The Altar Canopy

The manner of decorating an altar which has been hallowed by ancient tradition and is distinctly a Catholic practice, is to build over the entire altar a large canopy, usually standing on four columns. Such a canopy is often referred to as a  ciborium,  or a  baldacchino  or  a civory.  In mediaeval times, particularly in England, a different form of canopy came to be suspended from the ceiling above the altar, usually being square but sometimes circular in shape.  Later still the canopy evolved into an adjunct to the altar which jutted out at right angles from the topmost part of its reredos. These different forms of canopy all have specific names, which are often confused. This is the first of many posts illustrating canopies, in their various forms, over our altars.

The canopy, according to Canon J.B. O’Connell, “was a traditional mark of reverence and honour, emphasising the royal dignity of the altar...without any infringement of the inviolable sanctity and detachment of that sacred stone.”  Canon J.B. O’Connell, Church Building and Furnishing: the Church’s Way, 1955, pp. 185-86.

The great bronze canopy over the High altar of St. Peter's Basilica.
Designed by the sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it was intended to mark,
in a monumental way, the place of Saint Peter's tomb beneath.
Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the work began in 1623 and ended in 1634.

Image: http://aeternus.photoshelter.com/image/I0000vAmfHrr8kHE

The most famous example of such a canopy is in Saint Peter’s Basilica; but there are numerous such canopies throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and in Australia. Many of these were built in the first half of the twentieth century, when liturgical ideals were being practically espoused.

The former Ceremonial of Bishops and various decrees of the Congregation of Sacred Rites required a canopy of some sort to be built over an altar - a directive which, unfortunately, was largely ignored. 

The Genius of AWN Pugin 2 : The Gate of Heaven

Entrance to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of
Saint Giles' Church, Cheadle UK.

PORTA CAELI (the Gate of Heaven) ! These were the words uttered by John Henry Newman when he entered the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Saint Giles' Church Cheadle (Staffordshire UK). The Cheadle Church was the creation which gave its architect - AWN Pugin  - the most satisfaction.

Reserving a fuller study of this glorious Gothic Revival church for another occasion, here we simply wish to comment on its Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

In the first instance, it is somewhat rare - even unusual - to find a parish church from the 19th century with a special chapel for the Reservation of the Blessed Eucharist. In most churches - and even many Cathedrals - the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in a tabernacle on the High altar. The former Ceremonial of Bishops did expect that a Blessed Sacrament Chapel would exist in Cathedral Churches, but even so this was widely ignored, as is illustrated by many Cathedrals in the "Old" and "New" worlds right up until the 1960's.

Pugin's desire to build a church in all respects mediaeval and correct liturgically, of course, motivated his design for a distinct Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Cheadle.  But how exactly he managed to convince Ecclesiastical authorities of the desirability of such a plan is unknown to this writer.

The altar and tabernacle of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
On the right can be seen a liturgical wash-basin called piscina in which
the priest may purify his fingers having distributed Holy Communion.

The decorations of the Cheadle Chapel are lavish and inspire awe : precisely the effect that was intended. We find a gate leading from the southern aisle of the church into the Chapel, made of brass and figured with motifs of the Blessed Eucharist. The arch leading into the chapel is magnificently stencilled on its every face and chamfer.

In these times, the Chapel is lit brightly with electrical lamps. But Pugin intended to create a mysterious corner where the Faithful may not enter and which glowed only with the light of candles and the filtered light of stained glass windows.

The walls of the Chapel are all stencilled, its ceiling vaulted in stone, its floor paved with magnificent geometric tiles of terracotta red, gold and blue.

The Altar of this chapel is equally beautiful, proportionate and fitting. This was not an altar on which Mass was intended to be celebrated and we note that although the Church was consecrated in September 1846, this altar was not consecrated. There is no predella or altar platform elevating the height of this altar above the pavement : a requirement for altars of the Roman Rite. No this altar was purely intended for the Reservation of the Most Holy Eucharist.

The altar has no gradines or little steps upon its table, but only the Tabernacle, being a box-like form, enriched with enamelled metalwork. A retable, which is the full width of the reveals of the stained glass window above it, is formed from magnificent encaustic tiles, arranged geometrically. It is to be well noted that there are no figures of the saints or the angels in this retable.

The face of this alabaster Altar, however, is beautifully enriched with five niches containing images of the Seraphim. We find the Seraphim also depicted in the three-light stained glass window above the altar.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Updated 29th January.

Another view of the Chapel entrance.
Photograph of Father Lawrence Lew OP.

An English Altar : Cantley UK

Chancel of the Anglican church of Saint Wilfrid in Cantley (UK).
This sumptuous setting features an altar clothed with a rich frontal,
a carved reredos, with adjacent riddel curtains and a
tester suspended above, being an English form of the altar canopy.
Note that the low reredos finishes where the reveals of the East
window commence, so that the window itself appears as a
continuation of the reredos, whilst not being obscured by it.

In this post, we look at a further example at what is described as The English Altar which, as the name suggests, has its origins in England when that fair isle was still Catholic. These are a mediaeval variety of High altar, but also found in small chapels within churches or domestic oratories etc.

Meeting examples of English altars, we find that the altar was typically clothed in a rich frontal but, lacking a gradine or step upon the altar table, the candlesticks (often only two) rested directly upon the altar.

Sometimes a rather low reredos abutted the altar, whilst at each corner there was a post or small column. Usually angels surmounted the four posts. Curtains, known as riddels were suspended on either side of the altar, between the posts.

These posts are held to be the survival or remnant of that early period when altars in England were covered with a civory or ciborium.

The beautifully carved, polychromed and gilded reredos, the work of Sir Ninian Comper.
The Crucifixion is the central motif, being flanked by angels.
On either side may be observed small statues of saints.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the English altar underwent a revival, mainly in Anglo-Catholic churches. But they also came to be employed in Catholic churches (we have previously seen an example from Downside Abbey).  In Anglican circles, a foremost exponent of this style of altar was the renowned architect Sir Ninian Comper, who was the designer of the furnishing and decorations depicted in this post.

In 1894 he was able at St. Wilfrid's to erect a pure Gothic altar for the first time in a parish church. The altar was of stone and stood free from the east wall. Modelled on the evidence of medieval illuminations, it had four riddel posts, hung with curtains suspended by silk cords looped in split rings running on black iron rods. The posts supported gilded figures of kneeling angels holding tapers, taken from precedents discovered by Bodley in Nuremberg. There were no gradines, or shelves, for a crucifix and six candlesticks, only a low reredos, carved coloured and gilded. Two candlesticks lay on the mensa and the altar was covered by an embroidered, panelled frontal and narrow frontlet. There was an overhanging canopy, or tester.  (From the monograph Sir Ninian Comper by Fr. Anthony Symondson S.J.)

We may qualify the above by observing that the Gothic period in England covered several centuries, during which time no one style of altar could claim to be "Gothic".

A magnificently embroidered altar frontal of dark red velvet.
Its appearance is cheapened by the ubiquitous strip of lace obscuring the superfrontal.

Although this form of altar is not common in Catholic churches, there is no reason why it could not be, even in a more simplified form. There are examples of such altars where a tabernacle is placed centrally. We shall continue to present examples of such arrangements in further posts.

The above photographs were taken from the following flickr site, where many more marvellous photographs of this church may be seen.

The Primacy of the Altar

The Lady Chapel of the Abbey-Church, Downside (UK).
This form of altar - known as an English Altar - with its reredos, paraments and tester over and above all
was the work of the renowned English architect Sir Ninian Comper.
The altar, by its manner of decoration, is the obvious focal point of this beautiful chapel.
The photograph was taken by a friend of the Saint Bede Studio, Father Lawrence Lew OP.

“The altar of holy Church is Christ, as John testifies, when he says in his Apocalypse that he saw him as a golden altar standing before the throne. In him and through him the gifts of the faithful are offered to God the Father.” This extract from the old Roman Pontifical for the ordination of subdeacons elucidates the teaching of the Church that the altars of our churches signify Christ, although Christ himself is at once the priest, victim and Altar of Sacrifice. The distinguished theologian and liturgist, Canon A. Croegart, emphasises the primacy of the altar in eucharistic devotion: “Without the eucharistic sacrifice, there would be no communion; without communion, there would be no reserved sacrament, nor any of the other forms of devotion connected with the worship of the reserved sacrament. Everything depends upon the altar, yet this order of importance is all too frequently ignored.” His conclusion is obvious, yet startling: “the altar is not an ornament of the church, but rather..the church is an architectural ornament housing and covering the altar. [1] The jewel does not exist for the casket, but the casket is adapted to and serves the jewel...Therefore, it is important that the altar should be prominent in the church. By its central position and sumptuousness, the altar should, straightaway, draw the attention of those who enter the church.” [2]

Astonishingly, in recent decades, as a manifestation of faulty understandings of the nature of the Mass, sanctuaries have been re-arranged (or built anew) to make THREE or more focal points : the altar, the "president's" chair and the ambo. Such an arrangement is a complete innovation, having no precedent in the history of the Church's liturgy and architecture. Such arrangements have done, in fact, positive harm in the name of liturgical purism : they have skewed the Faithful's understanding of the Mass and created spaces not of worship, but of obscure novelty.

The creation of a variety of focal points for the furnishings of the sanctuary, none of which is aligned with a central axis.
The ugliness of this arrangement can only destroy recollection of the sacred.
Catholic Student's Chapel at the University of California, Berkeley USA.

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[1]          The consecration of the altar and the church, which sets them apart permanently for the purposes of divine worship, is the primary reason for the sacredness of a church. Consequently, the notion that removing the Blessed Sacrament from view somehow makes it permissible to stage concerts and other secular events within a church is misguided.

[2]            Canon A. Croegart, The Mass: A Liturgical Commentary (vol. one), 1958, pp. 4-5.