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The lay-brothers' choir (continued) (7/8) With the demise of the lay-brothers in the mid-thirteenth century, their choir stalls were removed and replaced with a series of chapels. This provided much-needed space for ordained members of the community to say private masses and to pray for benefactors who had requested their spiritual services.
It can be seen that each of the four altars in the north aisle had a ground piscina where water could drain away after the priest had washed his hands before celebrating Mass, and where the vessels could be washed after Communion. Also visible is the engraving of five crosses on each altar, one on each of the four corners of the altar and a fifth in the centre; these represented the Five Wounds of Christ. Devotion to the Five Sacred Wounds was promoted by St Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century, but in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it became popular to pray to the Five Wounds. A unique discovery was made at Rievaulx during the interwar period, with the recovery of relics that had been hidden underneath these altars. This was a most unusual find, for relics of this kind were generally destroyed with great venom at the time of the Dissolution.(6) Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the relics is now unknown. Renovations in the lay-brothers’ choir allowed more light into this part of the church. They also freed the space for processions and burial, such as the tomb of Abbot Henry Burton (d.1429), who was buried in the east chapel, in the south side of the nave. [Read more about burials in the church] |
