About the Altar…
14/08/05
The word altar comes from the late Latin "altarium" (from the earlier Latin "altus," simply meaning 'high'). Surrounded by the Sanctuary and stepped up on a platform (representing Calvary), with an entire guild dedicated to its care, the altar is the main feature of the church. Why is that?
Free-standing (not attached to the wall) altars, like that in St. Martha's, are rather simple structures, really; just a box or table with a few layers of cloth covering the top. Yet, other than to keep the weather off our backs, the altar is pretty much the entire reason there's a church building. Where is the symbolism? What does the altar represent?
The entire top of the altar is usually composed of a slab of stone (ours is wood) called the mensa. With five crosslets carved into its top surface (one at each corner and one in the center) representing the wounds of Christ on the cross (our crosslets are stitched into the fair-linen), the stone symbolizes the slab in the tomb on which Christ was laid upon his death. You'll notice that there's neither a statue nor picture of Christ on the mensa. That's important. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen.
The altar is also where Communion is prepared; the table of the Last Supper. Topped by the mensa (Latin for "...an allusion to a round table for meals at which all have equal status"); symbolizing that all are like at the table of the Lord.
The free-standing altar represents both the table of the Last Supper and the empty tomb of Christ.
So, you see, the altar is the symbolic heart of the church building. The representation and constant reminder of the empty tomb; the resurrection of our risen Lord-and the invitation to join in Christ; to come forward in Communion and take our place, symbolically, at the Last Supper.
Free-standing (not attached to the wall) altars, like that in St. Martha's, are rather simple structures, really; just a box or table with a few layers of cloth covering the top. Yet, other than to keep the weather off our backs, the altar is pretty much the entire reason there's a church building. Where is the symbolism? What does the altar represent?
The entire top of the altar is usually composed of a slab of stone (ours is wood) called the mensa. With five crosslets carved into its top surface (one at each corner and one in the center) representing the wounds of Christ on the cross (our crosslets are stitched into the fair-linen), the stone symbolizes the slab in the tomb on which Christ was laid upon his death. You'll notice that there's neither a statue nor picture of Christ on the mensa. That's important. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen.
The altar is also where Communion is prepared; the table of the Last Supper. Topped by the mensa (Latin for "...an allusion to a round table for meals at which all have equal status"); symbolizing that all are like at the table of the Lord.
The free-standing altar represents both the table of the Last Supper and the empty tomb of Christ.
So, you see, the altar is the symbolic heart of the church building. The representation and constant reminder of the empty tomb; the resurrection of our risen Lord-and the invitation to join in Christ; to come forward in Communion and take our place, symbolically, at the Last Supper.