HOLY SEPULCHRE, THE. - The most venerated among the Holy Places (v.), a goal of pilgrimage that the Christians obtained the right to visit and above all to guard, not without struggle.
The tomb of Jesus was near Calvary (v.) and therefore located outside the city but not far from it (Jn 19:20), in a garden (ibid. 19:42). It was new, hewn out of the rock (Mt 27:57) with a round stone to close it (ibid. 27:60-61), so that the pious women, going to embalm Jesus, asked themselves how they could "roll it back" (ibid. 28:2). It was the property of Joseph of Arimathea. The data that the Gospel provides call to mind one of the many tombs, common at that time, with a chamber, an arcosolium and a circular door. It was very small, and only by stooping could John see the linen cloth (Jn 20:5) and Magdalene the Angels at the sides of the arcosolium (ibid. 20:12).
The Gospel indications concerning Calvary (v.) and the Sepulchre were found to be so consistent with the place that immediately after the excavation of 326 it was thought to erect a worthy monument. Some doubts arose in the 16th century when, rediscovering the Holy Sepulchre within the city, certain pilgrims doubted its authenticity because it seemed to them that it did not cor-
did not correspond to the Gospel. The study of the city, in order to ascertain its evolution, took on a "scientific" aspect only in the last century. Good reasons, in relation to the ancient walls of the city (v. GERUSALEMME, I) and to the uninterrupted tradition, advise maintaining the age-old tradition.
If from Eusebius's description (v. GERUSALEMME, IV-VI) the general layout of the Anástasis or mausoleum of Christ, a triple-portico with the Calvary, and the Martyrium or liturgical church appears evident, the architectural specification, on the other hand, appears rather doubtful, because the description is rather vague. The contemporary images that represent the monument, such as the mosaic of St. Pudenziana, the Trivulzio ivory, the ampullae of Bobbio and Monza, if on the one hand they clarify Eusebius's words, on the other they do not give mathematical precision, because they did not intend to. Nor do the archaeological remains in situ shed much light, because, apart from some traces of the Anástasis and a wall near the ancient Cardo maximus, opened to create three doors in it, which can be identified with the Constantinian walls represented in the mosaic of Madaba (v.), nothing certain remains. Between these two extreme elements of the construction, the others must be supplied with literary or figurative data. Among the reconstructions presented, the one most consistent with the known data is that of Fr. H. Vincent; however, more recent studies by the architect Vienna (pl. 29 in II S. S., Bergamo 1949) show that the union of the two parts must be modified somewhat.
The Anástasis preserved the Sepulchre of the Redeemer, conveniently isolated and adorned with metal grilles. The round church, not mentioned by Eusebius, is attested by fourth-century writers such as Eteria, and there is no reason to exclude it from Constantine's plan. The Martyrium had a crypt-cistern where the crosses had been found, testimony of the Redemption, with an apse to the west (D. Baldi, Enchiridion [v. bibl.], n. 951) and a ciborium above the altar. Throughout the Byzantine period there is talk of riches, especially for the gilding, and of venerated images (ibid., nn. 953, 7 and 954) in the 5th-6th centuries, but never of a pictorial cycle. Moreover, the intransigence of Eusebius of Caesarea, who did not disregard the monument, and then of St. Epiphanius, leads one to exclude sacred images in the monument at least in the 4th century.
In the 5th and 6th centuries there was a fashion in Palestine of giving churches three apses: St. John in Jerusalem, Dejr Dosik, Dejr Mukellik, Bethlehem in Justinian's rebuilding; probably this fashion led to the addition of apses in the Anástasis as well. The masonry of fine clean stones with medium courses and the marble facing agree with the technique of the time.
To the work of Modestus, who restored the monument after the fire of the Persians (614), there dates back, according to the common opinion, a part of the wall of the Anástasis, made of brick because of the resemblance of its masonry to Mescetta and Aleppo (citadel). Such a radical destruction, as to require the rebuilding of the rotunda from the level of the galleries, would, however, fit well under al-Hâkim.
Of the activity of Constantine Monomachus, who rebuilt the monument in 1648 after the ferocious destruction by al-Hâkim, there are no certain elements outside of the written records. Probably it remained without great alterations in the 12th century as well. Besides the construction of the apse on the east side, he embellished the building, and perhaps also the Calvary, with mosaics: Anástasis, Ascension, Annunciation, figures of the prophets and Apostles, Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross, which were not altered by the Crusaders.
The Crusaders rebuilt the grandiose monument that encloses the Holy Sepulchre. Various chapels had been erected to preserve the memories of the Lord in the area of the destroyed Martyrium, and the Crusaders incorporated them into the new construction that enclosed both the ancient
Anástasis and the Calvary. Thus there was a nave with a large transept and a double apse, which as a whole gives a fine example of Romanesque art. The pointed arch was used, along with galleries and an abundance of sculpture, especially on the exterior, and mosaics in the interior. In the choir there were the Anástasis, perhaps transferred from Monomachus's apse, the Apostles and biblical figures such as David, Samson, etc., and the Pentecost. In the Calvary, besides the two scenes mentioned above: the Supper, the Ascension, of which the figure of Christ is preserved today, the portraits of Helena and Constantine and of the prophets who foretold the Passion of the Savior. Latin and Greek inscriptions explained, even in verse, the subjects represented. Almost everything has disappeared today, and we are indebted to medieval writers, such as Theodoric and John of Würzburg, and to the Franciscans Quaresmius and Horn for having transcribed the texts.
Among the most beautiful things in the sculpture are, besides some figured capitals, the cornices of the facade, some with leaves as if moved by the wind, and the two portals, one of which has scenes of the Passion against a Byzantine background with Romanesque influences. The massive bell tower, erected at a later time, somewhat breaks up the facade though without altering its effect.
The Crusader building remains, one might say, to this day. Only there have been: the double replacement of the aedicule of the Holy Sepulchre, first with the one built by Fr. Boniface of Ragusa in 1555, and then, after the fire of 1808, with the present one; the new Italian mosaics of the Calvary in 1937, and the Armenian paintings at St. Helena in 1950.
The joint ownership of different rites and nations makes the necessary repairs very difficult; the sacred building is filled with little walls and crossbeams to indicate the different properties; the main walls are in a poor state of preservation. The Mandatory Power (1919-48), after a study by the architect Harvey (1935), thought it well to carry out many shorings, which the co-owners found at the very least excessive. The Custody of the Holy Land, in the name of all Christians of the Latin rite, charged the architect L. Marangoni, proto of St. Mark's, to study the problem; he suggested very practical means for ascertaining the state of the monument, among them the obvious yet unpracticed one of the "tell-tales," and for restoring it without hindrance to the liturgy (L. Marangoni, La chiesa del S. S. in Gerusalemme. Problemi della sua conservazione, Venice 1937). The Mandatory Power did not take it into account and filled the building with wood and iron, making the holding of services very difficult for quite some time, especially at Easter, when there was a great influx of pilgrims.
From the consideration of this state of affairs arose the idea not of restoring but of rebuilding the monument, an idea that was fostered by Msgr. G. Testa, apostolic delegate. With the financial support of the Custody of the Holy Land, the project for a new temple of the Holy Sepulchre by L. Marangoni and A. Barlazzi has been realized, which Msgr. Testa presented to the world in an elegant form: Il S. S. di Gerusalemme. Splendori, miserie, speranze (Bergamo 1949). The reception on the part of the other rites has been somewhat distrustful; on the part of Catholics somewhat hesitant, especially because of the fact of having to destroy a monument that for centuries has welcomed the faith of so many devotees. The plan presented provides for the Anástasis, in which all the rites could participate according to a regulation, and various churches around it for each rite. To realize it, one would need a free hand to destroy all the sacred and profane buildings that are around it and to have enormous funds for the expropriation and for the construction of the new masses. But one can foresee that the generosity of Christians who bear such great love for the Holy Sepulchre would provide the necessary means.
The early Christians, following Peter and John (John 20:2-18) and the pious women, always venerated the Holy Sepulchre, but only after the construction of the Constantinian edifice did organized worship come about. From then until today, with the exception of a few brief intervals, there was always worship with the celebration of Holy Mass, services and public prayers, and preaching. The liturgical documents of the various periods are known, and today's officiants continue them in substance. Today a highly detailed regulation establishes the time of each rite, and various liturgies alternate day and night, with some rare and inevitable conflict. There are feasts on the same day in which the faithful of different rites and nations take part. Sometimes this simultaneous celebration somewhat unsettles the spirit of one who is not prepared to see this individualistic way of honoring the Lord; however, the ordinary officiation is often carried out with great decorum, especially by the Latins.
In 1347 Fra Niccolò da Poggibonsi (Libro d'Oltremare, Jerusalem 1945, p. 25) wrote: "The church inside it is damp and cold and little bright... but truly it is a place for doing penance for the soul", and this can be said, perhaps with more reason, even today. Despite the pitiable state in which the building finds itself, it always makes an impression and conversions are wrought there.
Individual and collective devotion was not satisfied with the veneration of the Holy Sepulchre; a memorial of it was also desired. Cities and lands aspired to have a reproduction of the sacred building: Capua, Bologna, Aquileia, Brindisi and other cities in the Middle Ages; Florence, S. Vivaldo, Monte Varallo in the Renaissance. Already since antiquity it had become the object of mosaic compositions, of paintings, of small objects. The memorials or eulogies (v.) ended up in the Reliquaries: blessed earth, or fragments of rock furtively detached, or oil from the lamps that burn before the venerable aedicule. The special functions that are performed there were also imitated, from the Procession of Palms to the holy fire, which has its imitation in Florence with the explosion of the cart. - See plate XX.
Bibliography19 works
Bellarmino Bagatti
