New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship

THE

NEW

SCM DICTIONARY

OF

LITURGY AND

WORSHIP

Edited by

PAUL BRADSHAW

© SCM Press 2005

Reissued 2013

Published in 2005 and reissued in 2013 by SCM Press

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

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978 0 334 04932 6

Typeset by Regent Typesetting, London

Printed and bound by Lightning Source

CONTENTS

Preface

Contributors

Abbreviations

Entries A–Z

A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – K – L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – Y – Z

PREFACE

Although this dictionary is very obviously closely related to the Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship edited by J. G. Davies (SCM Press, London 1972, 2nd edn 1986), it is not merely a further edition of that work, but rather its successor. While the vast majority of the headings used in that earlier volume have been adopted here, some have been deleted, new ones added, and other subjects rearranged. For example, ‘experimental forms of worship’ has been eliminated because it now seems an outdated category, and for a similar reason ‘feminist liturgical movement’ subsumed within the wider category of ‘women and worship’; while entries referring to more recent developments, like ‘praise and worship movement’, have been inserted. The broad entry on ‘liturgies’ has been replaced by two separate entries, on ‘eucharist’ and on ‘word, services of the’. In some cases entries have been placed under new headings that would be more commonly used today. Thus, for instance, ‘year, liturgical’ has been substituted for ‘calendar’; ‘daily prayer’ for ‘canonical hours’; ‘eucharistic prayer’ for ‘anaphora’; ‘inculturation’ for ‘indigenization’; and so on.

All entries have been entirely rewritten, and in nearly every case by a new contributor. Contributors have been chosen on the basis of their expertise in the particular subject, in some instances from within the particular worship tradition under discussion, in others from outside, since both views shed valuable and complementary light. All the entries, except the shortest, have been broken up into numbered sections with sub-headings for ease of use and provided with bibliographical resources for further study. Where appropriate, the literature listed has been divided into selected texts and studies, with works containing a more extensive bibliography indicated by the symbol (bib.). It is the editor’s earnest hope that with these changes and improvements the volume will serve as a comprehensive guide to the subject for future years as well as Davies’ work has done for the last thirty years.

PAUL BRADSHAW

CONTRIBUTORS

Dr Daniel Albrecht, Professor of Christian History and Spirituality, Bethany College, Scotts Valley, California, USA. Assemblies of God Churches’ Worship

The Rt Revd Dr J. Neil Alexander, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, and formerly Professor of Liturgics and Norma and Olan Mills Professor of Divinity in the School of Theology of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, USA. Advent; Advent Wreath; Creeds in Liturgy

The Revd Stefanos Alexopoulos, Orthodox deacon and doctoral candidate in liturgical studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Fan; Incense; Litany

The Revd Dr Horace T. Allen, Jr, Professor of Worship and Preaching, Boston University School of Theology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Lectionaries

Dr Ronald J. Allen, Nettie Sweeney and Hugh Th. Miller Professor of Preaching and New Testament, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Funerals 6: Christian Church; Marriage 6: Christian Church

Dr Paul N. Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies, George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, USA. Quaker Worship

The Revd Dr S. Wesley Ariarajah, Methodist minister from Sri Lanka, currently Professor of Ecumenical Theology, Drew University School of Theology, Madison, New Jersey, USA. Sri Lanka, Worship in the Church in

The Revd Dr John F. Baldovin, SJ, Professor of Historical and Liturgical Theology, Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Eucharistic Prayer; Roman Catholic Worship

Dr George Bebawi, Director of Studies, Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge. Coptic Worship

Dr Mary Berry, Director of the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge and a member of the Faculty of Music, Cambridge University. Chants of the Proper of the Mass; Church Modes; Gregorian Chant; Hymns 1: Latin; Motet; Music in the Mass of the Roman Rite; Notation and Rhythm; Polyphony; Psalm-Tones

The Revd Dr Thomas F. Best, Executive Secretary for Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, and an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Baptism 6: Christian Church; Books, Liturgical 6: Christian Church; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Worship; Eucharist 6: Christian Church; Ordination 6: Christian Church; Word, Services of the, 6: Christian Church

Dr Kathleen M. Black, Gerald Kennedy Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California, USA. Deaf Persons and Worship; Disabilities, Worship and Persons with

The Revd Dr Paul F. Bradshaw, Professor of Liturgy, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Acolyte; Anamnesis; Anointing; Benedictus; Bishop; Blessing; Books, Liturgical 1: Early Christianity; Confession; Consecration, Prayer of; Coronation Services; Crucifer; Daily Prayer 1: Early Christianity; Deacon; Deaconess; Dedication; Dismissal; Easter; Easter Garden or Sepulchre; Easter Vigil; Ecumenical Co-operation in Liturgical Revision; Elder; Epiclesis; Eucharist 1: Early Christianity; Fast Days; Grace; Harvest Thanksgiving; Host; Institution Narrative; Last Rites; Lector; Low Sunday; Lucernarium; Mass; Minor Orders; Mixed Chalice; Office Hymn; Ordinary Time; Ordination 1: Early Christianity; Ordination 2: Eastern Churches; Ordination 4: Anglican; Preface; Presbyter; Reader; Sanctus; Sentences; Server; Subdeacon; Superintendent; Synaxis; Viaticum; Vigil; Western Rites; Whitsunday; Word, Services of the, 1: Early Christianity

The Rt Revd Colin O. Buchanan, Bishop of Woolwich. Books, Liturgical 4: Anglican; Charismatic Worship; Eucharist 4: Anglican; Funerals 4: Anglican; House Church Worship

The Revd Dr Richard F. Buxton, sometime Lecturer in Liturgy, University of Manchester. Octave; Quinquagesima; Sanctification of Time, The; Sunday; Transfiguration; Trinity Sunday

The Revd Dr Andrew Cameron-Mowat, SJ, Lecturer, Department of Pastoral Studies, Heythrop College, University of London. All Saints; All Souls; Annunciation; Common of Saints; Marian Feasts; Saints, Cult of the

The Revd Dr Stanislaus Campbell, FSC, Auxiliary Provincial, De La Salle Christian Brothers, Napa, California, USA. Daily Prayer 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic; Word, Services of the, 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic

The Revd Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB, Director, Paul VI Institute of Liturgy, The Philippines. Inculturation

The Revd Dr Richard Cleaves, Minister, Highbury Congregational Church, Cheltenham, and Tutor, Congregational Federation Integrated Training Course. Baptism 7: Congregationalist; Congregationalist Worship; Funerals 7: Congregationalist

The Revd Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Professor of Comparative Theology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. Hindu Worship

Dr Martin F. Connell, Assistant Professor of Liturgical Studies, School of Theology, St John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Ascension Day; Christmas; Christmas Crib; Ember Days; Epiphany; Foot-Washing; Pentecost; Year, Liturgical

Dr Dimitri Conomos, Oxford. Byzantine Chant

Dr Melva Wilson Costen, Helmar Emil Nielsen Professor of Worship and Music, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Black Churches Worship 2: USA; Spirituals

The Revd Dr Mary Cotes, Baptist minister, Pontypridd, Wales. Word, Services of the, 5: Baptist

The Revd Dr Anthony R. Cross, Research Fellow, Centre for Advanced Theological Research, University of Surrey Roehampton, London. Baptism 5: Baptist

The Venerable Dr Mark Dalby, Archdeacon emeritus of Rochdale, Lancashire. Children and Worship

The Revd Dr James Dallen, Professor of Sacramental and Liturgical Theology, Religious Studies Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, USA. Penance

The Revd Dr Anne Dawtry, Principal of Ordained Local Ministry and Integrated Education, Diocese of Salisbury. Art and Worship; Laity and Worship; Lay Ministries; Word, Service of the 4: Anglican

The Revd Dr Michael S. Driscoll, Associate Professor of Liturgy, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Books, Liturgical 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic; Eucharist 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic; Funerals 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic

The Revd Dr Martin Dudley, Rector of St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, London. Absolution; Absolution Prayer; Absolutions of the Dead; Altar; Altar Hangings; Altar Rails; Baldachin; Baptistery; Catechism; Ceremonial; Collect; Colours, Liturgical; Consecration of Churches; Frontal; Movements in Worship; Procession; Reredos; Riddel, Ridle; Rogation Days; Rubrics; Three Hours Devotion

The Revd Michael Durber, Training Co-ordinator, Congregational Federation. Eucharist 7: Congregationalist; Marriage 7: Congregationalist

The Revd Christopher J. Ellis, Principal, Bristol Baptist College, Bristol. Baptist Worship

The Revd Dr M. Daniel Findikyan, Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan Professor of Liturgy, St Nersess Armenian Seminary, New Rochelle, New York, USA. Funerals 2: Eastern Churches; Marriage 2: Eastern Churches

Dr Kathleen Flake, Assistant Professor of American Religious History, Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Worship

The Revd Dr Peter Galadza, Kule Family Professor of Liturgy, Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada. Books, Liturgical 2: Eastern Churches

The Revd Jonathan Goodall, Chaplain and Research Assistant to the Bishop in Europe, formerly Chaplain and Sacrist, Westminster Abbey. Ambo; Aumbry; Chalice and Paten; Chrismatory; Cross, Crucifix; Martyrium; Orientation; Pulpit; Veil

The Revd Hugh F. Graham, OCC, Minister of Stepney Meeting House United Reformed Church, London. United Reformed Church Worship

The Revd Dr Donald Gray, Canon emeritus of Westminster. Alms; Alms Dish; Anglican Worship; Ante-Communion; Bells; Communion; Fraction; Lavabo; Law and Worship 2: Church of England; Remembrance Sunday; Words of Administration

The Revd Dr Robert W. Gribben, Professor of Worship and Mission, Uniting Church Theological Hall, Ormond College, University of Melbourne, Australia. Australia, Worship in the Uniting Church in

Mr W. Jardine Grisbrooke, Orthodox layperson and formerly Lecturer in Liturgical Studies at the Queen’s College, Birmingham. Agnus Dei; Doxology; Kyrie; Lord’s Prayer, The; Ordinary; Proper; Silent Prayer; Suffrages; Super Oblata

The Revd George Guiver, CR, Vice-Principal, The College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, West Yorkshire. Daily Prayer 4: Anglican; Intercession; Prayer

The Revd Dr Stanley R. Hall, Associate Professor of Liturgics, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas, USA. Books, Liturgical 12: Reformed; Presbyterian Worship 2: USA

Dr John Harper, Director General, Royal School of Church Music, and Research Professor, University of Wales, Bangor. Anthem; Antiphon; Carol; Chants; Choir (Musical); Hymns 2: Vernacular; Metrical Psalms; Organ; Psalmody; Responsorial Psalm; Responsory or Respond

The Revd Jeremy Haselock, Canon Precentor, Norwich Cathedral. Cathedra; Cathedral; Gestures; Posture

The Revd Dr Brian Haymes, Minister, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London. Ordination 5: Baptist

The Revd Dr Dagmar Heller, Secretary for Ecumenism and Relations with the Orthodox Churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Ecumenical Worship; Intercommunion

Mr Stephen Hodge, Buddhist translator and author. Buddhist Worship

Dr Lawrence A. Hoffman, Professor of Liturgy, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, USA. Jewish Worship

The Revd Canon David R. Holeton, Professor of Liturgy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Bohemian Liturgy; Infant Communion; Vestments

Brother Tristam Holland, SSF, Hilfield Friary, Dorchester, Dorset. Advent Antiphons; Censer; Ciborium; Credence Table; Corporal; Cruet; Monstrance; Pall; Passiontide; Purificator; Pyx; Tabernacle; Thurible; Thurifer

The Revd John M. Huels, OSM, Professor of Canon Law, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada. Law and Worship 1: Roman Catholic

Professor John M. Hull, School of Education, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham. School Worship (England and Wales)

Information Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses, London. Jehovah’s Witnesses Worship

The Revd Dr Gordon Jeanes, Vicar of St Anne’s Church, Wandsworth, London. Bidding Prayer; Canticles; Cantor; Commination; Feria; Last Gospel; Readings, Eucharistic

The Revd Dr Philip Jenson, Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew, Trinity College, Bristol. Old Testament Worship

Dr Calvin M. Johansson, Professor of Church Music, Evangel University, Springfield, Missouri, USA. Pentecostal Worship

The Revd Dr Maxwell E. Johnson, Associate Professor of Liturgy, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Baptism 1: Early Christianity; Catechumen, Catechumenate; Confirmation; Godparents; Insufflation; Lent; Mystagogy; Scrutinies, Baptismal

The Revd Dr Jan Michael Joncas, Associate Professor of Theology and Teaching Fellow in Catholic Studies, University of St Thomas, St Paul, Minnesota, USA. Music as Worship; Ordination 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic

The Revd Dr Thomas A. Kane, CSP, Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Practice, Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Dance, Liturgical

Dr William S. Kervin, Assistant Professor of Public Worship, Emmanuel College, Toronto, Canada. Canada, Worship in the United Church of

Habtemichael Kidane, former Lecturer in Liturgy at the Joint Seminaries of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Asmara (Eritrea). Ethiopian (or Ge‘ez) Worship

Dr John Klentos, Assistant Professor of Eastern Orthodox Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, USA. Antidoron; Diptychs; Enarxis; Eucharist 2: Eastern Churches; Great Entrance; Little Entrance; Orthodox Worship; Prothesis

The Revd Canon Dr Christopher Lamb, Rector of Warmington, South Warwickshire and formerly Secretary for Inter-Faith Relations for the General Synod of the Church of England and for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Inter-Faith Worship

Dr Lizette Larson-Miller, Associate Professor of Liturgical Studies, Church Divinity School of the Pacific/Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, USA. Liberation and Worship

The Revd Dr Gordon Lathrop, Charles A. Schieren Professor of Liturgy, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Bible, Use of in Worship; Daily Prayer 5: Lutheran; Eucharist 8: Lutheran; Word, Services of the, 8: Lutheran

The Venerable Trevor Lloyd, Archdeacon of Barnstaple, Devon. Lectern; Mission and Worship; Pews

Dr Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Funerals 12: Reformed; Marriage 12: Reformed

The Revd Dr Richard D. McCall, Associate Professor of Liturgy and Church Music, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Drama and Worship

The Revd Dr Andrew McGowan, Associate Professor of Early Christian History, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Agape; Alleluia; Amen; Lord’s Supper, The; New Testament Worship.

Dr A. J. MacGregor, Librarian, Ushaw College, Durham. Candles, Lamps, and Lights; Easter Candle; New Fire

The Revd Dr Frank D. Macchia, Associate Professor of Theology, Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, California, USA. Baptism 11: Pentecostal; Eucharist 11: Pentecostal; Ordination 11: Pentecostal; Word, Services of the, 11: Pentecostal

The Revd Michael D. Macchia, Senior Pastor, Christian Assembly Church, Hobart, Indiana, USA. Books, Liturgical 11: Pentecostal; Funerals 11: Pentecostal; Marriage 11: Pentecostal

The Revd Dr Pauly Maniyattu, Lecturer in Liturgical Theology, St Ephrem’s Theological College, Satna, M.P., India. East Syrian Worship

The Revd Dr George Mathew, Lecturer, Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Mar Thoma Church Worship

Dr Marchita B. Mauck, Professor of Art History, Louisiana State University, USA. Aisle; Architectural Setting; Apse; Atrium; Basilica; Centralized Building; Chancel; Chantry; Chapel; Gallery; Narthex; Nave; Choir (Architectural); Communion Table; Rostrum; Sacristy; Sanctuary; Sedilia; Tower; Transept; Vestry

The Revd Dr Daniel J. Meeter, Senior Pastor, Central Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Baptism 12: Reformed

The Revd Dr John A. Melloh, SM, Director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgics, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Preaching and Worship

The Revd Dr Ruth A. Meyers, Associate Professor of Liturgics, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, USA. Baptism 4: Anglican; Baptismal Vows, Renewal of; Ordination of Women

The Revd John A. Midgley, Minister of Cross Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester. Unitarian Worship

Dr Nathan Mitchell, Associate Director, Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Cult, Cultus; Eucharistic Theologies 1: Historical; Rite, Ritual; Sacrament 1: Historical; Secularization and Worship; Sign, Symbol

The Revd Dr Douglas M. Murray, Principal of Trinity College and Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History, University of Glasgow. Presbyterian Worship 1: United Kingdom; Reformed Worship

Dr John Nelson, Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Francisco, California, USA. Shinto Worship

The Revd Dr Paul R. Nelson (deceased), former Director for Worship, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Lutheran Worship; Ordination 8: Lutheran

The Revd Stephen Oliver, Canon Precentor, St Paul’s Cathedral, London. Media, Worship on the; Pastoral Care and Worship

The Revd Kenan B. Osborne, OFM, Professor of Systematic Theology, Franciscan School of Theology, Berkeley, California, USA. Eucharistic Theologies 2: Modern; Mystery; Sacrament 2: Modern; Sacramentals

The Revd Dr John M. Parry, Tutor in Missiology and World Faiths, Partnership for Theological Education, Manchester. Sikh Worship

The Revd Dr Keith F. Pecklers, SJ, Professor of Liturgical History, Pontifical Liturgical Institute, Rome, Italy. Liturgical Movement, The 1: Europe; Liturgical Movement, The 3: USA

The Revd Dr Philip H. Pfatteicher, Associate Pastor, First Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and Adjunct Professor of Sacred Music, Duquesne University. Funerals 8: Lutheran; Marriage 8: Lutheran

The Revd Dr L. Edward Phillips, Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, USA. Ethics and Worship; Funerals 1: Early Christianity; Kiss, Ritual; Thanksgiving (USA)

Dr Joanne M. Pierce, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Altar, Stripping of; Altar, Washing of; Ash Wednesday; Ashes; Churching of Women; Good Friday; Holy Saturday; Holy Week; Maundy Thursday; Palm Sunday; Tenebrae; Veneration of the Cross

The Very Revd Stephen Platten, Dean of Norwich. Pilgrimage

Dr Colin Podmore, London. Advent Star; Candle Service, Moravian; Christingle; Moravian Worship

Dr Marjorie Procter-Smith, LeVan Professor of Christian Worship, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA. Women and Worship

Dr Gail Ramshaw, scholar of liturgical language, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Inclusive Language; Language, Liturgical

The Revd Kathy N. Reeves, Pastor, Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church, Oak Park, Illinois, USA. Blind Persons and Worship

The Revd Dr John Rempel, Mennonite Central Committee Liaison to the United Nations in New York City, USA. Mennonite Worship

Dr R. David Rightmire, Professor of Bible and Theology, Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, USA. Salvation Army Worship

The Revd Dr Lester Ruth, Assistant Professor of Worship and Liturgy, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, USA. Extempore Prayer; Independent Evangelical Church Worship; Praise-and-Worship Movement

Dr Don E. Saliers, William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Spirituality, Liturgical

The Revd Dr Thaddeus A. Schnitker, former Professor of Liturgy, Diocesan Seminary, Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany. Baptism 10: Old Catholic; Books, Liturgical 10: Old Catholic; Eucharist 10: Old Catholic; Funerals 10: Old Catholic; Marriage 10: Old Catholic; Old Catholic Worship; Ordination 10: Old Catholic; Word, Services of the, 10: Old Catholic

The Revd Dr Frank C. Senn, Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, Illinois, USA. Books, Liturgical 8: Lutheran

The Revd Dr Paul Sheppy, Baptist Minister and Secretary of the Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain. Books, Liturgical 5: Baptist; Eucharist 5: Baptist; Funerals 5: Baptist; Marriage 5: Baptist

Dr Ataullah Siddiqui, Senior Research Fellow, The Islamic Foundation, Leicester. Islamic Worship

The Revd Dr Godwin R. Singh, Principal, Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, M.P., India. North India, Worship in the Church of

The Revd Dr William David Spencer, Ranked Adjunct Associate Professor of Theology and the Arts, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA. Rastafarian Worship

The Revd Dr Bryan D. Spinks, Professor of Liturgical Studies, Yale University Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Liturgical Movement, The 2: United Kingdom

The Revd S. Anita Stauffer, Lutheran Pastor, USA, and formerly Study Secretary for Worship and Congregational Life, Lutheran World Federation. Font

Dr Stephen J. Stein, Chancellors’ Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Shaker Worship

The Rt Revd Dr Kenneth W. Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth. Candlemas; Family Services; Offertory; Marriage 1: Early Christianity; Marriage 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic; Marriage 4: Anglican

Dr Kenneth B. Stout, Professor of Preaching and Christian Ministry, Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA. Seventh-Day Adventist Worship

Dr Martin Stringer, Lecturer in Anthropology/Sociology of Religion, Department of Theology, University of Birmingham. Social Sciences and the Study of Liturgy

The Revd Mark Sturge, General Director, African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, London. Black Churches’ Worship 1

The Revd Dr M. Thomas Thangaraj, D. W. and Ruth Brooks Associate Professor of World Christianity, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. South India, Worship in the Church of

The Revd Michael Thompson, Rector of St Mary and St Martin, Stamford, Lincolnshire. Ablutions; Commixture; Disposal of the Eucharistic Remains; Piscina; Screen; Stoup

The Revd Dr Stewart Todd, retired minister of the Church of Scotland, formerly incumbent of the Cathedral Church of St Machar, Aberdeen. Ordination 12: Reformed

The Revd Dr David Tripp, Pastor, North Indiana Conference, United Methodist Church, and Adjunct Professor, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, USA. Covenant Service; Love-Feast; Plymouth Brethren/Christian Brethren Worship; Watch-Night

The Revd Diane Karay Tripp, Minister, Presbyterian Church, USA. Daily Prayer 6: Reformed

The Revd Dr Jeffrey A. Truscott, Instructor in Liturgics, Japan Lutheran College and Theological Seminary, Tokyo, Japan. Baptism 8: Lutheran

The Revd Dr Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, Associate Professor of Christian Worship, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Baptism 9: Methodist; Books, Liturgical 9: Methodist; Camp Meeting; Funerals 9: Methodist; Marriage 9: Methodist; Methodist Worship 2: USA; Ordination 9: Methodist; Sick, Liturgical Ministry to the; Word, Services of the, 9: Methodist

The Revd Dr Baby Varghese, Professor of Liturgy, Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala, India. West Syrian Worship

The Revd Dr Geoffrey Wainwright, Cushman Professor of Christian Theology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Eucharist 9: Methodist; Theology of Worship

The Revd C. Norman R. Wallwork, Associate Lecturer in Liturgy, Wesley College, Bristol. Anniversary; Chairman of District; Class Leader/Class Meeting; Lay Preacher; Local Preacher; Methodist Worship 1: United Kingdom; Prayer Meeting

The Revd Canon Christopher Walsh, formerly Director of the Institute for Liturgy and Mission, Sarum College, Salisbury. Benediction; Catechist; Celebrant; Concelebration; Corpus Christi; Exposition; Forty Hours’ Devotion; Reservation; Rosary; Sacred Heart; Stations of the Cross; Votive Mass

The Revd Dr Joseph Weiss, SJ, Administrative Director, Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Angelus; Asperges; Exorcism, Exorcist; Papal Rites; Requiem Mass

Dr Gabriele Winkler, Professor of Liturgical Studies, University of Tübingen, Germany. Armenian Worship; Baptism 2: Eastern Churches

Dr John Witvliet, Director, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and Assistant Professor of Worship, Calvin College and Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Eucharist 12: Reformed; Word, Services of the, 12: Reformed

The Revd Dr Gregory Woolfenden, Lecturer in Liturgy and Worship, Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxford. Daily Prayer 2: Eastern Churches; Icon; Iconostasis; Presanctified, Liturgy of the; Trisagion; Word, Services of the, 2: Eastern Churches

The Revd Dr Janet H. Wootton, Minister, Union Chapel, Islington, London, and Tutor, Congregational Federation Integrated Training Course. Books, Liturgical 7: Congregationalist; Ordination 7: Congregationalist; Word, Services of the, 7: Congregationalist

The Revd Dr Edward J. Yarnold, SJ, Research Lecturer, Campion Hall, Oxford University. Baptism 3: Medieval and Roman Catholic

ABBREVIATIONS

* An asterisk before a word indicates a separate entry under that or a similar heading.

References to Psalms follow the Hebrew rather than the Septuagint/Latin numbering.

ENTRIES A–Z

A

Ablutions

The purifications of the sacred vessels following the consumption of the bread and wine at the *eucharist. In early centuries the water (also at times wine) used for the ablution of the vessels was poured away into the sacrarium or *piscina. By the eleventh century it was consumed by the minister performing the ablutions (the *deacon, *acolyte or other minister in the Western liturgy or the deacon or priest in Eastern rites). It is now common for water alone to be used. Present RC instructions make plain that the preferred place for such rituals is a side table. If used at all, the end rather than centre of the *altar is employed. RC instructions permit deferring the ablutions until after the eucharist, as was the earliest known practice of the church. All such cleansing formerly took place in the *sacristy. Under present rules the bread and wine may be suitably covered until after the departure of the faithful when the ablutions are performed. This practice is similar to that ordered in the 1662 BCP, a custom known from Elizabethan times.

See also Disposal of the Eucharistic Remains.

MICHAEL THOMPSON

Absolution

A declaration of God’s forgiveness pronounced either in response to a general *confession made during the liturgy or following individual confession of sin as part of the ministry of *penance and reconciliation. The ministerial authority to forgive is understood to derive from Christ’s gift of the Spirit in John 20.23 (‘If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven’) and from the power of binding and loosing given in Matt. 16.19; 18.18, and is specifically conferred in priestly *ordination in the Roman Pontifical and the Anglican BCP.

The penitential discipline of the church has involved public and private strands. The former included the *Ash Wednesday expulsion from the community of grave sinners and their reconciliation by the bishop on *Maundy Thursday. Public penitence generally gave way to the Celtic practice of private confession and absolution. Penitential prayers appear in eighth-century texts of eucharistic liturgies in the East and confession of sin enters Western eucharistic rites around 1000. Declaratory and precatory forms of absolution, i.e., praying for and declaring God’s forgiveness, have been used alongside the indicative form, ‘I absolve you’.

The most frequently used form of confession and absolution in Anglican churches is that contained within the eucharistic celebration. It is made by the whole assembly as a preparation for receiving *communion, and absolution is pronounced by the president. Although there is now wide provision for individual confession, Anglican theology holds that such general confession and absolution is efficacious for the forgiveness of all types of sin. In the RC Church, while a deprecatory form of absolution concludes the penitential rite in the eucharist, sacramental absolution is pronounced only in the rite of penance.

MARTIN DUDLEY

Absolution Prayer

This short prayer, in three forms, was found in the Roman Breviary after the psalms and before the readings of each nocturn at matins (see Daily Prayer 3). One form was used at the end of each. The prayer ended a section of the office and invoked the loving-kindness and mercy of God.

MARTIN DUDLEY

Absolutions of the Dead

Absolutio defunctorum, an RC rite which once concluded the *funeral liturgy in church. It consisted of a chant asking that the dead person might be freed from all sins (often Libera me, Domine) sung while the coffin was sprinkled and censed. The modern rite has replaced this with a final commendation.

MARTIN DUDLEY

Acolyte

The office of acolyte (from a Greek word meaning ‘follower’ or ‘attendant’) is first referred to at Rome in the middle of the third century, and remained an exclusively Western phenomenon until very much later in history. It came to be regarded as one of the *minor orders, and the oldest evidence for a liturgical rite in connection with its conferral dates from the sixth century: the candidate was given the linen bag which held consecrated bread at the *eucharist as a symbol of his office, accompanied by a short blessing. The acolyte’s functions were similar to those of the modern *server. When the RC Church abolished the minor orders in 1972, the acolyte survived as a ‘ministry’ to be conferred by ‘institution’ rather than ‘ordination’. This institution takes place after the ministry of the word in the eucharist, or during a service of the *word, and consists of a bidding, a prayer and handing over of a vessel intended to contain the bread or wine for the eucharist. The term ‘acolyte’ is also often used more generally for those who serve in liturgical rites, and especially those who carry candles in processions.

EDITOR

Adaptation, Liturgical

see Inculturation

Advent

Derived from the Latin adventus, ‘coming’, the term designates the period in *Western rites beginning on the fourth Sunday before 25 December and continuing until the first celebration of *Christmas. In Eastern rites, preparatory rites for Christmas exist, but nothing that is historically or ritually parallel to Advent in the West.

Advent was the last season of the liturgical *year to develop and its origins remain obscure. Fifth- and sixth-century evidence shows a variety of penitential observances in Gaul and Spain lasting as many as six weeks. Some have sought the origin of Advent in the practice of *Epiphany baptism by noting parallels to the shape of *Lent. Others have called attention to sixth-century synodical documents and episcopal decrees that enjoin the faithful to penitence from the feast of Martin of Tours (11 November) to the feast of Epiphany (6 January). Still others have taken note of the fast of the tenth month (December) of pagan Rome and suggest that Advent may have begun as a response of the church to the continuing memory of the pagan winter fast. Each hypothesis is of continuing interest, but all contain serious flaws that make it impossible to claim with confidence a credible explanation of the origin of Advent.

Roman *lectionary lists of the seventh century continued to preserve Christmas as the beginning of the liturgical year, the readings for Advent being found at the end of the lists. This has led some to speculate that Rome itself resisted the emergence of Advent and that it was the church in Gaul and Spain that was largely responsible for the season’s penitential quality. This stands in contrast to the more purely Roman preparation for Christmas that was less penitential and more focused on the joyful anticipation of Christ’s coming.

In current practice, churches that follow a liturgical year understand it to begin on the first Sunday of Advent. The year concludes on the last Sunday after *Pentecost, often designated as the feast of Christ the King. The readings for the first two Sundays of Advent usually continue themes related to the eternal reign of Christ and the promise of his second advent. The readings of the third and fourth Sundays more clearly anticipate the coming celebration of Christmas.

J. Neil Alexander, Waiting for the Coming: The Liturgical Meaning of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Washington, DC 1993; Thomas J. Talley, The Origins of the Liturgical Year, 2nd edn, Collegeville 1991, 147–53.

J. NEIL ALEXANDER

Advent Antiphons

The *antiphons traditionally sung in the West before and after the Magnificat at evening prayer on the seven days before *Christmas Eve. As they all begin with the word ‘O’, they are often called the Great ‘O’s. Each draws on an OT title of God, goes on to allude to a story linked with that title, and concludes with imploring God to come: come and save us, come and deliver us, come and redeem us, etc. Deliberately associated with the principal *canticle, namely Mary’s great acclamation of her Saviour God in willing response to the angel Gabriel’s announcement that she would bear the ‘Son of the Most High’ to the world, the antiphons create the climax to the imminent fulfilment of the OT prophecies of God’s complete and unreserved participation in his creation. They are entitled: 17 December, O Wisdom; 18 December, O Adonai; 19 December, O Root of Jesse; 20 December, O Key of David; 21 December, O Dayspring; 22 December, O King of the nations; 23 December, O Emmanuel. An additional antiphon was included on 23 December in medieval England, namely O Virgin of virgins, thus pushing the others a day earlier, and its use was continued in some Anglican liturgical texts, including the 1549 BCP. Assumed to be addressed to the Virgin Mary and therefore inappropriate in connection with the other Great ‘O’s, all of which are addressed to God, it is now rarely used.

TRISTAM HOLLAND

Advent Star

From the first Sunday in *Advent until *Epiphany three-dimensional paper Advent stars, illuminated from within, hang in *Moravian homes and churches. This tradition originated in the Moravian school at Niesky, Germany; an illuminated star with 110 points hung in the courtyard during its fiftieth anniversary celebrations from 4 to 6 January 1821. These dates suggest that the reference was originally to the star of Bethlehem (Matt. 2). However, star symbols had been used by the Moravian Church since the 1730s (for example, a flat star replacing the cock on weathervanes) to point to Christ as ‘the bright morning star’ (Rev. 22.16). The illuminated star became an ‘Advent Star’ – festal decoration for what in the Moravian Church is not a penitential season but a time of joyful anticipation. By the mid-nineteenth century Advent stars were being made in other German Moravian schools, as they still are in the Zinzendorfschulen, Königsfeld im Schwarzwald. Between 20 and 110 3- to 8-sided paper points (depending on the geometrical pattern used) are glued to a card framework, into which a light bulb is inserted. The most common design has 26 points.

Advent stars came to be used in homes. Their use in worship halls (churches) began in Berlin and spread to Herrnhut and other congregations from 1925. Advent stars have been manufactured commercially in Herrnhut (Saxony) since 1897. Originally, the points were affixed to a solid metal core; since 1924 they have been joined together using paper fasteners. Since the 1980s, all sizes (rays 13–130 cm long) have also been available in plastic; these are found as street decorations in Moravian settlements. Stars are also produced commercially by the Moravian Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

COLIN PODMORE

Advent Wreath

The Advent wreath is a popular accompaniment to domestic devotion and public liturgy on the Sundays of *Advent. The wreath consists of a circle of evergreens to which are added four candles, one to be lighted on each of the Sundays to mark the passage of the season. Although the completion of Advent is sometimes marked by the addition of a fifth ‘Christ candle’, the disappearance of the wreath and its replacement by decorations appropriate to *Christmas is more widely observed.

The precise origin of the Advent wreath is obscure. Its roots are surely in the pagan practices surrounding the keeping of the winter solstice. As the days of the solar year grew shorter, an increase in the number of lights that were brought indoors ritualized the longed-for return of the sun. Evergreens were shaped into wreaths – circles of green – and adorned with candles to symbolize the return of light and life. The pattern was reversed by the approach of the spring equinox as candles were extinguished, a phenomenon perhaps related to the extinguishing of candles at *tenebrae that originally extended over several weeks in *Lent.

The current appropriation of the Advent wreath first developed in Germany in the seventeenth century. It was a domestic devotion, which served as the focus for family prayer, candle lighting and fellowship during the weeks leading up to Christmas. The liturgical use of the Advent wreath was occasional and did not become widespread until the middle of the twentieth century. Its introduction into liturgical practice seems also to have grown out of its use in family and personal devotions.

The attachment of names and stories to the candles is of quite recent vintage and obscures the power of the symbol. The Advent wreath is perhaps best thought of as the church’s clock that marks the passage of weeks during that season in which the church is most conscious of the passage of time as it awaits the coming of the redeemer. The use of coloured candles is an anachronism that is no longer congruent with the liturgical calendars of most churches. The use of plain white candles is to be preferred.

J. NEIL ALEXANDER

Adventist Worship

see Seventh-Day Adventist Worship

African-American Worship

see Black Worship 2

Agape

This Greek word for love or charity (or in this case ‘love-feast’) has been a prominent theme in much Christian thought and practice (see 1 Cor. 13). Agape, or translations of it, has also been used as the name for some communal meals in both ancient and modern times.

1. Earliest Traditions. Agape may originally have been a term used locally, perhaps in Asia Minor, for the Christian meal gathering. Along with ‘*eucharist’, ‘*Lord’s supper’, ‘the breaking of the bread’ and others, its use represents an unsurprising original diversity of terminology, as of practice, in early Christian communal or eucharistic meals. None of the earliest uses of agape imply that this ‘love-feast’ exists separately from the eucharist. Either it is the only meal mentioned (Jude 12; 2 Peter 2.13; Epistula Apostolorum 15), or it is synonymous with the eucharist, at least with the occasion if not the food itself (Ignatius, Romans 7). Other early writers treat the agape with suspicion (Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus 2.1). Tertullian provides the one reasonably detailed description of a meal called agape: prayer is offered before reclining; food and drink are taken in moderation; hands are washed; after the bringing of lights, participants sing biblical or other hymns; the whole closes with prayer (Apology 39). This is simply a Christian version of the Graeco-Roman banquet; the precise form, as well as the level of ethical success, may well have varied according to local custom.

Modern scholars of ancient Christianity have often identified the agape as a meal with a distinctive form or function, including both a meal within which the eucharistic actions are placed (1 Cor. 10—11), and also various Christian meals somehow unlike the normative eucharist commemorating Jesus’ death (Didache 9–10; Apostolic Tradition 25–7). Such uses are at best speculative, since none of these examples is termed agape in the original sources. It has also been suggested that agape indicates a meal with charitable purposes (and vice versa; see Ignatius, Smyrneans; Tertullian, 1 Apology). Charity is characteristic, but this can also be true of meals called ‘eucharist’ (Justin Martyr, First Apology 65–7) and others. The agape may therefore not have been an especially distinctive meal in form or function at the earliest point, beyond its Christian milieu and the implied ethical imperative of the name.

2. Later Developments. Over time, the term agape does become more clearly associated with communal meals distinct from the eucharist. In the fourth century it refers to meals held in homes (Council of Gangra, Canon 11), and to some monastic gatherings (Palladius, Lausiac History 16); these are comparable to some of the earlier meals, but the terminology has emerged more clearly, over and against definitive eucharistic rites. Monastic meals may be one setting where a survival of the agape beyond the ancient church can be claimed, although the terminology has not been retained. Some paintings from the Roman catacombs (Sts Peter and Marcellinus) do have meal scenes with captions including agape; some would therefore see a link between the ‘love-feast’ and funerary meal customs. These meals, however, seem better described by the term refrigerium; there are points in common with other communal meals, but no specific reason to call these scenes, or the meals they refer to, by the name agape. Agape-meals are mentioned as late as the seventh century but really seem to have faded in prominence after the fourth.

3. Modern Revivals. Meals called agape, *love-feast, and similar have been held in a number of Protestant traditions from the eighteenth century onwards, apparently based on readings of the ancient sources mentioned above. More recently, parishes and communities of RC, Anglican and other traditions, as well as *ecumenical gatherings, have used the term agape for various shared meals. The Book of Occasional Services of the American Episcopal Church includes a form of agape for use on *Maundy Thursday after the eucharist.

Adalbert Hamman, Vie liturgique et vie sociale, Paris 1968; Hans Lietzmann, Mass and Lord’s Supper: A Study in the History of Liturgy, Leiden 1979; Gene Outka, Agape: An Ethical Analysis, New Haven 1972; Michael J. Townsend, ‘Exit the Agape?’, The Expository Times XC, 1979, 356–61.

ANDREW McGOWAN

Agnus Dei

This *anthem, ‘Lamb of God’, originally sung to accompany the *fraction in the Roman *mass, was for many centuries displaced and sung between the fraction and *communion, and was only restored to its former purpose in the twentieth-century revision of the RC rite. It seems to be of Eastern origin, as the word ‘lamb’ is commonly used in the Eastern liturgies to designate both Christ and the consecrated bread of the eucharist. The *West Syrian rite also contains fraction anthems which speak of ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. It was probably introduced into the Roman rite in the seventh century, perhaps during the pontificate of Sergius I (687–701), since this was a period of considerable Eastern, and especially Syrian, influence at Rome: Syria had recently been overrun by the Muslims, and many Syrian clergy found their way to Rome, among them Pope Theodore I (642–9), while Sergius I was a Syrian by descent.

It is addressed specifically to Christ present in the eucharist as a sacrificial offering, and originally consisted of as many repetitions as necessary of the sentence, ‘Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us’. When time needed for the fraction was reduced as a result of the introduction of the use of unleavened bread, the number of repetitions was fixed at three, probably about the middle of the ninth century. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, when the fraction had become so brief that in practice the anthem accompanied the *kiss of peace immediately afterwards, the third clause was given the appropriately variant ending, ‘grant us peace’, instead of ‘have mercy on us’. As early as the eleventh century, a further variant appeared: at *requiem masses the first and second petitions ended ‘grant them rest’, and the third, ‘grant them rest everlasting’. The present RC rite has suppressed this variant. Provision has also been made for additional repetitions of the opening sentence when the fraction is more prolonged than usual.

The Agnus Dei was retained in the 1549 Anglican BCP as a communion anthem, but suppressed in that of 1552, as in most of the reformed liturgies of the sixteenth and later centuries. However, in varying translations or paraphrases, it has been incorporated in many twentieth-century revisions of eucharistic rites, either as a confractorium or as a communion anthem.

See also Music in the Mass of the Roman Rite; Ordinary.

J. A. Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite, New York 1951, II, 332–40.

W. JARDINE GRISBROOKE

Aisle

A longitudinal passage or walkway flanking the *nave, the *transept or *choir of a church. There can be one or more aisles. The aisle is usually separated from its adjacent space by an arcade of columns or piers.

MARCHITA B. MAUCK

Alb see Vestments 3(a)

All Saints

The feast of All Saints originates from a feast for all known and unknown martyrs, of which we have evidence from Syria around the beginning of the fifth century. This was on the Friday after *Easter, but it is observed on the octave day of *Pentecost in the Byzantine liturgy. The first mention of All Saints is found in a feast commemorating the transfer of relics of martyrs from the catacombs to the Pantheon in Rome by Pope Boniface IV and the consecration of that building on 13 May 609. The date seems to have moved to 1 November after the dedication on this day of a chapel to the Saviour, Mary, the apostles, martyrs and confessors in St Peter’s. Pope Gregory III (731–41) instructed that a short office of all the saints be recited there each evening. The feast of All Martyrs and All Saints and of Our Lady was renamed the feast of All Saints in 835. The Eastern church maintains the link of this feast with the Easter season. The liturgy of the feast is designed to emphasize the presence of holy men and women in the church (gospel reading: Matt. 5, the Beatitudes) and presents them as examples of faithful and joy-filled service for the living members of the church to emulate on their journey to the new Jerusalem. In a return to the possible origins of the feast, many Christians on this day think of departed brothers and sisters of inspirational faith and life-giving witness whom they trustfully believe are in heaven, among the unknown saints.

See also Saints, Cult of the.

Adolf Adam, The Liturgical Year, New York 1981, 228–30; Michael Witczak, ‘All Saints, Feast of’, New Dictionary of Liturgy and Sacramental Worship, ed. Peter Fink, Collegeville 1990, 41.

ANDREW CAMERON-MOWAT

All Souls

Many Christian denominations include memorials of the dead and prayers for the faithful departed in their liturgies. Prayers of *intercession, prayers included within the *eucharistic prayers and other petitions and prayers during liturgies point to the ongoing practice of Christians of remembering the dead and praying for their union with God. In the Byzantine tradition the departed are commemorated every Saturday in the year, except when it is a major festival. In the West, this feast, celebrated on 2 November, comes the day after the feast of *All Saints, and so is deliberately linked to it in theology and tradition. It owes its origin to Isidore of Seville (d. 636), who included a celebration of the liturgy for the dead on the day after *Pentecost in his rule, and to Odilo of Cluny who fixed the date as 2 November in 998. The tradition of allowing priests to celebrate three masses on this day seems to have arisen during the period of the growth of mass stipends in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and became particularly important after the devastation caused by the First World War. The theology of the feast mirrors that for all commemorations of the dead, particularly at funerals, with this important difference: rather than remembering individual people and offering their lives to God for mercy during funeral rites, the church as a whole is linked to all those who are awaiting eternal life with God, confident in God’s mercy, and sure of the power of the resurrection.

Adolf Adam, The Liturgical Year, New York 1981, 237–40; Michael Witczak, ‘All Souls, Feast of’, New Dictionary of Liturgy and Sacramental Worship, ed. Peter Fink, Collegeville 1990, 42–3.

ANDREW CAMERON-MOWAT

Alleluia

A Latinized version of the Hebrew hallelujah, ‘praise Yah(weh)’. In the Hebrew Bible it occurs at the beginning and/or end of certain psalms, implying a call to communal praise. In such individual hallel psalms and the Book of Psalms as a whole, Hallelujah exemplifies one pole of a movement from lament to praise. Hallelujah was simply transliterated in the Septuagint, and is attested (c. 100 BCE) as an independent cry of deliverance (3 Macc. 7.13). The hallel psalms (such as Pss 146–150) were associated with Jewish festivals and probably moved from Temple to synagogue (Mishnah, Pesachim 5), although patterns of Jewish use continued to develop. Early Christians envisioned the heavenly chorus singing ‘hallelujah’ (Rev. 19). The Odes of Solomon (second century) use hallelujah as a frame or refrain, like the biblical Psalms. Alleluia was used freely in conjunction with psalms in communal prayer (Tertullian, De oratione 27).

In the West, alleluia was associated with *Easter by Augustine’s time, and it was omitted in *Lent and from *funeral rites. In the East, however, alleluia has been retained for the whole year, and is especially emphasized in Lent and at funerals. At the *eucharist, both Eastern and Western liturgies have used a chanted alleluia before the gospel; Eastern liturgies also include it at the *Great Entrance and elsewhere. The RC rites have now provided for use of alleluia at funerals. Although Anglican and Protestant liturgies had often lost these characteristic uses, hymnody and new liturgical books have reintroduced them to some extent. In evangelical and *charismatic worship, the use of ‘Hallelujah’ as a spontaneous cry of praise or approval recalls something of the original sense.

See also Chants of the Proper of the Mass; Music in the Mass of the Roman Rite.

N. Alldrit, ‘The Song of an Easter People’, Theology CIII, 2000, 97–107; Walter Brueggemann, The Psalms and the Life of Faith, Minneapolis 1995; J. A. Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite, New York 1951, I, 421–36; Stefan Reif, Judaism and Hebrew Prayer, Cambridge 1993; R. Weakland, ‘Alleluia’, New Catholic Encyclopedia, New York 1967, I, 321–3.

ANDREW McGOWAN

Alms

That which is given out of compassion, ultimately derived from the Greek word eleemosune. Jesus recognized almsgiving as a duty in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6.2); Peter and John were asked for alms as they left the Temple (Acts 3.3); Paul regularly collected alms and admonished others to generosity (1 Cor. 16.2); and early Christian writings, from Justin Martyr onwards, mention almsgiving as a basic duty. In the West the offerings were generally divided into four: for the *bishop, for the clergy, for the poor and for church repairs; but this division is no longer observed. In the ancient church gifts were often made in kind, and this custom continues in some parts of the world.

Modern concepts of ‘stewardship’ have emphasized the importance of allocating time, talents and money to the service of the church and the world. The ‘collection’ (of alms) in services has been increasingly associated, in the *eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine at the laying of the table, but this close identification has not been without its critics.

DONALD GRAY

Alms Dish

The receptacle used for receiving the monetary collection at church services. This collection ought not be called ‘the *offertory’; that title belongs to the ceremonial presentation of the bread and wine for the eucharist. The confusion in Anglicanism (followed by others) derives from the Prayer Book direction that such moneys should be collected during the singing (or saying) of the ‘offertory *sentences’. In 1549 and 1552 the money was placed in ‘the poor man’s box’, but in 1662 the parish was directed to provide ‘a decent bason’ for the purpose, which should then be placed on the holy table. Some of the ceremonies accompanying the presentation of the alms have been criticized as being almost idolatrous: the dish solemnly elevated and then carried out with utmost reverence at the end of the service.

DONALD GRAY

Almuce see Vestments 3(d)

Altar

In Christian liturgy the altar, at its simplest, is the table-like structure of wood, stone or other material on which the elements of bread and wine are placed for the *eucharist. It stands, however, at the centre of a complex symbolic matrix combining the OT tradition of altars of sacrifice as focuses of divine communication and the NT stress on table-fellowship and the breaking of bread. In addition, the altar has been seen as representative of Christ’s presence in the church building.

1. History. The earliest Christian altars were wooden tables set in the midst of the community. The cult of the martyrs led to a number of changes including a clear link between the altar and the tombs of martyrs and other saints. The eucharist was not celebrated on the tombs, but the table was put in proximity to the tomb for the celebration of the martyr-cult, and when the martyrs’ remains were moved out of the cemeteries of Rome and into the churches in the fifth and sixth centuries, the tomb was either incorporated into the altar or put in the open space, called the confessio, beneath it. Free-standing altars were increasingly of stone, square in shape, and surmounted by a canopy called a *ciborium (see Baldachin). The tendency to link shrine and altar continued in the Frankish church, and altars came to be built beside shrines. Around 1000 the *cross came to be put on the altar, and then one or two, later six, lights (see Candles, Lamps, and Lights). The altar lengthened, the ciborium was abandoned, and the retable and *reredos grew in height and complexity. Dwarfed by these ever more elaborate structures, the altar frequently looked insignificant.

The earliest churches had, as Orthodox churches still do, a single altar. With the growth in the Latin West of the so-called private *mass, said daily by a priest with only a *server, the number of altars in a church building multiplied. They were *dedicated to particular saints or mysteries, or endowed as *chantry or guild altars, and festal *processions went from altar to altar in the greater, monastic and cathedral churches. The multiplication of altars reduced the significance of the main altar of the church, now called the High Altar.

2. Roman Catholic Practice. The liturgical reforms of the late twentieth century sought to restore to the altar the dignity and simplicity it was thought to have had in earlier ages. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal (1970) called it ‘the centre from which thanksgiving is offered to God through the celebration of the Eucharist’, and required the main altar of any church to be free standing, away from any wall, so that the priest can walk around it and can celebrate facing the people. The table-top or mensa is to be made of natural stone and consecrated. The Instruction also allowed for lesser movable altars; but their multiplication, and inferior nature, has detracted from the original symbolic conception. In the USA the bishops offered further instructions: the altar should be the most noble and most beautifully designed and constructed table the community can provide. It is never to be used as a table of convenience or a resting place for anything. It is to stand free, approachable and uncluttered. It should not be elongated but square or slightly rectangular, constructed of solid and beautiful materials, with pure and simple proportions. In any liturgical space there should only be one altar.

Fixed altars must be consecrated by a *bishop. According to RC canon *law, the ancient practice of putting relics of the saints (and not necessarily only of martyrs) within the structure of an altar is to be continued where possible but with ‘relics of a size sufficient for them to be recognized as parts of human bodies’ properly authenticated. An altar is dedicated in the context of the eucharist. The present rite is a simplified version of that contained in the 1595–6 Roman Pontifical. First, the altar is sprinkled with blessed water; then, after the liturgy of the word and the *litany of the saints, the relics are deposited. Chrism (see Anointing) is poured on the table, at the centre and four corners, and spread across it. Then *incense is burned on the altar, either in a brazier or in a heap mixed with small candles, and the altar is also censed using a *thurible. The altar table is wiped clean and covered if necessary with a waterproof covering to protect the altar cloth (now spread on it) from oil and water. The candles are set in place for the eucharist, and festive lighting takes place. The bishop then *kisses the altar and uses a prayer over the gifts calling upon God to send his Spirit upon the altar. The eucharist then proceeds as usual.

3. Anglican Practice. At the Reformation in England the practice of radical reformers ran ahead of the law. In May 1550 Bishop Ridley ordered the abolition of altars in his diocese. The Privy Council extended this to the whole country in November. Under Queen Mary the stone altars were restored and those that, having been taken down, had been set into the ground were raised and reused. Under Queen Elizabeth I, they were again taken down and wooden tables were installed instead. Wooden tables were usual even when, in Georgian times, there were few objections to stone-topped tables. Further controversy raged during the Ritualist Controversy in the nineteenth century, but stone was increasingly used for new altars.

There are no regulations in Anglican churches equivalent to the modern RC ones, but the celebrated case before the Church of England Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved (1987) of the Henry Moore altar in St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London – a large round stone structure beneath the central dome of a Wren church, likened to a Camembert cheese – clarified the altar–table relationship, defining a table as a ‘horizontal surface raised above the ground’, and effectively closed the Reformation debate over the nature, structure and placing of the holy table. Although there is no requirement to dedicate the altar in an Anglican church, this is often done.

The definitive work is J. Braun, Der christliche Altar, 2 vols, Munich 1914 and 1924. Other studies include: P. F. Anson, Churches: Their Plan and Furnishing, Milwaukee 1948; J. N. Comper, On the Christian Altar and the buildings which contain it, London 1950; C. E. Pocknee, The Christian Altar, London 1963. On medieval altars: Percy Dearmer, Fifty Pictures of Gothic Altars, London 1910, reprinted 1922. On modern altars: Charles Davis, ‘The Christian Altar’, The Modern Architectural Setting of the Liturgy, ed. William Lockett, London 1964, 13–31; Frédéric Debuyst, L’Art chrétien contemporain, Paris 1988.

MARTIN DUDLEY

Altar Hangings

When the ancient *altar stood beneath its *ciborium (see Baldachin), curtains hung around it, either from the architraves or from rods attached to the pillars. These hangings hid the altar on all four sides – the term tetravela is used – during the most solemn moments of the *eucharist. The Liber Pontificalis provides evidence for veiling in the Roman *basilicas. Pope Sergius (687–701) gave a set of eight *veils to St Peter’s, four of white and four of scarlet. Pope John VI (701–5) gave several sets in various colours to St John Lateran and St Paul’s Outside the Walls.

In the West the veil in front of the altar was given up except in *Lent, when a special veil hung right across the *sanctuary. As the altar changed its shape, from a cube to an elongated rectangle, so the ciborium also disappeared, but the idea of enclosing and enshrining the altar was retained. The altar itself was concealed by the *frontal and the table-top (mensa) by the altar cloths – normally three in number – which hung right down to the floor at each end. It was then hung around with curtains, called dorsal or dossal behind the altar and *riddels at either end, hanging from rods. The dorsal was sometimes replaced by a *reredos. Later dossals and riddels were often very elaborate, embroidered silks and damasks, sometimes decorated with jewels. Most medieval illustrations show the curtains at little more than head height but the *requiem mass illustrated in the Spinola Hours of c. 1520 shows a tall solid altarpiece with a curtain behind it and riddels hanging from rods more than two metres above the altar mensa. There is little evidence for the use of curtains later in the sixteenth century and the practice was reintroduced in England in the nineteenth century by conscious imitation of medieval practice.

Hangings were sometimes used in liturgical ceremonies. In the papal chapel on *Passion Sunday (now *Lent 5), at the words, Jesus autem abscondit se (‘But Jesus hid himself’) at the end of the gospel, a system of ropes enabled the clergy to pull up a veil that covered all the painted images. In other churches the veiling of crosses, images, etc., took place before first vespers of Passion Sunday. The veils were removed again during the Gloria in excelsis at the *Easter vigil. Altarpieces, especially important ones, seem to have been veiled at other times. The curtains themselves were sometimes painted with religious images. The hangings were described as pro conservatione picture, but there may have originally been a liturgical purpose in only revealing the main image on feast days.

For bibliography, see Altar.

MARTIN DUDLEY

Altar Rails (also called Communion Rails)

There were cancelli or low *screens around the *altar in the earliest churches; these were not, however, used for receiving *communion. Nor were there altar rails in the Middle Ages. Rails may have been initially introduced in England in the Elizabethan period to protect the holy table from profanation, especially by stray dogs, after