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“VIDI CIVITATEM SANCTAM JERUSALEM NOVAM DESCENDENTEM DE CŒLO, PARATAM SICUT SPONSAM ORNATAM VIRO SUO.”

The celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the principal act of Christian Worship, inasmuch as it calls directly into action the office of our great High Priest, not only to present our prayers to the father, but to plead anew the merits of His own adorable Sacrifice. It should therefore have all possible dig­nity imparted to it by a carefully observed Ritual. It is well when the LITURGY†

* “Commonly called the Mass.” [1] — First Prayer Book of Edward VI.

† “The traces of the form of worship used by the Christian converts, which we find in the New Testament, refer to the Eucharist, as being emphatically the Christian Service. Hence naturally arose the ecclesiastical use of the word Liturgy, [2] to designate the form employed by the Church in celebrating that Office.”—Procter. History of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 281.

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can be used by itself;* and it should not be begun without the intention of going through the whole. As there is one Altar, so can there be but one Priest, (acting in that capacity,) whose place is to stand at first at, i.e., in front of, the Altar at the north side, and after the Gospel in medio altaris, (see Par, 21), facing the east. He is never to leave the foot-pace except when communicating the faithful. Clergy acting as Gospeller† and Epistoler, whe­ther Priests or Deacons, should stand below the foot-pace, facing eastward. The parts which should be said by them are the Gospel and Epistle, the Ex­hortations, and the Confession.‡ Where there is only one assistant, he should read the Epistle and Gospel on the proper fides. When the Priest (being without Epistoler or Gospeller) reads them, he ought to go off the foot face.

For this Service there is required,

1. An ALTAR.§

* “It has always been held that the Holy Communion should not be celebrated unless the Office of one of the Hours had been previously recited ; whether of Tierce, Sext, or the Ninth Hour.”—Maskell. (See Anc. Lit. pp. 153, 154. 155, for the English positive Rule.)

† The Gospeller or Deacon, even though he be in Priest’s Orders, should wear his stole (under his dalmatic) as a Deacon, (see p. 13, sect. 4,) being about to fulfil a diaconal function, for “it pertaineth to the office of a Deacon .... to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and especially when he ministereth the Holy Com­munion.” (The Ordering of Deacons). The Epistoler or Subdeacon, if the ancient Sarum Rule be followed, should wear no stole at all.

Both Gospeller and Epistoler wear the mani­ple. In the old English Ordinals this vestment is given to the Subdeacon as his especial badge. See Pont. Sarisbur. Apud Maskell. Mon. Rit. iii. 182, and Pont. Exon. Apud Barnes, p. 84.

The Canon (XXIV. of 1603), allows of two assistants—Deacon and Subdeacon in old times, now simply Gospeller and Epistoler. Ancient custom assigns to the former a place on the south side (ad latus Epistolæ) on the step next to the platform, to the latter a place on his own step behind the Gospeller, a little towards the right. Both stand facing the east. For the position of the Sacred Ministers, when directly assisting the Priest, see infra Parr. 16, note * ; 20, note †; 72, notes *, †, ‡; and Appendix, p. 169, ii.

If at Church Festivals, &c., or on occasions where many are present who purpose communi­cating, an additional cleric to the Gospeller and Epistoler be required to help the Priest in the distribution of the Sacrament, he should stand at some distance.

‡ The greater part of the Rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer only contemplates one Priest2 [3] —assistants very rarely. It was needful strictly to order the Service for the Celebrant only—for, where there were assistant Ministers, the Catholic rule would of course be fol­lowed.

§ The table on which the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered has been called an Altar “from the beginning.” The Prophet Malachi [4] speaking in prophecy of the Eucharistic Sacrifice terms “the Table of the LORD,” in reference to IT an “Altar.” S. Paul tells the Hebrews [5] that “We have an Altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.”

It is to be observed that the same Apostle calls the Christian, Jewish, and Gentile Altars, tables ; thus defining an Altar to be a Table whereon a Sacrifice was offered. [6] And so, Bishop Andrewes: [7] “The holy Eucharist being considered as a sacrifice, it is fitly called an Altar, which again is fitly called a Table, the Eucharist being considered as a Sacrament.”

In the first century we find S. Ignatius [8] assert that “In every church there is one Altar.” In the second century S. Justin Martyr [9] alludes to the passage in which the Prophet Malachi calls the Table of the LORD an Altar. And Origen [10] and S. Cyprian perpetually refer to the Altar of the Christian Church. In the fourth century we have a cloud of witnesses. The historian Eusebius, [11] S. Optatus Milevitanus, [12] S. Ambrose, [13] S. Jerome, [14] S. John Chrysostom, [15] and S. Augustine, [16] and to these may be added Prudentius, who flourished in Spain in the fourth century, and Sidonius Apollinarius in France during the fifth century.

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The length of the altar will vary according to the size of the church or chancel, but it should not be less than six feet.* The width about two feet six inches. It should be three feet six inches high, and raised as much as possible above the level of the nave. In all cases the slab or mensa of the

* The dimensions of the altar of the church of Perranzabuloe, near Truro, were five feet three inches, by two feet three inches, and its height four feet. When taken down, the headless remains of S. Piran, the patron saint, were discovered immediately beneath it, the feet of the buried saint pointing as usual to the east; it was, in fact, both Altar and Tomb: and hence the remarkable peculiarity of its position, lying lengthwise east and west. About sixteen miles from S. Piran’s a similar ancient church has been more recently discovered, at Gwithian, so named from an Irish saint there martyred. Here also the Altar was of stone, but placed in the usual position, standing north and south, against the middle of the east wall.

The original high Altar remaining in 1844, in S. Mary’s, Forthampton, Gloucestershire, is five feet three and a half inches long, and two feet ten inches high; its breadth is two feet three inches, and the thickness of the mensa five and a half inches.

In the first part of the Ecclesiological (late Cambridge Camden) Society’s Transactions, will be found a paper on Chantry Altars, by Mr. Bloxam, in which eight of these Altars, still remaining, are described. Five of these were solid masses of masonry, surmounted by a slab of stone, varying from three feet three inches to six or seven feet in length, and from one foot four inches to three feet in breadth; the height rather more than three feet; and the thickness of the slab six inches.

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Altar should be of one stone* without fracture or blemish; and the thickness of the slab about six inches. The mensa, the part of the Altar on which the Eucharist is consecrated, being either of stone or marble, is supported on a wooden frame which consists of either four sides, or of four or six low pillars of wood.

The Altar should not be imbedded, or fixed to the wall. In many places it will be found extremely convenient to have a passage behind it. Behind it

* “Let [17] no Altars be consecrated by unction with chrism, unless they be of stone.” [18] —The Excerptions of Archbishop Ecgbriht, a.d. 750. (Johnson’s Collection.)

“Of Altars, that they be of stone.”—(Lanfranc) Canons of the Council of Winchester, A.D. 1071. (Johnson’s Collection.)

Elizabeth’s Injunctions permitted wooden Altars, and the Canon of 1571 (never in force), speaks of a table “ex asseribus composite junctam.” These “asseres” however might be of any material, iron, stone, zinc, as well as wood. But these, and such like Injunctions, Canons, and Articles, it is a notorious legal fact, have not a shred of authority belonging to them. The only document which can claim any weight is the 82nd Canon of 1603—4, now in force, though subject to the act of Uniformity. This Canon limply speaks of the Table as “decent and convenient” but makes no mention of the material, and even if it did, it would be of no force, as the Canon would be overruled in this particular, as it is in the matter of the Altar being moveable. For the Rubric inserted at the last review directs the communicants, not the Table, to be conveniently placed for the receiving, im­plying plainly that the Altar was not to be moved for their convenience. The Altar is therefore a fixture, “not moveable” but “to be removed only by authority,” as the font, pulpit, or other fixture.

The Book of Common Prayer made by the Act of Uniformity part of the statute law of the land, orders such ornaments to be retained and be in use as were in this Church of England by the authority of parliament in the second year of King Edward the Sixth. Therefore what­ever was the law of the Western Church in this matter before the Reformation is the law of the English Church now. The Canons of Archbishop Ecgbriht, of the Council of Winchester, are the statutes in which it is embodied. The more we multiply cases of stone Altars pulled down and sold in the later years of Edward VI. and Elizabeth, the more abundantly shall we prove that they were the ordinary and legitimate “ornaments of the Church” in the period to which our Rubric refers us.

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should be a Dossal Cloth,* Reredos, Painting, or Triptych, in front of which stands the Cross. (See Altar-Cross.) There should be no Niches unless filled with statues, nor Tables of Commandments.† The Altar is raised on a plat­form, which forms a footpace extending from three to four feet from the east wall, and in length not reaching more than six or eight inches beyond the Altar. The ascent to it should be by at least two steps, each of the same height with the platform, and about fifteen inches in breadth. From the lowest step to the septum or sanctuary rail, there should be at least twelve feet in collegiate churches, and never less than six.

The slab of the Altar should be covered with the cere-cloth,‡ which in its turn is covered by the superfrontal, which hangs down about ten inches below: whilst the Frontal, or antependium, which with the superfrontal makes up the covering or vestment of the Altar, hangs down in front. The Frontal and superfrontal should each have a fringe. The ends of the Altar need not be covered, save by the “fair white linen cloth,” (see infra.) They were, however, often vested in ancient times, as, indeed, they usually are at the present day. As the Altars of the English Church are not affixed to the eastern wall, the back of the Altar may be vested. The extract below§ from the Monasticon Anglicanum shows from the phrase “frontlets of the same,” in an inventory of Altar Vestments that the Cloths were intended to hang over the back of the Altar. The superfrontal and the cere-cloth should fit closely.

Along the back of the mensa extends a ledge from six to twelve inches in height, and from five to seven inches in breadth, according to the size of the

* There should be no Cross embroidered on the Dossal where the Altar-cross is in use.

Where no Altar-cross has been provided—a metal Cross of rather large size affixed with a pin to the Dossal is to be preferred to an em­broidered one.

† The proper place for the Tables of Com­mandments is at the east of the Nave.

‡ A waxed cloth extended over a consecrated Altar-stone to protect it from damp, dirt or irreverence. It should be made of strong linen, and close at the corners; a quantity of virgin wax should then be melted in an iron vessel, and applied to the cloth while held a short distance from the fire.

§ “Imprimis, a costly cloth of gold, for the high Altar, for principal feasts, having in the midst images of the Trinity, of our Lady, four Evangelists, four angels about the Trinity, with patriarchs, prophets, apostles, virgins, with many other images, having a frontlet of cloth of gold, with scriptures, and a linen cloth enfixed to the same; ex dono Ducis Lancastriæ. Item, a purpur cloth, with an image of the Crucifix, Mary and John, and many images of gold, with a divers frontlet of the same suit, with two Altar Cloths, one of diaper. Item, a cloth of gold, partly red and partly white .... with a front­let of the same suit, having in the midst the Tri­nity .... Item, a cloth of white, with troy-foils of gold .... having a frontal of the fame.”

Item, a cloth for the hie Awtr of blew baudekin, with the picture of our LORD, Mary and John, and a front of the same. Item, an one Awter Cloth of white fustyan, with red roses, with a Crucifixe, Mary and John, broydered, and front of the same, and two curtains.—In the In­ventory of S. Paul’s, in capella carnariæ. Jacob’s Hist. of Faversham.

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Altar; it is called the super-Altar: upon it are placed two Lights, and between these a cross of metal, with the addition of flower vases on festivals.

On the top of the super-frontal are placed the three linen cloths,* the two under ones not to exceed the length of the mensa, but the uppermost should hang down at each end, nearly to the platform, and should hang down in front not above ten inches below the slab. This “fair white linen cloth,† as well as the two under ones, should have five crosses worked upon it, corresponding to the five crosses on the Altar-stone, in the centre and four angles, with borders of various patterns. All the Altar linen as well as all the vestments of the priests should be marked with a cross.

Many of the old English Altars were provided with curtains.

A curtain may hang at each end of the Altar. These hangings are either suspended by rods projecting from the walls or reredos, or else they rest on detached pillars generally of brass, erected by the ends of the Altar.

The only niches that are desirable are those of which the Reredos or Altar-screen not unfrequently consists. The reredos is very often formed of panels filled with sculpture called Tables ; these should be of alabaster, with a series of small figures in relief, painted and gilt, usually representing the principal events in the life of our Blessed LORD.

2. The CREDENCE‡ is a small side-table for the reception of the elements previous to their oblation, and is provided to enable the celebrant at the Holy Eucharist to place the Bread and Wine reverently upon the Altar as required

* The cere-cloth, super-frontal, and the three linen cloths should always remain upon the Altar. It is usual during the Daily Office, and at all times when the Liturgy is not being celebrated, to cover the “fair white linen cloth,” as a protection against dust, etc., with a strip of green silk, hemmed and marked with five crosses. This covering should exactly fit the mensa.

† See Gavanti Thesaurus Sacrorum Rituum. Pars I. Tit. xx. Ed. Venetiis, 1792. Where it will be seen that in the west it is permitted to use two linen cloths, so that the under one be large enough to fold twice over the mensa. “Duplicatam unam concedit Rubrica, ut sint tres: non ergo duae, tuta conscientia sufficiunt.”

It was anciently the custom of the English Church to spread a purple pall [19] upon the mensa, and over this the three linen cloths. The cere­cloth now performs the function of the purple pall, [20] but the beautiful symbolism of its colour, which typifies blood, as well as kingly power, is still retained in the superfrontal, which always may be, and generally is, purple or red.

‡ See Ecclesiologist, Vol. vii., pp. 178—218, and Vol. viii., pp. 9, 92—147, for elaborate papers on the Credence.

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by the English Rubric, the Credence is sometimes supported on a shaft or bracket, termed at the bottom of a niche, or consists of a shelf over the Piscina.

Where no Credence exists as part of the Sanctuary, it is customary to use a small movable table for receiving the elements before they are consecrated, or in fact any expedient may be adopted so as to prevent the elements being placed on the Altar until the Oblation takes place.

3. The PISCINA is a stone bason with an orifice and drain to carry away the water which has been used at the Washing of the Priest’s hands in accordance with Psalm xxvi. 6, and for rinsing the chalice after the Purifica­tions, and is one of the appurtenances of an Altar which in ancient times was never dispensed with. It is generally constructed at the bottom of a small niche on the Epistle side of the chancel, eastward of the sedilia, and these frequently constitute a portion of the same design.

Where there is no Piscina a bason of metal is the usual substitute.

4. The AUMBRYE, or LOCKER, is a little cupboard for the preservation of the Sacred Vessels, and is generally constructed in the north or east wall of the chancel near the Altar: the door is usually elaborately carved in oak, or ornamented with floriated iron-work and is always furnished with a lock.

5. The SEDILIA are three seats for the Priest, Gospeller, and Epistoler, during the Celebration, and they consist of arched recesses constructed in the masonry of the south wall of the chancel within the sanctuary, and are frequently surmounted by rich canopies delicately groined. They are either level, or graduated, following the steps of the Altar, the highest seat being nearest the east end. The Sedilia may be furnished with embroidered cushions. They are only occupied during the Sermon. At all other times the Clergy kneel or stand.

Where Sedilia do not exist a bench, or stall, or stools, should be placed in a similar position against the side Wall of the Sanctuary.

It is perhaps needless to add that no chairs should under any circumstances be placed at the north and south ends of the Altar, whether facing the congregation or otherwise, except on the north side (facing the south, a little below the platform) for a Bishop when present.

The proper place for the Bishop’s Throne is below the Sanctuary, at the extremity of the stalls nearest to the septum, on the south side, and is moveable, except in cathedrals.

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THE FURNITURE OF THE ALTAR.

The CHALICE—there are four parts in a chalice. The foot, the stem, the knop, and the bowl.

The foot should extend considerably beyond the bowl, to prevent the possibility of its being upset. On one division of the foot it is usual to engrave the LORD’s Passion: this should be always turned towards the celebrant. The stem unites the foot to the bowl, and on it is fixed the knop for the conve­nience of holding the chalice. The knop is variously enriched with enamel, jewels, tracery and tabernacle-work, whilst the stem is frequently engraved or enamelled.

The height of the stem is generally about four inches, and seldom exceeds six. The bowl should vary from three to six inches in dimension, and of a proportionable depth ; it should have a plain rim of about an inch below, that it may be enriched with engravings, inscriptions, and chasings.

The Chalice should never have turn-over lips, which are extremely liable to cause accident in communicating the faithful.

Chalices are made of silver either whole, or parcel gilt, occasionally of pure gold and jewelled.

The PATEN is made to fit the top of the Chalice. Legends and jewels are admissible on the outer rim only. If the whole surface of a silver paten cannot be gilt, it is usual to gild the middle.

The CRUETS, or FLAGONS must be entirely of hammered metal.

The BURSE. See infra p. 27, note.

The OFFERTORY BASIN, is a vessel of pewter, latten, or precious metal. It should not be large, as when removed from the credence to receive the velvet purses, and placed upon the Altar by the Priest, it would occupy too much space.

The ALTAR-CROSS* is a plain metal cross with a foot to it. Usually

* “He (Paulinus) also brought with him many rich vessels of king Aeduini, among which were a large gold cross, and a golden chalice, dedicated to the use of the Altar, which are still preserved and shown in the church of Canterbury.” —V. Bede, Hist. Ecc. lib. II., c. xx. § 148. A.D. 633. Stevenson’s ed.

“The Altar in the Queen’s (Elizabeth) cha­pel was furnished with rich plate: two fair gilt candlesticks, with tapers in them, and a massy silver crucifix in the midst thereof.”—Heylyn Hist. Ref. p. 124, fol. 1661.

To prove that in the order to destroy images, crosses could not have been included, the follow­ing facts may be of importance. That in almost all ancient illuminations (all that the compilers have ever seen) of Altars, a cross and not a cru­cifix is displayed; moreover, the present Roman rule is obeyed, if a cross—a simple cross—is placed on the super-Altar. Thus, a cross can scarcely come under the category of “images,” and was consequently retained.

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it is between two and three feet high. It is often jewelled, and not unfrequently has upon it an engraved representation in alto relievo of our LORD’s Passion. The foot of the Cross should be on a level with the bowls of the Candlesticks.

Two* Altar Lights. These lights symbolize that CHRIST is the very true Light of the world; he is so, because he is the god-man, and possesses two natures in His own Person. And the lights are two on the Altar, because they symbolize the same union of Divinity and Humanity in the blessed Sacrament.

Altar CANDLESTICKS† are made in gold, silver, or silver parcel gilt, copper gilt, latten, brass, crystal or wood.

* The Syriac, probably the oldest form of the Eastern Rite, has two candles to this day:

“Et cum (Sacerdos) accendit cereum, ad latus dextrum dicit: In lumine tuo videmus lumen.

“Ad latus sinistrum dicit: Pius et sanctus, qui habitat in habitaculis lucis.”—Renaudot, tom, ii., Lit. Or. Coll. p. 12.

† The Altar candles ought never to be lighted except at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. To use them at Evensong for the purpose of lighting the Sanctuary is to convert “GOD’s board” into a stand for lights. [21]

“In the earliest times, the fourth Canon of the Apostles, so praised by Beveridge, mentions ‘lamps at the holy Offering.’ Beda speaks in one of his homilies [22] of the ‘walls of the Church being carefully adorned, and many lights being lit’ at the Divine service. A pharus, or candelabrum, hung over the Altar of the Cathedral Church at York, in the beginning of the eighth century, which Altar was decked with silver and gems. [23] King Edgar’s Canons enact, ‘Let a light be always burning in the Church, when a mass is sung.’ The poem of the monk Ethelwolf on the abbots of Lindisfarne, speaks of the numerous candelabra in the church glittering like stars. [24] By the Constitutions of Giles de Bridport, Bishop of Salisbury, [25] anno 1236, the parson was to provide the candelabra, but the parishioners the ‘wax candles in the chancel, and also sufficient light throughout the whole year, at Matins, Vespers, and the Mass, and blest bread, with candles, in every church in the Christian world.’ By a provincial constitution of Archbishop Reynolds, which embodied the then existing custom, A.D. 1322: ‘Let two candles, or one at the least, be lighted at the time of high mass.’ [26] And Lyndewode, com­menting on this Constitution, adds, ‘ Note, that the candles to be burned at the celebration of the mass, must be of wax rather than any other material. For the candles so burning signifieth CHRIST Himself, Who is the brightness of the eternal light.’ In which he repeats the ancient observation of Isidore of Seville (in the seventh century): [27] ‘Under the type of this corporeal light, that light is shown forth of which we read in the Gospel, He was the true light which lighteneth every man.’ As we have already proved in extenso, this, and all other Canons, where not expressly avoided by some subsequent Parliamentary authority, or contrariant or repugnant to the then laws, statutes, and customs of the realm, or to the King’s pre­rogative, ‘are now still to be used and exe­cuted as before,’ by the 23 Henry VIII., c. 19. That this Canon was in universal force through­out England up to Henry VIII.’s death, we know by the illuminations in the MSS. Service-books and the prints in the Missals, Breviaries, Antiphonaries, and other printed books published up to the last year of his reign, which invariably represent the Altar with two lighted candles upon it, and no more ; so also by the Inven­tories of church goods before and hereafter re­ferred to.

“Beside this, the first Injunctions of King Edward, of May, 1547, the authority of which I have discussed already, repeat nearly totidem verbis Archbishop Reynold’s Canon, and the reason of it: ‘No torches or candles, tapers, or images of wax were to be set before any image or picture, but only two lights upon the high Altar before the Sacrament, which, for the signification that CHRIST is the very true Light of the world, they shall suffer to remain still.’ [28] This last Injunction was enforced by Archbishop Cranmer in his Visitation Articles of the second year, one of whose inquiries was this: ‘Whether they suffer any torches, candles, tapers, or any other lights to be in your Churches, but only two lights upon the high Altar.’ And in his Communion Book in force till Whit-Sunday in the third year, the Priest was ordered to go through the service ‘without varying any other rite or ceremony in the mass,’ of which we know the two lights formed one. This Canon, therefore, and usage, was in force up to the end of that second year, and beyond, and was not either ‘contrariant or repugnant’ to the statutes or customs of the realm, or to the King’s pre­rogative, but in harmony therewith.”—Chambers’ Legal Argument.

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There are five parts in an Altar candlestick. 1. The foot. 2. The stem. 3. The knop, which for convenience of lifting is put in the middle. 4. The bowl to receive the droppings of wax. 5. The pricket terminating the stem on which the taper is fixed.

It is convenient also when the Service Book does not contain the Action on one page, to have a Card containing the Canon or Prayer of Consecration in large type, though there is no mediæval authority for this practice.

It is a symbolical and cleanly custom to perfume churches with incense previous to Divine Service. This custom continued all through the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and indeed we find its occasional use down to the time of George III. (See Hierurgia Anglicana.)*

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By the express command of GOD incense was very frequent in the service of the Jewish Temple, (Exod. xxx. 1, 3, 9, xl. 5; Levit. xvi. 12, 13; S. Luke i. 10, 11.)

It will be remembered that frankincense was presented to the new-born JESUS. (S. Matt. ii. 11.) S. John particularly mentions (Rev. viii. 3, 4) how “another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came up with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before GOD out of the angel’s hand.” It is considered that S. John adapted his wondrous lan­guage to the ceremonial of the Liturgy then followed by the Christians in celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice, at the period the Evangelist committed to writing his mysterious revelation.*

The primitive Christians adopted the use of incense at the Celebration of the Liturgy from the Jewish Service. In the second of the Apostolical Canons we find it ordered thus: “let it not be allowed to present any thing on the Altar, but oil for the lamps, and incense for the time of the Holy Oblation.”

It seems most primitive, where incense is used, to burn it before the celebra­tion of the Holy Eucharist. The Liturgy of S. James commences with burn­ing of incense.†

* Incense is symbolical of the prayers of the faithful, which are so often described in Holy Scripture to be an odour of sweetness before heaven. “The four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.”—Rev. v. 8.

† See “Euch tou qumiamatoV thV eisodou thV enarxewV.”—Neale’s Tetralogia Liturgica, p. 5.