Mysterious prayer wheel found in medieval Liesborn Gospel book

The use of the hand-painted diagram is still unknown.

A mysterious wheel diagram was found in one of the most valuable books of gospel known to humankind. The hand-painted diagram only appears in one of the five copies still intact. For $6.5 million, the medieval gospel book stands for sale by the Manhattan-based medieval manuscripts dealer Les Enluminures Gallery.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - The Liesborn Gospel book has the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and was speculated as ordered to be made by an abbess to offer to her convent of nuns centuries ago. Its cover was designed intricately with copper clasps on the carved oak, according to the Daily Mail.

The prayer wheel with concentric circles of Medieval Latin texts was said to be added to the book during the 12th century.

"The order of the diagram written here teaches the return home," says the outermost ring. The next circle was entitled the "seven petitions," which was said to contain seven lines from the Lord's Prayer. The third was read as the "Gifts from the Holy Spirit," including seven important events from the life of Jesus Christ, all written in black ink.

Its innermost circle contains the seven groups of people blessed in the beatitudes of Jesus and their rewards. The center of the whole diagram is the word Deus which means God.

Although the contents are familiar to modern-day Christians, its use still remains unknown, but is believed to be used by nuns in the convent during the medieval times.

The monks and nuns of the Central Middle Ages had bad reputations of just mumbling the prayers, but the discovered diagram suggests they are not just mumbling without realizing what they are saying but probably using mnemonics.

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