Preparing altar

[fishcamp]

My question relates to a practice at my home parish. When the collection is being taken and just before the gifts are brought to the altar there are several lay people who come to the altar to “prepare” the altar. They place the altar cloth or covering on the altar and then place the corporals on the altar. This is done in a very formal manner. This is followed by the servers placing the missal and the chalice on the altar.

My understanding, which may not be accurate, is that the altar covering should be on the altar prior ro the beginning of Mass. Is there a clear directive concerning this practice? GIRM 304 simply says that there should be a white cloth on the altar for the celebration of Mass but it doesn’t seem to specify when it is placed.

Is this a common practice to have other lay people “set” the altsr before the Offertory?

 

[Deacon_Ed]

The GIRM states:

1. At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist the gifts, which will become Christ’s Body and Blood, are brought to the altar. First, the altar, the Lord’s table, which is the center of the whole Liturgy of the Eucharist, is prepared by placing on it the corporal, purificator, Missal, and chalice (unless the chalice is prepared at the credence table).

This does not specify the altar cloth, but it also does not prohibit the cloth from being placed at this time. Because it is not prohibited, and because it does not violate the spirit of the preparation of the altar, it is permitted.

Deacon Ed

 

[Paul_W]

In some parishes, this preparation of the altar is done by the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. If a deacon is present, it is to be done by him.

 

[SeekerJen]

Normally at our parish, the cloth is set on the altar before Mass begins. Then the deacon will set up everything else at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

At Easter Vigil however, the new Catholics prepare the altar. The new communicants do the same at a First Communion Mass.

 

[Crusader]

Deacon Ed:

The GIRM states:This does not specify the altar cloth, but it also does not prohibit the cloth from being placed at this time. Because it is not prohibited, and because it does not violate the spirit of the preparation of the altar, it is permitted.

Deacon Ed

It would be wrong to place the altar cloth on the altar at this point in the Mass. Not because it’s specifically forbidden but because the stripping of the altar, and a stripped altar have a very special meanings within the Church. In essence, the altar should not be left bare on a regular basis. From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Stripping of an Altar

On Holy Thursday the celebrant, having removed the ciborium from the high altar, goes to the sacristy. He there lays aside the white vestments and puts on a violet stole, and, accompanied by the deacon, also vested in violet stole, and the subdeacon, returns to the high altar. Whilst the antiphon “Diviserunt sibi” and the psalm “Deus, Deus meus” are being recited, the celebrant and his assistants ascend to the predella and strip the altar of the altar-cloths, vases of flowers, antipendium, and other ornaments, so that nothing remains but the cross and the candlesticks with the candles extinguished. In the same manner all the other altars in the church are denuded. If there be many altars in the church, another priest, vested in surplice and violet stole, may strip them whilst the celebrant is stripping the high altar. The Christian altar represents Christ, and the stripping of the altar reminds us how He was stripped of his garments when He fell into the hands of the Jews and was exposed naked to their insults. It is for this reason that the psalm “Deus, Deus meus” is recited, wherein the Messias speaks of the Roman soldiers dividing His garments among them. This ceremony signifies the suspension of the Holy Sacrifice. It was formerly the custom in some churches on this day to wash the altars with a bunch of hyssop dipped in wine and water, to render them in some manner worthy of the Lamb without stain who is immolated on them, and to recall to the minds of the faithful with how great purity they should assist at the Holy Sacrifice and receive Holy Communion. St. Isidore of Seville (De Eccles. Off, I, xxviii) and St. Eligius of Noyon (Homil. VIII, De Coena Domini) say that this ceremony was intended as an homage offered to Our Lord, in return for the humility wherewith He deigned to wash the feet of His disciples.

What’s described by the original poster sounds like nothing more than a stunt to get more people “involved” with the Mass.

 

[Hudsonite]

In the Ceramonies of the Modern Rite #62 states that the stripped Altar is best reserved for Good Friday.
Although the Altar isn’t stripped for the Mass, it certainly is up until than. I suppose you can look at that either way.

 

[Crusader]

Hudsonite:

In the Ceramonies of the Modern Rite #62 states that the stripped Altar is best reserved for Good Friday.
Although the Altar isn’t stripped for the Mass, it certainly is up until than. I suppose you can look at that either way.

The bare altar would be inappropriate at the beginning of the Mass.