Newcastle
Cathedral’s women’s choir, Schola
Cantorum, are preparing to sing a liturgy that has not been heard in public
for almost 600 years. The medieval worship service, The Liturgy of the Nails, is a collaboration between the Cathedral
and Professor Lesley Twomey, Professor in Medieval and Golden Age Hispanic Art
and Literature at Northumbria University, and will be performed on Saturday 9
March to celebrate International Womens’ Day (March 8).
The Liturgy of the Nails is the work of Constanza of
Castile who was the Abbess of the Royal Dominican Convent in
Madrid. Her “Commemoration of the Nails
of the Passion of the Cross of Christ” is an extended meditation based
around the ancient services of Vespers and Compline. The service, which will be
sung in its original Latin, will also include a read “Collation” in English – a
meditation on the theme of the Nails, also written by Constanza herself.
There
are very few examples of liturgy written by women of this period – and no
others from Spain. The Revd Canon Clare MacLaren, Canon for Music and Liturgy
at Newcastle Cathedral has been working closely with Professor Twomey to
translate the liturgy suitable for use in a service of worship. This has been made
more challenging because the original music no longer exists.
Women’s
choir, Schola Cantorum, directed by
Kris Thomsett, the Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music, will instead sing
to chants that would have been used elsewhere in that period, and a hymn tune
from a rare manuscript of music written for women’s voices from the Royal
Cistercian convent in Burgos, Spain, copied and written by women in about 1300
– the Codex de las Huelgas.
Commenting
on the collaboration, Canon MacLaren said: “the work of translation has given
us a real insight into the spirituality of women religious of the Middle Ages. It
has been both powerful and moving to hear Constanza’s voice echoing across the
centuries, and we hope people will join us on March 9th not simply to listen
and enjoy this unique experience, but to worship too.”
Professor
Twomey added: “Constanza de Castilla is a remarkable woman liturgist – also a
royal princess. Her Liturgy of the Nails is unlike any other liturgy in the
period and also provides new insights into the history of how the Passion was
celebrated in Spain.”
A
study of Constanza’s theology of the Passion forms part of Professor Twomey’s
forthcoming book on women and the holy word. She has also published on the
aesthetics of beauty in the writings of cloistered women, including
Constanza’s.
The Liturgy of the Nails takes place at Newcastle
Cathedral on Saturday 9 March, at 6.30pm-7:45pm. Professor Twomey will
introduce the 15th Century work and The Revd Canon Clare MacLaren will
officiate. All are invited to attend this free event which marks International
Women's Day (March 8), a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural
and political achievements of women. There is no need to book for the service,
please just turn up.
Image: credit The British Library
