Altar of Repose

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In my parish, the Altar of Repose is located within the church, is surrounded by lots of flowers and tons of candles, with all the lights in the church on. I decided tonight to visit a couple of nearby parishes and was stunned. Their Altars of Repose were located outside of the church in their vestibules or gathering spaces. They had single candles, a few flowers and palms and low lighting. There were a couple of kneelers in front of the tabernacle and rows of chairs behind them. It was so peaceful and a wonderful place to pray. So of course, my question is whether my parish is doing this incorrectly or whether there are guidelines about where the Altar of Repose should be located and how much decoration should surround it.
 
The Altars of Repose is where Our Lord is placed after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper so it should be a place of dignity (flowers, candles, etc) not located at the main altar. For examples of Repositories please visit my blog. I went to the church of the Holy Innocents where I served, the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and my local parish. God Bless

http://teddybarboza.blogspot.com/
 
Ours is in an upstairs conference/meeting room, with lots of chairs and kneelers around. There are lots of candles and a few flowers, with low lights. I really like that they put Him in a literal “upper room”–it seems fitting, since we just celebrated the institution of the Eucharist.

I have no idea about official guidelines, but I found this–it might be helpful. It at least references the document where said guidelines can be found.

ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur73.htm
 
In our abbey it is located at the mezzanine level, which is between the crypt level and main level of the Church. It is located in a large room that serves as a guest dining room when the abbey hosts events, and as meeting room. The tables and chairs are moved, a persian carpet is placed on the floor before the altar of repose, a curtained screen is placed behind it, and other than a soft spotlight on the altar the lighting is kept low. It is on the sunset side of the building and appropriately as the procession stopped at the altar to transfer the Blessed Sacrament to it, the sun was setting outside the windows. The Tantum Ergo was sung (the whole Pange Lingua being sung in procession from the church), a time of silent prayer was observed afterwards, and then a single clap of the hands by the abbot signaled that it was time for the monks to leave, however the faithful could remain in silent adoration if they wished. All very dignified.
 
We use one of the side chapels. Usually it’s the St. Joseph one.
 
Ok; I have another question on this. When I returned to church this evening for the Veneration of the Cross, the Altar of Repose was still set up and our deacon went to that Altar to take out the ciboria for the distribution of Holy Communion. I’m not a liturgy expert; but someone there told me that this Altar of Repose should not still be set up this evening. Is that correct? Thanks for your help - we’ve got some pretty smart folks on this forum!
 
When we used to have the altar of repose in our church before we built the chapel, we removed the Blessed Sacrament from it at midnight after the Mass of the Lord’s SUpper and reposed it in a specially prepared closet that we have in our sacristy. On Good Friday the church should be bare, no flowers and low lights (even votive candles should not be lit). There should be no public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the church, since, well, Jesus is in the tomb and we are in mourning. There is great symbolism in not having the Eucharist reserved in the CHurch today.
 
Hmm . . . that makes me thing our parish is doing this incorrectly.
 
The ciborium is returned to the main Altar for communion of the faithful. The main Altar should have two small candles lit. The veiled crucifix may also be present or unveiled if right after Veneration. After communion the Altar is again stripped.

This was the procedure for Good Friday before 4:00pm. Not sure what the rubrics say for other times or the Novus Ordo.

We had a big discussion on whether to use a cross or a crucifix. The argument for a cross for a 7:00pm Veneration was that Christ was already taken down and in the tomb. But our Veneration was before 4:00pm so we used the Crucifix.

Again, not sure how the rubrics address this issue.

The Altar of Repose was just outside of the main church but accessible to the public.
 
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