....communion rail cloths?
We hear a great deal today about altar or communion rails and how, in some churches they are being restored to their rightful place - hooray! But we seldom hear mention of communion cloths.
Indeed, if you are below the age of fifty or have converted to the Faith within the past fifty years, you may not even know of the existence of such things.
Dare I say it? If you have attended Mass at an SSPX chapel, you would know of their existence as they are in use at every Mass celebrated by an SSPX priest (the same may apply to other traditional orders, I'm not sure on that point).
But, as a small altar server it was part of my pre and post mass duties to lay out the communion cloth on the rails and this took some small measure of skill.
I am afraid that we altar servers were a competitive bunch and, as it took two servers to lay out or retrieve the cloth (it was in two lengths, one for each side of the aisle) it became a race - albeit a rather graceful race as we could not appear to be unseemly in the process, to either unfold the cloth to its full length or to fold it into 18 inch sections, concertina fashion.
The function of the cloth, of course, was to catch any particles of the Host that may have fallen between priest and communicant - we did not have Holy Communion under both kinds in those days, it was deemed then totally unnecessary, as indeed, it is today.
And, after the cloths were gathered up after each Mass in Hounslow parish, they would be consigned to Sisters John, Agnes or Francis de Sales who acted as sacristans and who knew how to devoutly treat the cloths in case of particles being attached. (I cannot find a reference as to how they were treated and it would be interesting if some erudite soul could cast some light on this).
But, communion cloths do enhance the reverential aspect of receiving Holy Communion and it would be no bad thing to see them restored along with the altar rails.
And now for those who are spluttering into their warm milk and shrieking: "This man is obsessed with minutiae and ritual!" let me say that we cannot take enough trouble to ensure the sanctity and safety of the consecrated Host - we need communion cloths so get over it!
Now I can hear some of those who have not choked on their beverage of choice crying out: "But the altar rails are a barrier betwixt priest and the people of God and they must be chopped up into small pieces and burnt at the first opportunity".
Not so.
The tradition is for altar rails to be made in the same materials as the altar.
They are, in fact, an extension of the altar and that is an excellent way of embracing (may I use that word?) the people of God without having an unseemly mob trampling over the sanctuary.
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| Altar or Communion rails - an extension of the altar itself
Pic: Catholic Sacristan
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Indeed, if you are below the age of fifty or have converted to the Faith within the past fifty years, you may not even know of the existence of such things.
Dare I say it? If you have attended Mass at an SSPX chapel, you would know of their existence as they are in use at every Mass celebrated by an SSPX priest (the same may apply to other traditional orders, I'm not sure on that point).
But, as a small altar server it was part of my pre and post mass duties to lay out the communion cloth on the rails and this took some small measure of skill.
I am afraid that we altar servers were a competitive bunch and, as it took two servers to lay out or retrieve the cloth (it was in two lengths, one for each side of the aisle) it became a race - albeit a rather graceful race as we could not appear to be unseemly in the process, to either unfold the cloth to its full length or to fold it into 18 inch sections, concertina fashion.
The function of the cloth, of course, was to catch any particles of the Host that may have fallen between priest and communicant - we did not have Holy Communion under both kinds in those days, it was deemed then totally unnecessary, as indeed, it is today.
And, after the cloths were gathered up after each Mass in Hounslow parish, they would be consigned to Sisters John, Agnes or Francis de Sales who acted as sacristans and who knew how to devoutly treat the cloths in case of particles being attached. (I cannot find a reference as to how they were treated and it would be interesting if some erudite soul could cast some light on this).
But, communion cloths do enhance the reverential aspect of receiving Holy Communion and it would be no bad thing to see them restored along with the altar rails.
And now for those who are spluttering into their warm milk and shrieking: "This man is obsessed with minutiae and ritual!" let me say that we cannot take enough trouble to ensure the sanctity and safety of the consecrated Host - we need communion cloths so get over it!
Now I can hear some of those who have not choked on their beverage of choice crying out: "But the altar rails are a barrier betwixt priest and the people of God and they must be chopped up into small pieces and burnt at the first opportunity".
Not so.
The tradition is for altar rails to be made in the same materials as the altar.
They are, in fact, an extension of the altar and that is an excellent way of embracing (may I use that word?) the people of God without having an unseemly mob trampling over the sanctuary.
What about No Salvation Outside the Church? It went with the rails ?
ReplyDeleteMay 29, 2014
Cardinal Nicols and FIUV are telling a falsehood. Why do rank and file Catholics have to accept it?
http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2014/05/orthodox-catholics-have-no-comments-on.html#links
Yes, one cannot do too much to care for the sanctity and safety of the Blessed Sacrament.
ReplyDeleteAnd remember being taught as little Catholic children that you do not put your hands or elbows on the cloth? I used to go to a traditional Mass at a bi-ritual (NO and TLM) church in Chicago and can tell you that there are communicants at every TLM Mass there who knelt and folded their arms on the cloth/rail and leaned over watching the priest make his way down the line, kind of like they were waiting for their lunch order to arrive. They were clearly either at their very first TLM or they were raised properly but had been totally indoctrinated by the NO and long since forgot what the heck Holy Communion is.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right, Elizabeth.
DeleteQuote"(I cannot find a reference as to how they were treated and it would be interesting if some erudite soul could cast some light on this)."Unquote
ReplyDeleteI was meself a fifties altarboy, and this is the sort of thing which I think we were taught but hardly registered on young males . Noner the less, as far as I know, from having had such as godmothers , parents' friends, and family friends:
Whosoever , nun or other ,priest's housekeeper or other, then and now, washes altarcloths or any purifier so also presumably altar rail cloths which MIGHT harbour miniscule elements of our Lord's blody and blood, has to be scrupulous, by hand of necessity I understand about what with and also the washing water either has to go into one of those sacristy sinks whose name I forget which connect to foundations NOT sewers,( Im not sure if you can machinewash if it's already hand washed)or onto ground where no man ever treads, such as plant pots .
Because it is Our Lord's Body and Blood .
Mike, yes, I recollect similar procedures.
DeleteI recently attended as a non-ember an Opus Dei Mass. Communion was received at kneelers, Host only and rail cloths were used. The Mass was a good example of how the Novus Ordo should be said, “Ad orientem” and reverently
ReplyDeleteThe church in the grounds of Spetchley Park Worcester, has altar rail cloths. There is a Latin Mass each Sunday at 11.0am, Holy communion received kneeling where possible, and everything done properly by Father Anthony Talbot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chrissy, I attended one of his Masses in Lourdes earlier this month.
DeleteSSS Peter & Paul & Philomena have altar cloths, just installed. Come and see!
ReplyDeleteOh yes I would like to Chloe.
DeleteThank you for this interesting post. Especially the last paragraph.
ReplyDelete"The tradition is for altar rails to be made in the same materials as the altar. They are, in fact, an extension of the altar and that is an excellent way of embracing (may I use that word?) the people of God without having an unseemly mob trampling over the sanctuary."
The SSPX chapel I went to this morning, and which I attend with some regularity, does not have Communion rail cloths. The local indult TLM-only parish run by the ICRSS, on the other hand, does have the cloths.
ReplyDeleteGo figure.