The Bodily and Multi-Sensory Experiences of Cistercian Nuns: The Collective Liturgy and Ceremonies of the Holy Week in Lichtenthal

Holy Week, the most significant period of the Christian liturgical year, was marked by solemn and complex rituals enacted within the sacred spaces of medieval religious communities. In the case of Cistercian female monasteries, scholarly attention has largely centered on Easter dramatic representations such as the Depositio or the Visitatio Sepulchri, while the official liturgy—Hours, Masses, processions, and the official rituals of the Easter Triduum—has remained comparatively understudied. This article addresses that gap by examining the Holy Week liturgy as performed by the Cistercian nuns of Lichtenthal (Baden-Baden, Germany), on the basis of an exceptional and understudied source: the original Ecclesiastica Officia (mid-13th century, Karlsruhe, Badisches Generallandesarchiv, 65/323). Containing comprehensive normative prescriptions for the Easter liturgy adapted for the Lichtenthal community, this manuscript enables a detailed reconstruction of the nuns’ primary collective experiences during these days. The study brings together evidence from architecture, works of art, and liturgical books, while integrating insights from sensory studies, in order to underscore the bodily and multi-sensory dimensions of the rituals. In doing so, it highlights the implications of the nuns’ active participation in Holy Week ceremonies and contributes to a deeper understanding of medieval female religious ritual experience, challenging conventional notions of enclosure and liturgical practice.