The Celebrant's Positions

[Bravo_6]

Why in the tridentine mass does Father read the Epistle on the right of the altar,then on the left for the Gospel at a slight angle?Is there a reason for this or a specific meaning for his positions.

 

[nagyszakall]

Why in the tridentine mass does Father read the Epistle on the right of the altar,then on the left for the Gospel at a slight angle?Is there a reason for this or a specific meaning for his positions.

I’ve never seen a tridentine mass, but there is an article in the Catholic Encyclopedia which explains that position of the celebrant at low Mass and Missa Cantata basically follows the movements of the high Mass, which serves as the norm.

 

[AltarBoy99]

I’m fairly certain that the Epistle is read on the right because at the time of the early Christians, the followers of Christ were in the South (Epistle side) and the non-Christians in the North, hence the Gospel is read on that side. Then again, I am not certain.

 

[Bravo_6]

I’m fairly certain that the Epistle is read on the right because at the time of the early Christians, the followers of Christ were in the South (Epistle side) and the non-Christians in the North, hence the Gospel is read on that side. Then again, I am not certain.

This explanation seems logical?Thank you.

 

[patrick457]

I’m fairly certain that the Epistle is read on the right because at the time of the early Christians, the followers of Christ were in the South (Epistle side) and the non-Christians in the North, hence the Gospel is read on that side. Then again, I am not certain.

Not exactly.

Back in the old days the congregation was segregated into men and women. Men and women attending the liturgy stood separately, in opposing halves of the nave and the adjacent aisles: the men were at the southern side aisle(s), while the women were on the opposite side. Viewed from the sanctuary, men are on the right-hand side, while women are on the left: they were not standing (there were no pews then) in the central nave facing the sanctuary front-and-center like we do at church today.



This explains the design scheme of some ancient churches. Take Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna for example. From the men’s side aisle in the south you can see the mosaic on the northern clerestory walls showing Christ enthroned and male saints, while from the women’s side you can view Our Lady and female saints on the southern clerestory.

Now the deacon in Rome (deacons were originally the ones who read the gospel) originally faced southwards towards the men’s side aisle when reading the gospel from the ambo, which back then was halfway down the church in the middle of the nave, where everyone could hear. (Where there were two ambos - as in San Clemente - he used the ambo on the northern side, whence he faced south.) This custom was rather curiously connected with St. Paul’s injunction that women be silent inside the church (1 Corinthians 13:33b-35).

http://www.shadysidelantern.com/pulpit/basilica.png

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/9056/amvon.png

So why and when did the deacon begin to face the north? The medieval liturgical treatise known as the Micrologus attributes it to the development of Low Mass: when deacons began to be scarce and not always available for every liturgy, priests began to take it upon themselves to read the gospel from the northern side of the altar - since that was where the gospel-book was placed. Deacons then began to emulate this custom and started reading the gospel facing the north as well, and by degrees this custom became the rule.

 

[Bravo_6]

Not exactly.

Back in the old days the congregation was segregated into men and women. Men and women attending the liturgy stood separately, in opposing halves of the nave and the adjacent aisles: the men were at the southern side aisle(s), while the women were on the opposite side. Viewed from the sanctuary, men are on the right-hand side, while women are on the left: they were not standing (there were no pews then) in the central nave facing the sanctuary front-and-center like we do at church today.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...lan.png/320px-Old_St_Peters_Basilica_plan.png

This explains the design scheme of some ancient churches. Take Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna for example. From the men’s side aisle in the south you can see the mosaic on the northern clerestory walls showing Christ enthroned and male saints, while from the women’s side you can view Our Lady and female saints on the southern clerestory.

Now the deacon in Rome (deacons were originally the ones who read the gospel) originally faced southwards towards the men’s side aisle when reading the gospel from the ambo, which back then was halfway down the church in the middle of the nave, where everyone could hear. (Where there were two ambos - as in San Clemente - he used the ambo on the northern side, whence he faced south.) This custom was rather curiously connected with St. Paul’s injunction that women be silent inside the church (1 Corinthians 13:33b-35).

http://www.shadysidelantern.com/pulpit/basilica.png

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/9056/amvon.png

So why and when did the deacon begin to face the north? The medieval liturgical treatise known as the Micrologus attributes it to the development of Low Mass: when deacons began to be scarce and not always available for every liturgy, priests began to take it upon themselves to read the gospel from the northern side of the altar - since that was where the gospel-book was placed. Deacons then began to emulate this custom and started reading the gospel facing the north as well, and by degrees this custom became the rule.

Thanks Pat’ you’re a legend!