A proposed change: removal or partial removal of altar rails. Some thoughts about this change: Are altar rails supposed to be taken out of sanctuaries? “There is nothing in Vatican II or post-conciliar documents which mandate their removal,” said Denis McNamara, author of Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy (Hillenbrand Books, 2009) and assistant director and professor at the Liturgical Institute of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill. Cardinal Francis Arinze strongly affirmed this point during a 2008 video session while he was still prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: “The Church from Rome never said to remove the altar rails.” So what happened? Unfortunately, democratic ideas came into the situation after Vatican II. A general iconoclasm that rejected the past, a desire to make churches into gathering spaces more like Protestant meeting houses, and the argument that kneeling is a sign of submission, which is seen as disrespectful to the modern person — we didn’t kneel before kings and queens, so it was more “democratic” not to kneel. Some people called them ‘fences’ which set up division between priest and people. Theologically there is a significant meaning in the distinction between nave and sanctuary. Altar rails give a clear designation as to what is the sanctuary. The word ‘sanctuary’ comes from the word ‘holy,’ which means ‘set apart.’ The sanctuary is set apart from the rest of the church because it reinforces our understanding of what holiness is. The sanctuary is symbolically the head of the church and represents Christ as the head. When church architecture roots are traced to the Temple of Solomon: The large room corresponded to the church nave; the Holy of Holies, an image of heaven, corresponded to today’s sanctuary. They were separated visually by the great veil, which was torn when Christ died. The altar rail is still a marker of the place where heaven and earth meet, indicating that they are not yet completely united, but, at the same time, the rail is low, very permeable, and has a gate, so it does not prevent us from participating in heaven. So we could say there is a theology of the rail, one which sees it as more than a fence, but as a marker where heaven and earth meet, where the priest, acting in persona Christi, reaches across from heaven to earth to give the Eucharist as the gift of divine life. We remember the reverence our ancestors displayed for Jesus Christ and are fully aware that God is at one with us. There is no barrier between ourselves and God, the altar rails merely act as visual aid to help us adore the Blessed Sacrament. We hope to enjoy their beauty and craftsmen ship for many years to come.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 00:19:39 +0000
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