Dedication of an Altar

Authority level: Authoritative doctrine
Disciplinary status: Church discipline
Theological status: Theological synthesis
GuideThe entry combines Catholic doctrine about worship with approved liturgical discipline and theological explanation; the labels do not make every ceremonial norm irreformable.
Contents

Dedication of an Altar is the solemn liturgical act by which a fixed altar is permanently set apart for the Eucharistic sacrifice and becomes a sacred place.

Christ, altar, and sacrifice

The Christian altar is the table of the Lord and the place upon which the sacrifice of the Cross is made present sacramentally in the Eucharist. It signifies Christ himself, the living stone, and the one altar around which the Church is gathered. A fixed altar in a church is ordinarily dedicated; a movable altar may be dedicated or blessed according to the rite and law.[1]

Dedication is not a decorative opening ceremony. It permanently assigns the altar to divine worship and gives it the canonical character of a sacred place. An altar is dedicated to God alone, even when the church bears the title of a mystery, angel, or saint.

Rites of dedication

The celebration centers on the Eucharist, which is the principal and ancient act of dedication. After the Liturgy of the Word and the Litany of the Saints, the bishop prays the prayer of dedication, anoints the altar with sacred chrism, burns incense upon it, and has it covered and illuminated. These explanatory rites manifest consecration, Christ's sacrifice and prayer, the Eucharistic table, and the light of Christ.

Relics of martyrs or other saints may be placed beneath the altar according to the rite, but they must be authentic and of sufficient size to be recognized as parts of a human body; the practice of inserting dubious fragments is rejected. Relics are placed beneath, not inside the mensa as though they constituted the altar's sacrificial matter.

Use and loss of dedication

Only what is required for Mass is placed on the mensa during celebration. The altar is treated with reverence, kissed and incensed as the rites prescribe, and ordinarily reserved for sacred use. Its design should make it the natural center of the sanctuary without obscuring the ambo, cathedra, tabernacle, or assembly's ordered participation.[2]

An altar loses dedication according to canon law if it is destroyed in large part or permanently turned over to profane use by decree or in fact. Mere damage, temporary removal for repair, or replacement of a removable altar stone does not automatically settle the question; competent authority applies the law to the actual structure and decree.[3]

References

  1. 1.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1667–1679 — Sacramentals, blessings, exorcism, and popular piety
  2. 2.General Instruction of the Roman Missal — The authoritative ordering and rubrics of Mass in the ordinary form of the Roman Rite
  3. 3.Code of Canon Law, canons 1205–1243 — Sacred places, churches, oratories, shrines, altars, and cemeteries