Prayer Leaflet, Penitential Service, Reichenau School Miniature, Liturgisches Institut Trier, 20th Century

A German liturgical prayer leaflet published by the Liturgisches Institut in Trier, intended for a penitential service on the theme Wie auch wir vergeben (As we also forgive). The folded leaflet contains an examination of conscience and prayer on the inside, and on the outside reproductions of an eleventh-century miniature from the Evangeliary of the Reichenau School, held at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. The miniature illustrates the parable of the unforgiving servant from the Gospel of Matthew. Printed by Centra-Druck Sistig GmbH in Trier, with ecclesiastical permission. Light signs of use, otherwise well preserved.

The Reichenau School was a leading scriptorium on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance, active in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Its miniatures are among the highlights of Ottonian manuscript illumination. This prayer leaflet is a modest but interesting example of how medieval visual culture was deployed in twentieth-century liturgical practice.