As the official opening of St Mary’s Cathedral draws closer, one of Australia’s leading liturgists begins a new series for The Record on the significance of an altar – the very reason why any church or Cathedral exists
In every Catholic church we find an altar. In a remote mission station the altar may be the only object in a simple church. This reminds us that a church is constructed primarily to cover an altar. A church can be defined as a covered space where the community is gathered by God to do what Jesus Christ commanded at the Last Supper, to celebrate his Eucharistic sacrifice. The essential object in the church, the central focus for worship, is the sacred table set aside for the Mass.
Most of the other furnishings of a church are derived from the altar or relate to it: first the ambo or lectern for the proclamation of the word, then the chair for the presiding priest, the places for the people, servers and choir, the tabernacle for reserving the Eucharist, and particularly the baptismal font where the first sacrament of Christian Initiation is celebrated, for Baptism always leads to the Eucharist.
Most religions have “altars”, but the word is often used loosely to describe what are really shrines, or places for sacred images. Strictly speaking, the word “altar” refers to a specific table or structure where sacrifices are offered to God or to the gods.
The Old Testament includes many references to altars, where sacrifices of animals, wheat etc were offered and usually burnt. A rather complex system of sacrifices developed, first in the tabernacle tent of the desert, then in various sacred sites such as Shiloh and finally in the Temple established on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The Passover required the annual sacrifice of an unblemished lamb for a sacred meal, a domestic rite celebrating and reliving the liberation and covenant of Israel.
Jesus Christ abolished the Temple sacrifices when he changed the Passover into his own sacrificial meal for his new Israel, the Church. He gave himself as the “Lamb of God” in a true sacrifice and sacred meal at the Last Supper, and a domestic table became an altar. He revealed his atoning and reconciling work for us, accomplished the next day, once and for all, when a criminal’s cross became an altar. That cross was later understood as pointing to another “altar” beyond this world, an altar which is a symbolic way of describing the eternal self-giving love within God the Trinity. In the Letter to the Hebrews, the self-giving of Christ, beloved Son and High Priest in eternity, is described. Jesus himself is Priest, Victim and Altar.
Therefore, the Christian place of sacrifice or the “holy table” of the Lord, is the “great sign of Christ” in each church. This is why the altar is placed in a central position, where we can all see it. It is meant to be an object of beauty and splendour, worthy of the real presence of the Lord himself. Nothing is to be placed on it except what pertains to the Eucharistic sacrifice and banquet. It is also a permanent object, one reason why most Catholic altars are fixed into the floor and made of stone or marble. Christ is the Rock of his People, true God and true Man, with us forever, always among us.
The symbolism of the altar as the great sign of Christ is revealed when it is dedicated by the Bishop. On December 8, Archbishop Hickey will dedicate the new altar of the restored and completed St Mary’s Cathedral. He will first sprinkle the altar with holy water, then he will anoint it with the most sacred oil, Holy Chrism. Then it will be crowned with a blazing fire of fragrant incense and it will be dedicated (or set apart) with a solemn prayer. These are all signs of the work and presence of the Holy Spirit, who is one with Our Lord, “the Christ”, the “anointed One”. Henceforth, this anointed table can only be used for one purpose – the celebration of the holy Eucharist.
After it has been dedicated, the great sign of Christ will be dressed with the cloths and candles that we use at every celebration of the Eucharist. But finally something greater than symbolism will take place and this is the real dedication of this altar. Archbishop Hickey will celebrate Mass on it. Here we pass beyond symbolism, for Christ himself becomes really, truly and substantially present among us in the celebration of His Sacrifice. His Body and Blood are offered up for us, and then given to us and received by us at this sacred table at the heart of a noble cathedral, the mother church of the Church in Perth.
The earliest Christian altars were made of wood, obviously because Mass was first celebrated in people’s homes. But the stone table in a Roman villa was also used for Mass. Once public churches could be built, altars were made of stone or marble. Today, we follow ancient tradition in constructing our altars from stone, fine marble or solid wood.
A stone altar is a sign of a permanent place of sacrifice linking us with our Jewish heritage, because the altars described in the Hebrew Scriptures were made of stones. However, the Christian altar is not only a holy place of sacrifice. As the beautiful prayers of dedicating an altar remind us, it is at the same time the holy table of the Last Supper, where the faithful come to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, to be nourished in the eucharistic feast. Indeed the Lord’s table on earth is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet – “blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb”.
The altar itself draws together the two complementary dimensions of the Mass – the holy sacrifice and the holy meal. It is not a matter of “either” “or”. The Mass is both a saving sacrifice and a sacred meal. Jesus offers His Body and Blood for the living and the dead and then gives us His offered Body and Blood to be our food of eternal life. How wonderful is the Lord’s sacred table where these mysteries are accomplished. This is the most sacred object in the church, the great sign of Christ Himself, centrally located at the heart of the sacred space where God gathers His people to worship.
Bishop Elliott is an Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne and author of numerous works, especially in the field of liturgy.