Chapter 5: Lazarus Friday
This chapter examines medieval people’s interaction with the Holy Tear through the lens of Lazarus Friday (Vendredi de Lazare), the Friday before Passion Sunday in the liturgical calendar, which started the pilgrimage season to La Trinité. I argue that the monks reserved La Trinité’s north aisle, built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, for devotion to the Holy Tear.
The first section traces the pilgrimage route, which culminated in an encounter with the Holy Tear. First, Pilgrims proceeded along the north aisle to the chapel of Mary Magdalene, where he or she was confronted with three stained-glass windows with scenes in the life of Mary Magdalene. The path culminated in the choir where a device presented the Holy Tear suspended from gold chains to the pilgrims. The second section addresses the development of a private mass to the Holy Tear within the context of a chapel built into the nave, now called the Chapelle des Fonts. The final section examines the material culture of pilgrimage including pilgrims' badges indulgences and the processions founded by Louis de Bourbon count of Vendôme in 1428.
