Note to Anon Eccl 2VII
[5-8]: Celi ‘of heaven’ (l. 6) is the Medieval Lat. spelling of caeli. In the Vulgate, porta caeli ‘gateway of heaven’ refers to the site of Jacob’s vision in which he saw angels ascending and descending a ladder between heaven and earth and heard God repeat the covenant made to Abraham of a promised land for the chosen people (Gen. XXVIII.17). The term is one of the most common appellations for the Virgin Mary in medieval Christian liturgical texts and religious poetry, and was derived from exegesis of Jacob’s dream and the vision of the renewed temple in Ezek. XLIV.1-3. It first appeared in the Western liturgy in the C9th hymn Ave maris stella ‘Hail, Star of the Sea’, which was incorporated into the liturgical Office of Vespers on the Marian feasts. It is also found in Alma redemptoris mater ‘Loving Mother of the Redeemer’, the antiphon for Sext on the Feast of the Assumption, used since the C12th. The whole second helmingr chimes closely with ll. from Ave regina caelorum ‘Hail, Queen of Heaven’, the C12th Marian antiphon for Nones on the Assumption: … salve porta / ex qua mundo lux est orta; / gaude virgo gloriosa … ‘hail gateway [of heaven], from which light arose in the world; rejoice most renowned Virgin...’. As the light of Christ has arisen (orta) in the world through the ‘gateway’ (porta) of the Virgin Mary, so the poet urges Thomas, having arisen (ortus) to the Christian life, to dwell figuratively in the gateway of heaven (celi porta), perhaps in devout contemplation of the Virgin. He may then finally look forward to rejoice (gaude) alongside Mary and the other saints in heaven after his salvation.