{"id":2288,"date":"2010-06-02T14:20:48","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T19:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=2288"},"modified":"2010-12-20T13:17:03","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T19:17:03","slug":"new-crucifix-and-candles-on-the-altar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/06\/02\/new-crucifix-and-candles-on-the-altar\/","title":{"rendered":"New Crucifix and Candles on the Altar"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Pray Tell Reader sends this in (lightly edited below) and wonders what you think. – Ed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bishop Paphnutius and the Cathedral parish have purchased a new altar crucifix and a new set of altar candlesticks to be placed on the altar in what is referred to as the \u201cBenedictine altar arrangement\u201d in imitation of the altar arrangement used by Pope Benedict XVI.\u00a0 Our Holy Father has written extensively on the celebration of the liturgy.\u00a0 He writes that there is a need in the modern liturgy for a \u201crediscovery of something essential\u201d that has been lost, namely, the concept of \u201corientation\u201d in our prayer during the sacred liturgy.<\/p>\n

In the history of the major religions of the world, it is common for the position at prayer and the layout of the holy places to be determined by a \u201csacred direction.\u201d\u00a0 The Christian idea of a \u201csacred direction\u201d or \u201corientation\u201d in prayer developed out of our Jewish roots.\u00a0 For example, the Jews in the Diaspora prayed towards Jerusalem, towards the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem, which opened toward the east.\u00a0 For Christians, the practice developed of praying, not toward earthly Jerusalem, but toward the heavenly Jerusalem, which is toward the rising sun from where the Son of Man will come again at this second coming in glory (Matt. 24-27,30). Thus, in praying toward the east, there is the notion of \u201cgoing out to meet the Lord who is to come again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The orientation of Christians praying toward the east goes back to the beginning of Christendom.\u00a0 During the Eucharistic Prayer there was a common direction of both priest and people praying toward the east, that is, of praying \u201ctoward the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Our Holy Father says that a common orientation of \u201cturning to the east\u201d in prayer during the Eucharistic Prayer is something \u201cessential\u201d to the Liturgy.\u00a0 Where one looks at the priest or not is not essential, rather \u201cwhat matters is looking together at the Lord\u201d in \u201ccommon worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the early Church Fathers, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man with power and great glory from the east is the Cross.\u00a0 From very early on, the east was linked with the sign of the Cross. Our Holy Father says, \u201cWhere a direct common turning toward the east is not possible, the cross can serve as the interior \u2018east\u2019 of faith.\u00a0 It should stand in the middle of the altar and be the common point of focus for both priest and praying community.\u00a0 In this way we obey the ancient call to prayer: \u2018Conversi ad Dominum\u2019<\/em>, Turn toward the Lord!\u00a0 In this way we look together at the One whose death tore the veil of the Temple \u2013 the One who stands before the Father for us and encloses us in his arms in order to make us the new and living Temple.\u201d\u00a0 Thus, Pope Benedict believes that placing the cross on the altar, helps restore the essential orientation of the Liturgy of praying toward the Lord, symbolized by the cross on the altar.<\/p>\n

For further reading on this topic, see The Spirit of the Liturgy<\/em> by then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, or also Turning Towards the Lord<\/em> by U.M. Lang, with a forward by then Cardinal Ratzinger.\u00a0 Both books are published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco and can be ordered through the Cathedral Bookstore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have purchased a new altar crucifix and a new set of altar candlesticks to be placed on the altar in what is referred to as the \u201cBenedictine altar arrangement\u201d in imitation of the altar arrangement used by Pope Benedict XVI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,28],"tags":[243,244],"class_list":["post-2288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-and-architecture","category-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-benedictine-altar-arrangement","tag-orientation"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Crucifix and Candles on the Altar - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/06\/02\/new-crucifix-and-candles-on-the-altar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Crucifix and Candles on the Altar - 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