The new altarpiece for St. Joseph's Church came in this week, replacing that '70's altar that went up in, well, the '70's. To say it is magnificent is an understatement - Bishop Corrada is literally leaving skid marks getting from Tyler to Marshall to consecrate it tomorrow, the first Sunday it is up.
As you can tell, it is purposely designed to look like the original in our 1920's church, shown here at my aunt Lucy Ann's wedding in 1951.
It is larger than the original so as to cover as much of the wall as its wood predecessor (which I understand was just in case something was wrong with the wall behind it).
The principal stylistic difference is that the central recess changed from a simple arched recess for the statue of St. Joseph to a gold-roofed canopy which holds a new large crucifix, which copies the church's bell tower with copper roof outside (see picture to the right). The entire thing matches the new altar, which came in last fall. Although the latter doesn't look like it, it isn't actually a new altar, but instead simply a rectangular wood and marble wrap which encloses the existing marble altar, concealing the beveled white marble base (definitely not a traditional look).
The Latin inscriptions are SANCTUS SANCTUS SANCTUS ("Holy Holy Holy") which are not yet picked out in gold in the first picture above but are in the second, and HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM. The second inscription is the words spoken by the priest when the Host is elevated and becomes the Body of Christ during the Mass. The current translation of this phrase in the English Mass is "This is My Body". However, the new translation which will come into effect this fall will change this to "For this is My Body." And no, they weren't installed backwards - apparently the convention for Latin inscriptions over the altar is that they are read beginning in the center - compare it to the "Thou Art Peter ..." inscription in the same location in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to the right - the cross marks the center of the church and the beginning of the inscription. I don't know if this is an ancient Roman convention or a Church one, but I presume it is to let you know where to start reading - in a dome you wouldn't know where to start otherwise. This way you start at the cross at the center (perhaps this is the origin of "X marks the spot"). In a dome or rotunda the inscription would then finish back at the center - on an altarpiece it appears that you approximate a rotunda (or respect the centrality of the altar - I'm not sure what the exact rationale is) by putting the first half of the phrase to the right and the second half to the left. Speaking of origins, this Latin phrase is plausibly believed to be the origin of the slang term "hocus pocus". You learn something new every day.
Speaking of conventions, I got to wondering where this "start at the center" comes from, and apparently while it doesn't have the force of law, Catholic churches - especially those built before the 1950's have generally followed the rules and guidelines laid out by St. Charles Borromeo in his Instructions for the Building of Churches (Instructiones Fabricae Ecclesiasticae) in 1599. See here for more details about the Instructiones. I wasn't able to find specific guidelines for inscriptions in the versions online, but that might be where it comes from. I could not find any other examples of altar or rotunda inscriptions to determine where they traditionally start, but St. Peter's Basilica is probably good enough authority, and it certains explains who an inscription over an altar would not necessarily read left to right.
The Knights of Columbus took the old altarpiece
down this past weekend, helped put the new one up, and will be falling out in full regalia tomorrow for the bishop, as will the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
This is just so cool. I can't wait to see the new alterpiece all decorated with candles and greenery and hangings. Father Denzil really did good!