Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council it was common for relics of the saints to be on the altar during Mass.
Isn’t the practice of having relics on the altar during Mass superficial, because the church teaches that all of the Saints are already present in spirit during the Holy Sacrifice?
What are your thoughts on this tradition?
From the old
Catholic Encyclopedia:
The earliest stone altars were the tombs of the martyrs interred in the Roman Catacombs. The practice of celebrating Mass on the tombs of martyrs can be traced with a large degree of probability to the first quarter of the second century. The
Fractio Panis fresco of the
Capella Greca, which belongs to this period is located in the apse directly above a small cavity which Wilpert supposes (Fractio Panis, 18) to have contained the relics of a martyr, and it is highly probable that the stone covering this tomb served as an altar. But the celebration of the Eucharist on the tombs of martyrs in the Catacombs was, even in the first age, the exception rather than the rule. (See
ARCOSOLIUM) The regular Sunday services were held in the private houses which were the churches of the period. Nevertheless. the idea of the stone altar, the use of which afterwards became universal in the West, is evidently derived from the custom of celebrating the anniversaries and other feasts in honour of those who died for the Faith. Probably, the custom itself was suggested by the message in the Apocalypse (vi, 9) “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God.” With the age of peace, and especially under the pontificate of Pope Damasus (366-384), basilicas and chapels were erected in Rome and elsewhere in honour of the most famous martyrs, and the altars, when at all possible, were located directly above their tombs. The “Liber Pontificalis” attributes to Pope Felix I (269-274) a decree to the effect that Mass should be celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs (
constituit supra memorias martyrum missas celebrare, “Lib. Pont.”, ed. Duchesne, I, 158). However this may be, it is clear from the testimony of this authority that the custom alluded to was regarded at the beginning of the sixth century as very ancient (op. cit., loc. cit., note 2). For the fourth century we have abundant testimony, literary and monumental. The altars of the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, erected by Constantine, were directly above the Apostles’ tombs. Speaking of St. Hippolytus, the poet Prudentius refers to the altar above his tomb as follows:
Talibus Hippolyei corpus mandatur opertis
Propter ubi apposita est ara dicata Deo.
Finally, the translation of the bodies of the martyrs Sts. Gervasius and Protasius by St. Ambrose to the Ambrosian basilica in Milan is an evidence that the practice of offering the Holy Sacrifice on the tombs of martyrs was long established. The great veneration in which the martyrs were held from the fourth century had considerable influence in effecting two changes of importance with regard to altars. The stone slab enclosing the martyr’s grave suggested the stone altar, and the presence of the martyr’s relics beneath the altar was responsible for the tomblike under-structure known as the confessio.
Capella Greca in the catacombs of Priscilla (Larger images
here and
here)
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/citta/B-Sepulcrum.jpg
The
confessio beneath the high altar, St. Peter’s
Personally I think it’s a very beautiful tradition, which has sadly become less common today. (In the Byzantine Churches, the
antimension continues to have a martyr’s relic sewn onto it.) Sure, the saints are already present in spirit, but isn’t it nicer to have something physical as well?
Where would we stop. We don’t have relics on the Altar as it happens.