, the “Second Reading”. The third and final reading of the Mass is always from one of the Gospels and can only be read to the parrish congregation by Priest or deacon. They are not presented in a historical or chronilogical fashion as is most of Scripture. Rather they are a collection of Biblical passages co-ordinated with our liturgical calender to give our Mass, celebration of feast days and homeletics context. Catholic worship is all about an effort to reconcile the Sacrifice of the Mass (faith/mystery), and the understanding of the Word(reason/wisdom)through time honoured custom (tradition/culture).
I would suspect, but don’t know, that Pope John Paul was adorned with the “Liturgy of Word”. A simple and poigniant reminder that before he was Pope, before he was a spiritual,political and cultural icon, he was simply a “Good and Humble Shepard”.