Hey,
We are have managed to convince the poor old Archbishop to come out to the middle of nowhere to dedicate our new altar (which is a real work of art).
This is a very big deal and is doing a lot to add new life to our very beat down community.
I was hoping some of you might have some interesting background/history on altar blessings (something I have managed to miss in all my decades of cantoring).
So far, the best we could come up with to “publicize” the event is the following.
In my opinion, this wording might be fine for the faithful, but is very off-putting for the ex-Catholics and the non-Catholics we would like to have share in this special event.
Any “spin-doctors” out there that can help re-word or give us some better material to work with?
Thanks, in advance.
Carol
From the Old Catholic Encyclopedia (
History of the Christian Altar):
Consecration
No special formula for the consecration of altars was in use in the Roman Church before the eighth century. In substance, however, what we understand by consecration was practiced in the fourth century. This original form of consecration consisted in the solemn transfer of the relics of a martyr to the altar of a newly erected church The translation of the bodies of Sts. Gervasius and Protasius, made by St. Ambrose, is the first recorded example of the kind. (See AMBROSIAN BASILICA.) But such translations of the mortal remains of martyrs were at this time, and long afterwards, of rare occurrence. Relics, however, by which we must understand objects from a martyr’s tomb (the
brandea mentioned above), were regarded with only a less degree of respect than the bodies of the martyrs themselves, and served as it were to multiply the body of the saint. This reverence for objects associated with a martyr gave rise to the custom of entombing such relics beneath the altars of newly erected churches, until it ultimately became the rule not to dedicate a church without them. An early example of this practice was the dedication of the
basilica Romana by St. Ambrose with
pignora of St. Peter and St. Paul brought from Rome (Vita Ambros., by Paulinus, c. xxxiii). St. Gregory of Tours (Lib. II, de Mirac., I, P.L., LXXI, 828) mentions the dedication of the Church of St. Julian in his episcopal city with relics of that saint and of another. When relics of the saints could not be procured, consecrated Hosts and fragments of the Gospels were sometimes used; concerning the use of the former for this purpose the English Synod of Calchut (Celicyth, Chelsea, 816) made a regulation (can. 22). Up to the middle of the sixth century in the Roman Church the solemn celebration of Mass was the only form of dedication. If, however, it had been decided to place in the altar the relics of a martyr, this ceremony preceded the first solemn function in the new edifice. Duchesne points out (op. cit., 406) that the liturgical prayers of the Gelasian Sacramentary recited for the consecration of altars bear the unmistakable stamp of the funeral liturgy, this fact is evidently attributable to the Custom of entombing relics, regarded as representing the bodies of the saints, at the time of dedication. The translation of relics was a second solemn interment of the saint’s body, and hence the liturgical prayers composed for such occasions appropriately bore the characteristics of the burial service. The principal features of the earliest form of consecration in the Roman Church, as given in the Gelasian Sacramentary, are as follows: The bishop with his clergy, chanting the litany, first proceeded in solemn procession to the place where the relics were kept. A prayer was then chanted and the relics were borne by the bishop to the door of the church and there placed in the custody of a priest. The bishop then entered the church, accompanied by his immediate attendants, and after exorcising the water and mixing with it a few drops of chrism, he prepared the mortar for enclosing the sepulchre. With a sponge he then washed the table of the altar, and returning to the door he sprinkled the people with what remained of the holy water. After this he took the relics and re-entered the church, followed by the clergy and people chanting another litany. The sepulchre was then anointed with chrism, the relics were placed therein, and the tomb sealed. The ceremony concluded with the solemn celebration of Mass. The Gallican liturgy of consecration, unlike that of Rome, partook of the character of the liturgy for the administration of baptism and confirmation rather than that of the funeral liturgy. “Just as the Christian is dedicated by water and oil, by baptism and confirmation, so the altar first, then the church, is consecrated by ablution and unction” (Duchesne, op. cit., 407-409). In the eighth and ninth centuries attempts were made by Frankish liturgists to combine the two liturgies of Rome and Gaul, from the result then achieved has developed the actual consecration ritual of the Western Church. In the Greek Church the dedication of the altar was a ceremony distinct from that of the deposition of relics, the two functions were ordinarily performed on different days. On the first day the table of the altar was placed on its support of columns by the bishop in person. After this he proceeded to the consecration which consisted of washing the table, first with baptismal water, then with wine. The altar was next anointed with chrism and incensed. The following day the relics were placed in the sepulchre with the greatest solemnity. Duchesne calls attention to the close resemblance between the Gallican and the Byzantine liturgy for the consecration of altars (op. cit., 416).
I did anyway, but kept the old ones so we could discuss the differences. I’m not trying to hurt feelings here after all.