Canon table
A canon table is a liturgical object in the Roman Catholic Church that was part of an altar for the celebration of Holy Mass in the Roman rite until the liturgical reform of 1969 . The canon tables contain texts to be sung or spoken by the celebrant in every holy mass . In the extraordinary form of the Roman rite (the so-called Tridentine Mass ), the tablets are still in use.
Purpose and history of the tablets
On the cafeteria of the high altar are or are three inscribed boards that look like framed pictures. They serve the celebrant of the Tridentine Mass as a reminder for fixed texts during the liturgy, the opening of which in the missal would be a hindrance to the liturgical process.
During the suspension of the Holy of Holies , the canon tables had to be removed. Outside of Holy Mass, they usually lay flat under the altar ceiling.
Canon tables with the text of the Canon Missae are known as early as the 13th century. The middle panel in the usual shape came into use from the 15th century, the other two around 100 years later; the use gained worldwide acceptance. The Roman Missal of 1570 made the middle table mandatory in the Roman rite.
The tables are written in Latin; in the transition period up to the regular form of the missal from 1970, canon tables were also available in the national language from 1965. Since the corresponding liturgical processes then changed in the Mass regulations, the tablets were no longer required from this time on; the final gospel had already been dropped in 1965. In the case of a celebration versus populum at the popular altar , which became common after the liturgical reform, the tablets would even have had a disruptive effect.
In the pontifical office , a canon book ( Canon episcopalis , last published in 1955) was used instead of the canon tables .
Middle chalkboard
In the middle of the altar hall there is a large table in front of the tabernacle . As a rule, it bears the text of the Glorias on the left and that of the Credo on the right , in the middle the silent sacrifice and communion prayers and - especially emphasized - the words of change from the prayer . In the extraordinary form, the priest stands in front of the center of the altar with the Gloria and Credo. He can hardly read the prayers in the missal lying on the side of the altar mess . When performing the conversion, he is even bent deeply over the altar in the same place and cannot see into the missal placed on the side either. The large canon table contains these passages, it is facing him in front of him, and he can easily read the words from her - even when he is bent over.
If the middle, large canon board is made of heavy material, there is often a decorated eyelet at the upper end through which the priest can stretch his middle finger in order to lift it to the side when opening the tabernacle. The liturgical regulations of the extraordinary form prohibit the priest from loosening the thumb and forefinger on both hands after the conversion is complete, in order to prevent any particles of the host held in between them from falling down. Only after washing his fingers , during the purification that takes place at the end of the Eucharist , is he allowed to open his fingers again. Therefore, the middle canon table must always be moved with closed thumbs and forefingers during the measurement in order to be able to open and close the tabernacle; the eyelet is used for this.
Right panel
On the epistle side (right side of the altar) there is a smaller plaque with two texts: the prayer for the washbasin and the prayer for mixing the wine with the water. It is also called a lavabo table . Since the priest, standing at the right end of the altar, also has to perform various activities such as pouring or mixing water and wine as well as hand washing and drying, it would be impractical to look into the missal at the same time. Here, too, he has the board right in front of his eyes and can read the prayers from it during the manual rites.
Left panel
On the Gospel side (left side of the altar) there is also a smaller panel with the prologue of the Gospel of John Joh 1,1-14 EU , which is usually read as the final gospel after the Ite, missa est and the blessing at the left end of the altar . The left panel - also called the Gospel panel - replaces the missal lying on a stand elsewhere on the altar.
Up until the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, a different Gospel text was recited on some days instead of the prologue of John's Gospel. On these days the altar boy carried the missal back to the Gospel page before the final gospel, from which the priest then read the final gospel.
literature
- Bauer, Lorenz: The church regulations on the furnishing of the altar and the tabernacle, in: Die christliche Kunst . Monthly for all areas of Christian art and art history , vol. 18 (1922/23), pp. 80–89.
- Andreas Heinz: canon tables . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 5 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1996, Sp. 1198 .
- Peter Schmidt: Liturgical single-sheet prints, new finds and reflections on the early history of the canon tables in the 15th and 16th centuries ; in: Gutenberg yearbook 2010 , illustrated scan from the source
Individual evidence
- ↑ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia - a genetic explanation of the Roman mass volume 1, Herder Verlag, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th edition 1962, p. 77 note 1.
- ↑ Andreas Heinz : Canon tables . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 5 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1996, Sp. 1198 .
- ↑ Michael Haller: Happy service. A paperback for acolytes. Pfeiffer Verlag, Munich 1955, p. 27f.