by Christof Cremer

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

In addition to the examination of the life of St. Liborius, the legends told about him and the well-known description of the transfer of the bones of the saint from Le Mans to Paderborn - in the centre of which stands a peacock - the concrete texts of the liturgy of the Liborifest and the study of the liturgical space, for which the present robes are conceived, form the basis of my work. The study of the radiance of the Liborifest, which is also a symbol of the power of the Christian faith and its seat in the lives of us today, was for me an important basis for the artistic design of the ornate. In the Preface of Saint Liborius there is prayer: "... For he (Christ) sent Saint Liborius to proclaim the Gospel of salvation and to enlighten the hearts of men with the light of faith. Following the example of Christ the Good Shepherd, he struggled for the flock entrusted to him. …“ It is a joyful, joyful message that wants to meet us and affect us. The message of the unspeakable love of God for his creation, for us human beings. And it is the fact that Christ does not leave us alone in this life, but, like a good shepherd, is with us, around us, in us. Not only that, but he himself reveals himself as "the way" (Joh. 14,6), which we are supposed to guess. All this and, as already written, the legends around Saint Liborius occupied and captured me during the elaboration of the Ornate. In art history, the peacock is one of the symbols assigned to Saint Liborius. But for me today it is no longer a matter of applying a peacock, but of deepening these images and tracing them. Like a (stylized) peacock's eye, rays taper from the neckline to the hem of the garment both in width and in height. Gold stands for the power of God, blue for the Pader spring as connection to Paderborn and of course also to the baptism in Christ. According to the Paderborn legend, the peacock showed the way during the transfer of the bones of St. Liborius, just as Christ also shows us the way. His message, his life and his death on the cross are for us signposts in our lives, for our pilgrimage. This is reflected in the garment of the main celebrant, who as Christ's representative is the head of the divine service. All the robes refer to the peacock, the peacock eye. This basic design principle was adopted for all forms of garment - whether singular or several times on top of each other - and varied.