[150] The Council of Epaone in France (A.D. 509) ordered that none but altars of stone should be consecrated with chrism. The custom of consecrating the altar with chrism is supposed to symbolize the anointing of our Lord's Body for the burial.—See The Stone Altar, by Rev. J. Blackburn, p. 46.
[151] Rev. vi. 9-11.
[152] "A type both of the womb and of the tomb."—The Stone Altar, p. 41.
[153] 1 Cor. x. 4.
[154] See "Prayer for the Church Militant."
[155] Queen Elizabeth's Advertisements, A.D. 1564, require "that the Parish provide a decent TABLE, standing on a frame, for the Communion Table." Hence it appears that by the word table at the era of the English Reformation, the slab only was meant.—Parker's Glossary.
[156] Matt xxvii. 66.
[157] "The seal of the altar—that is, the little stone by which the sepulchre or cavity in which the relics be deposited, is closed or sealed."—Durandus, p. 128.
[158] As at St. Mary's Hospital, Ripon. These ancient stone altars may always be known by the five crosses on the table, emblematic of the five wounds of Jesus. Not infrequently, alas! this slab is to be found as part of the church flooring. The altar table of Norwich Cathedral is (or was lately) to be seen in the floor of the nave.
[159] "Have you a Communion Table with a handsome carpet or covering of silk stuff, or such like?"—Visitation Articles, Bishop Bridges, 1634.