Cafeteria (altar)

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Altar column of Hedwig's Cathedral with an altar mess in the upper and lower church.

The term cafeteria (lat. Table ) describes in the Christian tradition either the complete altar ( mensa Domini , English table of the gentleman ) or just the table top of an altar, which is supported by stipes (table legs).

Already in classical antiquity , tables and altars were part of the cult furnishings. These temple tables were used to deposit or provide offerings or ceremonial implements. The Christian cafeteria is derived from the table of the Eucharist and has no ritual reference to the Greco-Roman temple table .

A table was already used for early Christian Eucharistic celebrations. Services were initially held in secret in private homes. As a rule, there was only a simple table available, which was used profanely outside the meeting . Stone altars only appeared with the first church buildings. The name cafeteria was retained for the plate of the altar.

In the Middle Ages , canteens were exclusively rectangular; Modern church altars can also have round or sigma-shaped canteens. Church regulations stipulate natural stone as the material, but the Bishops' Conference can allow another "worthy, durable and artistically processed" material.

When the altar is consecrated , the cafeteria is anointed with chrism by the bishop . In the past, signs of anointing were engraved in the stone as a sign of consecration.

Relics of saints have been placed in the canteen of the altar of a Catholic church since the Middle Ages . Deviating from this practice, today the relics can also be deposited in the stipes or under the altar.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pausanias VIII 30.2
  2. ↑ 1 Cor 10.21  EU
  3. ^ Missale Romanum . Ex decretio Ss. Concilii Tridentini restitutum Pii V Pontificis Maximi jussu editum. 1570; Codex iuris Canonici c. 1236.
  4. ^ Basic Order of the Roman Missal, 301.