The Five Sacred Wounds

The dances of death sometimes show a fascination with God's wounds - like this example from the end of the first chapter in Des dodes dantz:

Christ's five wounds

The man of sorrows from the high altar in Tallinn, click the coloured areas.

Medieval mystics - calculating the number of Christ's wounds - have arrived at a whopping total of 5,466, but the 5,461 wounds that resulted from the scourging and the crown of thorns are of minor importance compared to the wounds Jesus received in his hands and feet during the crucifixion and the wound in his side when he was stabbed with a lance.

When Christ was stabbed in the side, blood and water flowed from the wound (John 19,34). Since blood is central in the Eucharist and water in the baptism, we have here those two liquids that are necessary for salvation. Thus the church is born through Christ's wounds in the same manner as Eve was born from the side of Adam.

Jesus has appeared from time to time before many holy people and promised eternal salvation to those who would pray to his wounds and kiss them spiritually (!) every day.

The painting to the right is from the high altar of the Church of the Holy Ghost in Tallinn, made by Bernt Notke, and shows Christ as the man of sorrows (see next chapter). The so-called "instruments of the passion" (crown of thorns, spikes, 30 silver coins etc.) are painted below on the city arms of Tallinn. The colours in Tallinn's city arms are the same as in the Danish flag (see the upper right corner of this page) reminding us that the name Tallinn means "the Danish town" !

The Man of Sorrows

Mass of St. Gregory, attributed to Notke

In the 7^th century Pope Gregory the Great had an unbelievable experience: During the Eucharist, Christ appeared on the altar - displaying His still-bleeding wounds - and letting the blood drip into the chalice. Thus He proved the transubstantiation as a literal fact.

Mass of St. Gregory in Aarhus by Bernt Notke, click to see entire picture.

The painting to the left is attributed to Bernt Notke and used to hang in St. Mary's church in Lübeck until it was destroyed in 1942 - The painting to the right is from the high altar in Århus Cathedral (Denmark) and was executed by Bernt Notke.

The dance of death in Egtved starts with a man of sorrows who unfortunately - like all the participants in the dance of death - has lost his head. Then follows a prayer devoted to the pains and wounds of Our Saviour. This prayer appears on the Danish version of this page and it is well worth knowing - because "to him who each day will read this prayer and consider the torments of our Lord Jesus Christ will Pope Innocentius give as many days absolution as there are grains of sand on the bottom of the ocean...".

Further information:

• The Mass of St. Gregory in Marienkirche in Lübeck
• The dance of death in Egtved
• The Apocalypse
• The Original Sin
• The first chapter in Des dodes dantz
• The text from the painting in St. Mary's Church from 1463.
• Other dance of death manuscripts.

The dance of death Essays God's Wounds