Removal of altar rails

[cmotherofpirl]

Removal of Altar Rails


ROME, FEB. 1, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University.

Q: A statement, on behalf of our parish priest, supporting the removal of the altar rails, states that "removal of the altar rails is consistent with the changes of the Vatican Council's 1963 Constitution of the Liturgy. To the writer's knowledge, altar rails no longer separate the congregation and the celebration of the Mass in churches throughout Sydney. … [R]emoval of altar rails was undertaken 'to make the layout more suitable for the modern liturgy and particularly the involvement of school children coming onto the altar [sanctuary] at several times during various liturgies [to perform liturgical dance] and due to concerns raised by the Principal of the school about safety issues arising from the restrictions imposed by the altar rail during children's liturgies.'" Is this statement correct? -- S.R., Bondi Beach, Australia

A: The decision in whether to remove altar rails falls basically upon the pastor although, as with any major renovation, it should be done in consultation with the local bishop and often requires his explicit approval.

Before the liturgical reform the Communion rail, or balustrade, was required in most churches.

It served both to set off the sanctuary from the rest of the church and to facilitate the administration of Communion, which generally was received kneeling, while the priest moved from one communicant to the next.

Since after the reform, Communion is frequently received standing and in processional form, the people approaching the priest while he remains in one spot. Hence, the Communion rail has often lost one of its principal functions.

Likewise, where Communion is often distributed under both species and by more than one minister the rail can sometimes be an obstacle.

In this sense your parish priest's comment that the removal of the rail is consistent with the liturgical changes is broadly correct. Yet, no document explicitly mandates or even suggests that the removal of altar rails is required by the liturgical reform.

Most recent official guidelines regarding the sanctuary, while maintaining the distinction between sanctuary and the rest of the church, no longer mention the Communion rail.

For example, the recent guidelines for church buildings published by the U.S. bishops' conference, "Built of Living Stones," recommends the following regarding the sanctuary in No. 54:

"The sanctuary is the space where the altar and the ambo stand, and 'where the priest, deacon and other ministers exercise their offices.' The special character of the sanctuary is emphasized and enhanced by the distinctiveness of its design and furnishings, or by its elevation. The challenge to those responsible for its design is to convey the unique quality of the actions that take place in this area while at the same time expressing the organic relationship between those actions and the prayer and actions of the entire liturgical assembly. The sanctuary must be spacious enough to accommodate the full celebration of the various rituals of word and Eucharist with their accompanying movement, as well as those of the other sacraments celebrated there."

That said, the above guidelines, and documents on the preservation of sacred art published by the Holy See, do suggest that great care must be taken before altering churches of certain historical value or even particular elements of a church that may have particular artistic merit.

Even churches that are not, strictly speaking, "historical," sometimes have altar rails and other elements that are fine examples of the artistry, such as stone carving and metalwork, of earlier epochs. If no other use can be found for them within a renovated church it is often better to do whatever is possible to preserve them.

The other reasons offered for the removal of the altar rails are really not pertinent.

The fact that no other church in the city has altar rails makes no difference if there were a good reason for preserving them in this particular church, or even if there were no good reason for removing them.

Even less weighty is the third reason that was cited. The children's activities that are described have no place in the sanctuary in the first place, at least not during the celebration of the liturgy.

The sanctuary should not be confused with a stage and should not be used as such. It is, as stated in the above-mentioned document, which itself quotes the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, "the space where the altar and the ambo stand, and 'where the priest, deacon and other ministers exercise their offices.'"

* * *

[franciscanheart]

Our church still has the altar rail but there again the majority of our parish still receives kneeling. There are four Eucharistic ministers (in most cases) and four sections of the altar rail (with obvious divisions).

The altar is pretty I think. Not amazing but not plain either.

[popestpiusx]

My Church uses the rail. Well of course it does.

Christendom used the rail until last year when the bishop decided that he had nothing better to do than to harass the school. Ignore homosexual priests. Destroy every semblance of traditonal Catholic culture and custom. Sounds like a plan.

I think if I was the dictator of a small country, I would make it illegal to remove the communion rail from churches. Punishable by execution.

[StPiusVPrayForUs]

Bring back the rails, and tell the non-ordained Arians to buzz off.

Edited February 2, 2005 by StPiusVPrayForUs

[rachael]

i've never seen a church with rails.

[Apotheoun]

The altar rail, which developed from the old rood screens in Latin Rite Churches, should be retained, because the sanctuary, as the holy of holies, should be signified by a visible sign that shows forth the place of conjunction between heaven and earth. In the Eastern Rites the iconostasis serves this function.

[rachael]

even though i've never seen or been to a church with one, i think it is a good idea to have them.

[Apotheoun]

Here is an example of a restored rood screen from England:

[img]http://www.geocities.com/apotheoun/ludham_roodscreen1.jpg[/img]
Full view of the rood screen at St. Catherine's in Ludham England.

[img]http://www.geocities.com/apotheoun/ludham_roodscreen2.jpg[/img]
Another full view image.

[img]http://www.geocities.com/apotheoun/ludham_roodscreen3left.jpg[/img]
Closeup image of icons on the left side of the rood screen.

[img]http://www.geocities.com/apotheoun/ludham_roodscreen4right.jpg[/img]
Closeup image of the icons on the right side of the rood screen.

For more images of St. Catherine's Church in Ludham, and other English Churches with restored rood screens, click on the link below:

[url="http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/ludham/ludham.htm"]Norfolk Churches - St. Catherine's in Ludham England[/url]

God bless,
Todd

[Benedict]

St. Paul's has the altar set about 50 ft. in front of the sanctuary on a stage and it is backed by a rail. The sanctuary itself is at the top of a set of stairs and the old kneelers are placed in a semi-circle around it.

[bamthor]

communion rails are so good, and it so humbing to recieve Christ on my knees. It enhances the realization that you are present before Christ. I once heard of a protestant who said if he believed that was truly the body of Christ he would crawl all the way to meet him. Its just plain reverence.

[franciscanheart]

rachael ill post a pic of my church and its altar rail sunday so you can see. ours arent anything like the above.

[Benedict]

Those pictures are not altar rails, they are rood screens, the precursors of altar rails.

But pictures would be nice.

[randy_the_clown]

I thought they were just to keep animals out.

[franciscanheart]

right sorry i thought those looked a little funny. okay well ill still post pics of our altar rail.

[popestpiusx]

[img]http://www.fssp.org/album/O20041009/circle%20behind.jpg[/img]

Here is the rail.

[img]http://www.fssp.org/album/O20041009/communion.jpg[/img]

The rail in use.

[img]http://www.fssp.org/album/VPN2003/ni%20033.jpg[/img]

Trad. parish in Nigeria

[img]http://www.fssp.org/album/AOSPN2002/image027.jpg[/img]

Nice one in Rome

[franciscanheart]

You know what I've noticed by looking at these pictures? All of these churches are so fancy in architecture. I love them all, it's great. But.... I don't know if this is not good for me to say but I like that my church isn't that extravagent. It's still pretty. "It's like one you would see on TV," says Josh, one of my friends. But I don't know.... but anyway I'll post a pic of my church's rail soon.

[Apotheoun]

No Eastern Church is considered to be complete if it lacks an iconostas. Sadly the Western Church has done away with its version of the iconostas (i.e., the rood or chancel screen), and now most Western Churches don't even have an altar rail.

So sad.

[popestpiusx]

Sad indeed. There are still a few churches in the US that have rood screens. One was just built last year. I'll get a picture for you.

Hughey, I would not consider the Nigerian church terribly extravagant.

[popestpiusx]

[img]http://www.sgg.org/photographs/Parish%2003/easter6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.sgg.org/photographs/Parish%2003/firstcommunion1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.sgg.org/photographs/Parish%2003/holyweek5.jpg[/img]

Actually this Church was built several decades ago. They just built a new one because they outgrew this one. The Church is in Ohio.


Here is one in Texas. It's Our Lady of Atonement (an Anglican Use parish), built in 1986:

[img]http://www.atonementonline.com/images/easter_04.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.atonementonline.com/images/sanc1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.atonementonline.com/images/sanc2.jpg[/img]

[popestpiusx]

I guess those are more "modified" rood screens, though.