Sites and symbols, furniture and furnishings

Implementation of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2007)

Diocese of Honolulu

Comments in italics are pastoral notes from Bishop Larry Silva, which are his pastoral suggestions but need not necessarily be followed.

The altar

The altar is a symbol of Christ’s presence in the midst of the Eucharistic assembly. It should always be treated with great reverence as a sacred object. (The altar is anointed with Chrism when it is dedicated. We bow to it, kiss it, incense it.) Therefore the altar should never be used as a storage table — even temporarily — for extraneous items (e.g. hymn books, homily notes, announcements). Even items that belong on the altar during parts of the Mass should not be placed there until they are needed there.

• The Sacramentary should only be placed on the altar at the Preparation of Gifts and should be removed during the distribution of Communion.
• The corporal(s) should also be placed on the altar only at the Preparation of Gifts and removed after the Eucharist is brought back to the altar after Communion and put into the ciborium for reservation in the tabernacle.
• The Lectionary is not placed on the altar.
• The Book of the Gospels is properly enthroned on the altar from the Entrance Procession to the Gospel Procession.

Items that should be placed on the altar before Mass begins and left there throughout are:

• An altar cloth, with a white cloth always on top.
• Candles (on or near the altar — may be brought in during the entrance procession and placed on or near the altar).

The ambo

The ambo should also be treated as a sacred place and should ordinarily be used only for proclamation of the Scripture readings, the Responsorial Psalm, the homily and the Prayer of the Faithful. If possible, a separate area, with microphone if needed, should be used for commentating, leading music and announcements.

The chair

The priest presides “in the person of Christ the Head.” He should preside from a chair that is distinct from all other chairs, even the chairs for deacons and concelebrants.

Since one of the roles of the priest celebrant is communication with the assembly (in introductions, exhortations, greetings), and since he sacramentally represents Christ, the head of the assembly, the chair should not be located in the midst of the assembly but clearly at its head.

Places for the assembly

The places for the assembly should be equipped with kneelers, since kneeling is the norm from after the Holy, Holy until after the Great Amen.

(Any church that does not currently have kneelers for every member of the assembly is to give to the Office of Worship by June 30, 2008, a written plan for obtaining them.)

Space for musicians

The space for the musicians should be separate from the ambo, with the exception of the Responsorial Psalm.

One might consider several places in the church for choir. All choir members need not necessarily be in the same area at the same time, but they may take different places in the church to sing different parts of the same song, to sing antiphonally, or to better support the singing of the congregation.

The Lectionary

Readings should always be done from a dignified and nobly-bound Lectionary, never from a missalette or from loose-leaf sheets. The lectionary is not carried in either the entrance procession or the recessional. It is not held up and shown after the reading.

The Book of Gospels

Every church should have a Book of Gospels and use it on Sundays and solemnities. It is carried in the entrance procession by the deacon or a reader and placed on the altar. It is not carried in the recessional.

Communion vessels

The vessels in which the Body and Blood of Christ are contained should be clean and noble. They must be non-porous and non-breakable. Glass and pottery are therefore not acceptable. Wood, if properly treated, is acceptable. [See Redemptionis Sacramentum #117]

The processional cross

The processional cross should have the figure of Christ crucified on it.

It is carried in the processions and placed near the altar, unless there is another cross on or near the altar, in which case it is placed out of sight.

Bread and wine

Only unleavened bread may be used, normally in the form of hosts. At least one large host, suitable for breaking, should be employed.

Enough bread is to be consecrated for all who are participating in a particular Mass. Taking the reserved Sacrament from the tabernacle just before Communion should be the rare exception and not the rule. Planning and measuring for a few weeks should allow everyone to come to the correct count for each Mass.

Wine is only to be pure grape fermented wine.

For legitimate exceptions to the above (e.g. the use of low-gluten hosts, or mustum for an alcoholic priest) consult the Office of Worship. These are EXCEPTIONS and are not to be used widely for the entire assembly.

Vesture

The priest celebrant is to wear a stole and chasuble of the proper liturgical color over an alb. A chasuble-alb, that is, a garment that doubles as both, may only be worn if it is sufficient length to cover all of one’s “street” attire. It is never appropriate to celebrate (or concelebrate) Mass with a religious habit only that is not white, since the alb (albus = white) is the baptismal garment.

Ordinarily the stole should be worn under the chasuble, unless it is specifically designed to be worn over the chasuble. If the stole covers the design on the chasuble, then it most likely was designed to be worn under the chasuble.

The deacon is ordinarily to wear a dalmatic, preferably of the proper liturgical color, or white.

The baptismal font

Every church should have a permanent and suitable place for Baptism. The use of “punchbowls” or other makeshift “fonts” is not desirable.

The holy oils

A “simple, dignified, and secure” ambry, in which the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens, and the Sacred Chrism are displayed or at least stored, should be located in a suitable place in the church, either in the baptistery or in the wall of the sanctuary or a small case for the oils. Since bright light or high temperatures can hasten spoilage, parishes will want to choose a location that helps to preserve the freshness of the oil.

A simple and dignified vessel for each oil, clearly marked with its content, should be placed in the ambry. It is recommended that oil containers not be wine decanters, so that there is clearly a distinction between wine and oil. If the door ambry is transparent, it is all the more important that the vessels be dignified (e.g. not plastic bottles). [See Built of Living Stones, #117.]

The funeral pall

The funeral pall is to be used at all funeral Masses. It is a reminder of the white baptismal garment and also serves to give every deceased person the same level of dignity as every other. The pall is to be placed on the casket at the opening rites of the funeral Mass, not when the body is first received into the church, if there is a “viewing” before Mass.

In planning funerals, family members may be given the option of placing the funeral pall on the casket themselves.

References: General Instruction of the Roman Missal, editio typica tertia, 2002, sections #319-351; Introduction to the Order of the Mass: A Pastoral Resource of the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, 2003, sections #49-58

A climate of hospitality

By the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions | Diocesan Office of Worship

An American liturgist once remarked that the chief reason we have a penitential rite at the beginning of the Eucharist is so that we might be reconciled after the experience of alienation we all had finding a space in the parking lot. It is true that some of the best planning and practice for Sunday’s Eucharist is undone by the lack of hospitality we experience before the more formal beginning of the liturgy.

What does the domestic virtue of hospitality have to do with Catholic worship? Everything! Catholic life and prayer are part and parcel of a thoroughgoing Gospel spirituality of hospitality. We model our lives on that of Jesus who sat at table with sinners and called them to reconciliation through his gracious sharing of food and drink. Jesus welcomed all with grace and warmth. He is still guest and host, sometimes served and often serving. He is our food and drink.

It is not hospitable to greet dinner guests at the door, rush them immediately to the table and then usher them out as soon as dessert is finished. The more important a social event is the more we need to gather before it. The more successful a social event the more we tend to linger at and after its end. Sunday Eucharist is the Catholic social event. In this act of ritual prayer we become more the members of Christ’s Body, more his people. This is ultimate socialization.

The liturgical act really does begin in the parking lot or on the sidewalk in front of the main door. The smooth flow of traffic and the barrier free entrance tell us that we are welcome at this house of God’s people. Sunday Eucharist in Roman Catholic parishes demands a space where individuals and families can gather and become remembered as the Body of Christ, a place where we can share news of sick members and new births, a place where strangers can be introduced and welcomed.

Roman basilicas often had in front of them an enclosed garden which provided a buffer zone between the noise and activity of the street and the prayerful quiet of the house of prayer. A person’s movement through this space was not simply physical. It was also a psychological procession from preoccupation with one’s own business to a more selfless attention to the other members gathering for common prayer. In that sort of greeting and exchange we encounter Christ in one another for it is Christ who has called us together.

Our very act of assembly is a response to God’s call in Christ; it is an experience of the real presence of Christ in our midst. We can say, in fact, that the real presence of Christ which we proclaim to be in the proclamation of the Word, In the service of the liturgical ministers and in the consecrated bread and wine begins with and depends upon the Christ whom we hospitably greet in one another as we gather for worship.

This article is one of several distributed by the Diocesan Office of Worship as a resource for Bishop Larry Silva’s Catechesis on the Liturgy.