Old Altar

[SacredHeartFan]

Does anyone know what these little picture frames are? I always see them in pictures of tradditional altars and masses, but have never figured out yet what they are. Any help is appriciated! Thanks!

 

[puzzleannie]

my guess is they are the ordinary prayers (the ones that don’t change) which the priest says at each “station” in the TLM. recall, there was an epistle side, a gospel side, and all Eucharistic prayer (and I think there was only one) was said in the middle. so the sacramentary and missal did not have as many choices and options as there are in the NO.

 

[ronyu02]

They’re called Altar Cards. Facing the altar, the leftmost has the Last Gospel (John chapter 1), the middle has the Canon, and the rightmost has offertory prayers.

 

[AJV]

They contain parts of the Ordinary of the Mass and are to aid the priests memory, since at certain times, it is not possible for him to look at the book.

The altar card on the ‘Gospel’ side contains the Last Gospel from the prologue to St. John’s Gospel.

The ‘Epistle’ altar card contains

• the prayers used at the mixing of the chalice (Deus qui humanae)
• the psalm for the washing of the hands (Lavabo inter innocentes)

The center altar card contains many of the prayers said at the middle of the altar. These are
-the Gloria in Excelsis
-The Credo

• the prayers before the gospel (Munda Cor meum and Iube Domine)
• Offertory (Suscipe Sancte Pater, Offerimus tibi, In spritu humilitatis and Veni Sanctificator, Suscipe sancta Trinitas)
• the Institution ( Qui Pridie to in mei memoriam facietis)
• the prayer at the end of the Mass (Placeat tibi)

The central card may also contain other prayers. They differ slightly on whether or not they have the following:

• Pre communion prayers (Domine Iesu Christe, qui dixit & Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei Vivi, & Perceptio Corporis tui) and commixtion prayer (Haec commixtio)
• Prayers when the priest has ascended to the altar (Aufer a nobis and Oramus te, Domine)
• Communion prayers (Panem coelestem, Corpus Domini, Quid retribuam, Calicem salutaris, Sanguis Domini.)

 

[T700]

That’s quite a lovely altar. One unusual thing (to my experience) is that there appears to be a window behind it. Is that actually a window?

Paul

 

[Chatter163]

Looks like a shower curtain to me.

 

[malphono]

There’s no information in the OP as to the location of the pictured altar, but I notice that the ceilings are very low. That suggests it could just possibly be a private chapel, perhaps a convent chapel, and If so, I imagine it could be a window. Over the years, I’ve seen a few convent chapels in urban brownstones which were often designed with the altar in front of a window, presumably to maximize the availability of natural light. Usually the window was stained glass, but sometimes not, probably as a cost-saving measure. Could this be a photo of one of the latter?

As for what’s covering the presumed window … yes, I suppose it could be a shower liner cut-down to size. It could also be a curtain (silk, nylon, polyester?). Notice what appears to be bunching of the fabric on the rod at the top.

 

[SacredHeartFan]

I am not sure where it is. The picture was the only close up of an old altar I could find on google.