Unveiling the altar

[Nick Baty]

Removed

[The original poster has removed his posts to this topic - Musicus, moderator]

[docmattc]

When I was at university we did similar. The chapel (held about 50, choir layout) was utterly bare on Good Friday and for morning prayer on Holy Saturday (The ancient homily in the office of readings sets the scene for the day wonderfully). After MP, we all spent the rest of the day preparing for the Easter Vigil. Both the chapel and common room were decorated with flowers, drapes etc as we had the first part of the Vigil in the common room and processed into the chapel for the Pauline Reading and Alleluia (if memory serves, we were certainly there for the Gospel). So the chapel was vibrantly decorated, the common room more simply in whites and yellows.

Unlike the linked clip, we didn't 'unveil' anything during a procession. I think that's a tad over theatrical.

[organist]

And this is the Methodists? Wow. Fab organ playing especially crazy keys in the finale bits and just when you think it's all over the ministers get to sing and off we go again! It's so American and OTT. What on earth could follow it? B minor mass Gloria? Hallelujah chorus as the psalm? The mind boggles. Note it mentions a thurifer and acolytes. Robed choir don't bow to altar but are immaculately drilled. Even the congregation rise as one at the right moment. Just love the lilies in procession. Eat your heart out St Peter's Rome- you ain't got nothing to compare!

[Anne]

When I lived in Jerusalem a few years ago, the house I lived in always had the liturgies of the Triduum, and many pilgrims in jerusalem would come. There was one Easter when we processed into a bare church for the Exultet and readings. During the Psalm after every reading different decorations were introduced - flowers (carefull hidden behind a pillar) were brought out druing the psalm after the Creation story, and Candles were lit around the church during the next Psalm. I can't remember all the details, but I do remember that water was bought out and poured into the Baptismal font while we were singing 'With joy you will draw water...' We had some Indian religious sisters in the group and they led in the book of Gospels with candles and insence - it was beautiful. I don't know about the litugical correctness of all of this, but at the time it was very striking - it certainly kept the interest going during the 7 readings - what was going to happen next? and by the time we heard the Goepel, everything was in the right place and looked fantastic.

[docmattc]

Seeing the antependium in the video set me thinking about these. Surely the antependium should decorate the altar but not obscure what is the symbol of Christ. In the video, the altar is more of a convenient display stand for the antependim rather than the latter drawing the eye to the former.