The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-06-25


prepared by Rev. M. Mccormack, st.
Joseph's Church, Butte.
THE PLACE OF sAcRlFicE--THE
ALTAR.
When one enters a Catholic Church,
the object that Immediately arrests
ones attention is the Altar. The
Altar occupies this place Of promin-
ence because it is the reason for the
existence of the church building, and
because it is essential to the sacrifi-
cial function of the offering of the
Mass. ".
Our word Altar means "a high
place." and is rather descriptive of
the surroundings in which sacrifice is
offered. The word used in ancient
languages, notably the Hebrew and
the Greek, means sacrifice or i'm
notation" and thereby signifies the
purpose for which the altar is erected.
So we may define an altar as an
elevated structure upon which
sacrifice is offered to God.
Origin Of Altar.
AS the offering of sacrifice is coeval
with man, and an altar is necessary
for the place of offering, so the altar
dates its origin from the cradle of the
human race. The affairs used bv Cain
and Abel were probably mounds OF
earth or stone such as would be suit
able for the fires for the victims OF
oil or -
ton spoken of in Holy Writ is that
which was used by Noah, when he Of
fered the sacrifice of Thanksgiving
after going forth from the ark; "And
Noah built an altar unto the Lord and
offered holocausts upon the altar"
(Gen. s, 20). Throughout the career
of Abraham from the date of the ap-
pearance of the Lord to him in the
land Of Canaan to the time when he
prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac,
we read several times how "he built
an altar to the Lord" (CC. II, 22)
During the ages of the patriarchs, the
affairs were erected in the open air
and the canopy of heaven replaced
the enclosing temple.
Altar Erected by Moses.
The first divine ordinance for the
building of an altar was given to
Moses, and the narrative Of this fact
is found in the twentieth chapter Of
the book of Exodus: "The Lord said
to Moses you shall make an
altar Of earth to Me, and you shall
offer upon it your holocausts and
peace offerings, your sheep and oxen
In every place where the memory of
my name shall be. And II thou
make an altar Of stone unto Me, thou
shalt not build it of hewn stones: for
Il thou lift up tool upon it, it shall
be defiled" Eek. 20, 24-25.) Further
ON In the same book (chapter 27), the
minutest details are given for the CON
struction of an altar. These prescrip.
tons served for the guidance Of the
Israelites in their worship during
their long sojourn N the desert
When they had completed their jour
ney to the Land of Promise AMI per
manently pitched their tents, they
were most sedulous in erecting and
and incense. In the temple built by
Solomon all the riches and the skill
at his disposal were expended in the
erection of similar though much
larger and more magnificent altar
This altar was preserved through the
checkered career of the Jewish race
and remained in the temple o1
Jerusalem until the year seventy o.
the Christian era, when it wa:
destroyed with the doomed city by
the forces Of Titus.
The first Christian altar was the
wooden table upon which our Lore
offered Mass at the last supper thu
night before He died. This mos
venerable table is still preserved il
the basilica of st. John Lateran, il
Rome. In imitation of the Savior st
Peter, when housed with Senator
Pudens in Rome, offered the Sacrific,
of the Body and Blood of Christ on ;
wooden altar. This altar is to b,
seen to the present day, also in ST
John Lateran. It Is now incased il
marble and is reserved for the Pop,
OACluSINOly W O1lOI LuO
thereon. Conformably to thes,
models many affairs in early Chris
tian times were made of wood, an,
had likewise the form of table
The Christian Altar.
But circumstances soon change,
the form and material of the Chris
tain altar. When the ten blood,
Roman prosecutions ragged the prizes
said Mass in the underground Romal
caves known as the Catacombs. as
rule, on q martyrs grave covere'
with q stone slab. This practice lie,
to. the custom of offering Mass on
stone which contains the relics o
martyrs. A beautiful custom tina
links the Church ceremonial of toda
with that Of the early ages. 1t is mos
appropriate that the relics of martyr
should be entombed in the altar, TO
as the martyrs had fellowship of sui
fertng with Christ, their bodies fitting
" repose where tt 3assion and deaf
Of our Lord are daily renewed.
was from that altar, too, that the
received the strength and courag
that made their heroism possible
Moreover, by the burial of tn
martyrs relics in the altar is futile