The Use of the Rood Screen

[catholic03]

Hello

Prior to the Council of Trent, many Catholic churches had Rood Screens. They were large screens separating the nave of the church from the sanctuary. They were therefore meant to separate the celebrating priest from the laity, although the priest could usually be seen to a degree.

Many mediaeval churches that became Protestant during the reformation kept them, but most Catholic churches removed them.

I wonder, is there a place for rood screens today? Do many modern Catholic parishes use them? I have never seen one at any Catholic parish. For reference, this is the rood screen at a 19th Century Catholic church in Cheadle, Staffordshire:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

God Bless you.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

I’ve seen them at shrines

 

[ioannes_pius]

Rood screens are awesome; I totally approve of them

 

[Torolf]

I love rood screens and wish more churches had them. There are a few of the ordinariate parishes that have them including the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham. I’ve also seen them in a few TLM parishes where they were able to build their own church instead of using an existing one.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Many of the historic European churches still have them; I’m not sure this part of your statement is accurate so much as they were not included in future construction.

but most Catholic churches removed them.

 

[Jbrady]

I wonder, is there a place for rood screens today?

It would serve no possible purpose in either the OF or EF, so no.

Do many modern Catholic parishes use them?

None, outside of the few ordinariate churches and a the very few chapels that somehow retained them, mostly because they were not parish churches.

Many of the historic European churches still have them; I’m not sure this part of your statement is accurate so much as they were not included in future construction.

In Catholic areas, by far the overwhelming majority of chancel and altar screens were very enthusiastically and without any significant resistance dismantled around the time of Trent. Very few intact examples exist in Catholic churches, and those that survive are usually in chapels or monastic settings.

If you want to see intact (once-Catholic) rood screens, they are most commonly found in cathedrals and collegiate churches in England now under Anglican administration.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Most of the churches and cathedrals in Spain still have them.

 

[Buks]

I’ve seen similar in Byzantine Rite churches.

 

[Jbrady]

Most of the churches and cathedrals in Spain still have them.

Thanks. Checking that out. Nothing in English about it, and what there is in Spanish is hard to find because the term “coro alto” is also used to refer to the choir lofts in the back of churches.

Apparently, from what I can gather so far, where chancel screens were retained, the main altar was abandoned and a new altar was built in from of the chancel screen, at the head of the nave. Can you confirm that?

 

[Digitnomy]

Seems like it would obstruct the view of the consecration and other action on the altar, contrary to GIRM 311.Places for the faithful should be arranged with appropriate care so that they are able to participate in the sacred celebrations, duly following them with their eyes and their attention.

 

[Nik]

If you scroll to the bottom of this webpage you can do a “virtual tour” of St Alban’s in Macc, not too far from where I grew up. They have a rood screen and I think the building only dates from the late-ish 1800s (like most RC churches over here for obvious reasons).

http://www.stalbanmacc.org.uk/heritageproject/#parentHorizontalTab2

 

[catholic03]

Yes, St Alban’s was designed by the same person as the church I referenced in my original post.

 

[Nik]

Are there any in churches at your side of the world?

 

[OrbisNonSufficit]

I’ve seen similar in Byzantine Rite churches.

Yes it looks a lot like Byzantine iconostasis. I wonder if their evolved from ours or vice-versa…

 

[catholic03]

No. I live in New Zealand. We have some beautiful 19th Century churches, and some Latin Mass parishes, but none with rood screens.

I’m fairly acquainted with the Catholic Church in England as my grandparents were immigrants to here from England and I consider myself a British New Zealander (and I am most proud of that).

 

[Jbrady]

They have a rood screen and I think the building only dates from the late-ish 1800s

There was a resurgence of interest in rood screens (and all things “medieval”) in England during the Gothic revival of the 1800s. Rood screens were “reconstructed” in many churches in which they had previously been removed, and installed in some new churches from this period, including a few Catholic churches. From what I gather, most of the rood screens that can now be seen in Anglican churches in England were constructed in the 1800s, and do not accurately resemble the medieval structures which they are supposed to have replaced.

By the way, the architect who designed that church was none other than Augustus Pugin, who is famous for designing the clock tower Big Ben in Westminster, and many other churches in the UK and abroad. He converted to Catholicism right before he designed this church, which was finished in 1841.

 

[Jbrady]

Yes it looks a lot like Byzantine iconostasis. I wonder if their evolved from ours or vice-versa…

Neither. They have different origins and functions.

On the other hand, the idea of a physical boundary between the clergy and the laity seems to have arisen as early as the fourth century. And the idea of concealing the performance of the Mass from the congregation goes back to the fifth century. It started in Hagia Sophia and was imitated in the West.

The huge iconostases that you now associate with Eastern churches didn’t develop until about the time of the Great Schism, the culmination of a long process.

Likewise, in the West, the development of the massive pulpita and rood screens culminated in the early 13th century, due to several different architectural goals which were unrelated to those guiding the development of iconostases in the East.

 

[MockSock]

I used to sing compline in an “Anglo Catholic”, pre reformation church (we just used the church, it was proper compline) that had a rood screen. But I’ve never seen one in a Catholic church.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

Apparently, from what I can gather so far, where chancel screens were retained, the main altar was abandoned and a new altar was built in from of the chancel screen, at the head of the nave. Can you confirm that?

I don’t know about Spain but I do know of instances elsewhere where this occurred, but would not say the original altar was abandoned, but rather that two altars existed in parallel. For example members of the orders or clergy might attend mass in the former altar area whereas a mass would be said for the lay people in the main church.

In the reformation, in some cases, the screen effectively turned the church into two separate churches. One might be used for some special minority group requiring a service in their own language. In such cases, to avoid noise interference, the screen might be strengthened into a full masonary wall going from floor to ceiling. I have even read of one location where the fomer altar area remained a catholic chapel whereas the main church became protestant.

I know of a Church in Switzerland where the former altar area became a library, and retained most of its its gothic interior including paintwork and some statues, whereas the main church was modernized and lost most of its decorative elements in a surge of iconoclasm.

 

[Jbrady]

but would not say the original altar was abandoned, but rather that two altars existed in parallel. For example members of the orders or clergy might attend mass in the former altar area whereas a mass would be said for the lay people in the main church.

Further reading confirms that Mass was said at the new altar in the nave, while the old high altar became the “altar of repose”, where the tabernacle was situated. I’m sure that there was some variation, though.