The worship of the Church, and the beauty of holiness

by J. A. Regester

The oblation, the communion, the peace, of the sanctuary, these all tell us thus of heaven and the "Church triumphant."

Of Christ's "mystical body," with its fellowship and cross-bearing on earth, its passage through death to the joy of Paradise, and, waiting beyond, heaven, with its communion and peace through the Cross—it is of this that the church as a building may speak to devout hearts.

Arrangement and Furniture of the Church

A person coming into one of our churches would recognize at once a difference between its interior arrangement and that of many other places of worship. If he thought out the purpose of this arrangement, its adaptation to various forms of divine service and religious uses, he would feel that "here is a place where people are taught to worship the Lord in holy rites, and where forms and spaces and objects are themselves teachers of holy truths."

From the door a broad alley (commonly but improperly called an aisle), running lengthwise of the building, leads to the chancel. It suggests that the approach of the people, for the blessings and consolations which are dispensed there, is made convenient and is invited.

The place of prominence in the furnishing of the church is given to the Altar—a table of stone or wood on which the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated. It is raised several steps above the level of the choir and is railed in. Covering the Altar is an Altar-cloth, embroidered, and varying in color with the seasons of the Christian Year. The portion covering the front of the Altar is called the frontal; that covering the top of the Altar and simply a few inches of the front is called the super-frontal.

Back of the Altar, and raised above it, is a narrow shelf, called the retable, upon which the several ornaments of the Altar are placed. In the center is the Altar-cross, that this holy symbol of our Faith may be constantly before the eyes of all who worship. The vases to hold the flowers with which the Altar is beautified on festal occasions stand at either side of the Cross. The candlesticks, in churches where lights at the Holy Communion are used, stand at the ends of the retable.

Behind the Altar, in many churches, is the reredos—a carved or sculptured screen of wood or stone, frequently extending the whole width of the sanctuary. Sometimes a painting takes its place, or a dossal—a decorated curtain of as rich material as circumstances will allow.