Te teology of the church in the allegorical interpretation of the architecture and decoration of a Latin temple in the Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of Guillaume Durand

Te important eight-volume work Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of the French medieval scholar of canon law and liturgics Guillaume Durand is writen in the style of allegorical commentary on the divine services. Te first book contains explanations of the architecture and interior decoration of the temple. Elements of the architecture, which house the serving of Mysteries and sacred rites, from the point of view of Durand, are visible images and symbols that reveal the essence of the Church ad intra as a congregation of the faithful, united by their common faith in the Triune God, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and divine grace, which can be obtained through the Mysteries and joint prayer. In this way, the first volume of Rationale also serves as a complete theological treatise on the mystery of the Church. Durand believed that the methods of biblical exegesis should be applied to the interpretation of liturgical items and rites.