A “panel with a central oval” was inserted in the 16th century in the frontal lower part of the high altar of the S. Maria della Passione church in Milano, Italy. The altar cavity in oval shape located in the central panel contains relics and is adorned with gold gilded symbols of the passion. Inside this cavity are relics of the saints presented in small glass containers and identified with written documents. Question: Did this individual central panel with cavity for the relics require 5 crosses for the high altar to be consecrated in the 16th century? Did the imagery of this panel require sacred imagery? Is the cavity a sepulcrum?? ![The high alter with panel of Santa Maria Della Passione ][1] Please view the image of the high altar and panel on the YouTube video "[MILANO, la meravigliosa chiesa di SANTA MARIA DELLA PASSIONE](https://youtu.be/PVhw393Bdno?t=541) " at minute 9:04.

Do Lutherans bow down to the altar? And if yes, how does that differ from Catholic veneration of statues/icons or other holy objects?

We read in Lev 6:12-13 (NIV) : > The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out. The churches of Catholic denomination which have the Holy Eucharist present in the Tabernacle, have the tradition of keeping the altar lamp on 24x7. It is not clear if the practice owes its origin to Lev 6. If that be so, the altar lamp should be kept on even if the Holy Eucharist is not present, say, in small parishes where Holy Mass is said by a visiting priest only on Sundays. Similarly, churches of non-Catholic denominations where the Holy Eucharist is not kept, can also have the lamp burning provided there is an altar .My question therefore is: Does any non-Catholic denomination maintain Altar Lamp, following Lev 6:12-13 ?

I'm really trying find out more about how the early Church understood Communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord's Table. One of the crucial aspects (for me) is whether they saw the Eucharist as a sacrifice/oblation (as the Catholic or Eastern-Orthodox do). If the Eucharist truly was a sacrifice, then it follows that the sacrifice takes place on an altar. So the question is does the Bible or any of the early Church writings call the Lord's Table an "altar"? And if not, when/how did the practice emerge?

Should the Altar in a Catholic Church be reconsecrated after a jr high boy, under the direction of his teacher and sanctioned by the priest, lay on top of the Altar while practicing The Stations of The Cross? I was horrified when the priest told be it was a beautiful thing to see for The Stations.

1 Kings 2:28-29 (NIV) says: > 28 When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, “Go, strike him down!” How did Joab know he could do this? Is there a place in the Old Testament where it says a person could flee to the Temple, grab hold of the horns on the alter, and find safety?

Other Christian religions (e.g. Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, et al.) leave access to the altar open for their congregations. Is there a special theological reason the the different approach by the Greek Orthodox churches? Or is it a cultural tradition to separate it from the Western church religions?

For example, in entry **(150)** of her *Diary*, St. Faustina relates the following from a mystical conversation she had with St. Therese of Lisieux: > "Dear sweet Therese, tell me, shall I go to heaven?" And she answered, "Yes, you will go to heaven, Sister." "And will I be a saint?" To which she replied, "Yes, you will be a saint." "But, little Therese, shall I be a saint as you are, raised to the altar?" And she answered, "Yes, you will be a saint just as I am, but you must trust in the Lord Jesus." In the Catholic Church, what exactly is meant by the term "raised to the altar"? Does it mean *canonization* by the Pope? Are those declared *Blessed* (also) *raised to the altar*?

Of late, there has been a controversy in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church of Kerala, Southern India which follows the oriental rite. It comes after a decision by a recent Synod that the celebrant of the Holy Mass (Qurbana) should face the Altar (which has the Tabernacle) as had been done in the good old days. The clerics and the faithful who are accustomed to facing one another over the Altar Table for more than half a century, are less than happy with the decision. One wonders why churches invariably have their Tabernacle embedded on the wall at one end of the church. We may have adopted the practice from the Israelite. But with so much of advancement in security measures like CCTV, the Tabernacle could also be positioned in the middle of the church, so that the celebrant of the Holy Mass can face both the Tabernacle and the faithful at the same time. My question therefore is: Are there Catholic Churches in any part of the world which have the the Tabernacle fixed in the middle of the church ?

Does anyone know what "_Altare privilegiatum_" means today? I mean, in former times it meant that the altar was privileged and one can get an indulgence. I also know, that for some of those altars, there had some renewals to be done by the Holy See. But what's the meaning of that today? A lot has changed even in church. Does this have any meaning at all today? If so, what's the meaning?

The altars in Roman Catholic churches must be consecrated with a saint's relic (preferably a martyred saint). These "relics" are body parts, usually a small bone fragment but sometimes what is referred to as a "major" relic is incorporated within or under the altar. A major relic could be an arm, a leg, or perhaps even an entire body. I have five questions pertaining to this method of consecration: 1) Are altars with major relics more consecrated than others? If not, why use a whole leg? 2) Does the relic play a role in transubstantiation ? 3) Is there a stockpile or inventory of body parts kept somewhere awaiting the consecration of new altars? 4) In the event that a Roman Catholic church closes, is the relic recovered? Is it "retired" or returned to "inventory"? 5) Is there a searchable database listing which relics are associated with each Church? Can we know how large a piece of saint is used or merely the saint's name?

The following has been compiled from several CSE questions (and comments); here , here , and here as well as Wikipedia and an article from Slate magazine . At the second council of Nicaea 787, Catholic authorities passed a law stating that every church should have a relic at its altar. Failure to obey resulted in excommunication. The consecration of an altar was accomplished when the altar had within it or under it the 1st degree relics of two different saints, one of which was required to have been martyred. A first degree relic is the bone, hair, blood, or tears of a saint. Some believe this tradition of relic veneration began with the collection of ashes following the death of Polycarp, who was burned at the stake in 156 AD. Up until Vatican II a priest could only celebrate the Mass on a properly consecrated altar. Following the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960's (in 1969 to be precise) the church officially laid to rest the 787 ruling at Nicaea by no longer requiring Catholic churches to posses a holy remnant at their altars. Altars within churches must be of stone and there are many regulations regarding their construction and use. Movable altars are allowable (hence the birth of the portable altar stone) and an altar used outside of a Catholic Church need not be of stone but of any "suitable" material. 1983 Canon law regarding altars and relics is, in part, as follows: > Canon 1236 §1. According to the traditional practice of the Church, > the table of a fixed altar is to be of stone, and indeed of a single > natural stone. Nevertheless, another worthy and solid material can > also be used in the judgment of the conference of bishops. The > supports or base, however, can be made of any material. §2. A movable > altar can be constructed of any solid material suitable for liturgical > use. > Canon 1237 §2. The ancient tradition of placing relics of martyrs or other saints under a fixed altar is to be preserved, according to the norms given in the liturgical books. In "The Order of Dedication of a Church and an Altar " it is written: >The tradition of the Roman Liturgy of placing relics of Martyrs or of other Saints under the altar is fittingly to be retained. Nevertheless, the following should be noted: a) Relics for deposition should be of such a size that they can be recognized as parts of human bodies. Hence, enclosing excessively small relics of one or several Saints is to be avoided. b) The greatest care must be taken to determine whether relics intended for deposition are authentic. It is better for an altar to be dedicated without relics than to have relics of doubtful authenticity deposited under it. c) A reliquary must not be placed on the altar or in the table of the altar but under the table of the altar, in a manner suitable to the design of the altar. Given that 1) altars consecrated by relics were not required for the celebration of the Mass for 700 years and then were required for 1100 years and now are not required again 2) there are regulations in place regarding the use of relics as pertaining to altars (which are no longer required for their consecration) 3) portable altars were not always commonly used but now a suitable table (with or without a relic) may be used *always with the use of a cloth, a corporal, a cross, and candles*. What exactly is the purpose of the altar in a Roman Catholic Mass? Is it necessary or is it just a table? If it's just a table, does that mean the cloth, corporal, cross, and candles are the necessary parts?

Recently, I saw some articles about how a Catholic priest got defrocked following his arrest for performing indecent activities in a public place, after a bystander walking past his church one night noticed that the lights were on, and looked through a window and saw him on top of the church's altar with a couple of dominatrices. The articles I've seen go on to specify that once the local archbishop was made aware of this, he had the altar disposed of by burning and replaced with a new one. This got me wondering: the Catholic Church is well known for having piles and piles of rules and regulations governing its activities, and I wondered if the way that the archbishop responded to this event was mandated by those rules, or if he was acting on his own recognizance. Does the Catholic Church have any rules for how to dispose of profaned church altars? If so, does it mandate that they be burned?

I am somewhat troubled by the presence of an American flag anywhere in a sanctuary / worship space. This sentiment is especially stark when said flag shares the same space / level as an altar. I would like to see Christian doctrine / canon / by-laws or some other citation where this is prohibited, if at all.

In exodus God expressly forbade going up the stairs to the altar. >Exodus 20:26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. So why does Ezekiel mention stairs to the altar? >Ezekiel 43:17: The upper ledge also is square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide. All around the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a rim of half a cubit. The steps of the altar face east.

Why don't Presbyterians have altars in their churches or in their homes? Who administers the sacraments, especially communion, then without an altar? Do children help out at all? In other churches, children can be selected as 'altar-servers'.