Initial I with the Aspersion of the Holy Water This initial begins the first response for the first nocturn of Matins for the Dedication of a Church, 'In dedicatione templi decantabat populus laudem ...' (At the dedication of the church, the people sang songs of praise). The figure in the initial, a cleric, is performing the ritual of sprinkling the new church with holy water, also known as the Lustration or Washing of the Church. This image shows the reverse of a page with an historiated initial from an antiphonary. Script: Rotunda
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