It is likely that the war and plague outbreaks that desolated Barcelona at the end of the 17th century prompted the resurgence of late medieval memento mori. Several villages recovered (and preserve to this day) the dance macabre as part of public performances during Lent and Holy Week. On the other hand in Barcelona, a learned city, this resurgence took the shape of the Congregatio Bonae Mortis, which was founded in the city’s ancient convent of St Augustine in the year 1700, though in later years it moved to the Oratory of St Phillip and ultimately to the church of St Anne.
The goal of
the congregants was to prepare themselves for a Good Death, meditating on the brevity
of life and the importance of being in a state of Grace. The Congregation
celebrated weekly spiritual exercises to this end, the practice of Spiritual
and Physical works of mercy, mainly Masses for the Souls in purgatory and visiting
the sick, as well as private and public mortification.
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| Emblem of the Congregation from its 1710 constitutions |
The main
public manifestation of the congregation was the procession on Ash Wednesday. On
the occasion, they chose to remind the entire city of the brevity of life and
the importance of a Good Death, displaying for all to see symbols of mortality,
these memento mori.
The
procession was opened by the andador (a verger), marking the pace of the committee,
closely followed by the Congregation’s guión, a black banner embroidered with
the skeletal figure of death and the words “memento homo quia pulvis es et in
pulverem reverteris”.The initial section of the procession bore somewhat
abstract insignia: the scythe, hourglass, crucifix giving way to increasingly
morbid symbols. In later years, each insignia was carried its own corresponding improperium, or motto.
The congregants
wore penitential habits with trains, sewn from waxed black cotton. The characteristic
stiff hood or capirote was likely incorporated in the nineteenth century,
while the train was eliminated by the beginning of the twentieth century. A musical ensemble
accompanied the retinue singing appropriately penitential pieces. The Congregation
and its procession disappeared during the latter part of the twentieth century. Thankfully, a group of parishioners of the church of St Anne recently
revived it, but to date the procession only includes the image of Christ on the
Cross and not the memento mori. Hopefully these will also be recovered in time.
This late nineteenth century paper cut-out print shows the procession in great detail, including the improperia, translated below.
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| Mounted City Guard Verger Banner Emblem of the Congregation Scythe: No one is spared Hourglass: Your last hour approaches |
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| Crucifix and Skull: Idea of death Crucifix: Agony Casket: This is your abode Child's Casket: From the cradle to the grave. |
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| Shroud: This is our livery. Skeleton: What you are, I was; what I am, you will be. Child's Skeleton: Do not presume a long life. Flower diadem: I died but did not wither |
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| Laurel diadem: This is the crown of triumph. Biretta: A priest forever, yet mortal. Doctoral biretta: There is no reasoning with death. Musicians. King's crown: None reign over the grave. |
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| Imperial crown: I too was humiliated by death. Jumbled bones: Bare bones will some day be revived. Mitre: Dignity does not exempt me from dying. Tiara: Death did not spare me. Priests... |
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| ...of the Congregation. Ashes: Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Crucifix bearers. |
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| Christ on the Cross. Congregants. Council. |
