Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Altar and Sanctuary - An Introduction with Links

Note: The remaining chapters will be completed shortly...This should be of interest to all who have a love for the Jesus, His Church, the Holy Mass (both the "Extraordinary Form" and the "Ordinary Form", as well as a desire to understand how and why we have the externals we see in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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Altar and Sanctuary, An Exposition of the Externals of the Mass
by Angela A. Glendenin (© 1939)
Published by the Catholic Action Committee
The Catholic Action Series of Discussion Club Textbooks
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Introduction

At a time when men are seeking some unifying principle on which a just social order may be builded, the Church emphasizes anew her strong and beauti­ful doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. From the distractions of a world intent upon things temporal, she calls her children to the contemplation of things eternal, inviting them to join in corporate worship before her altars - the Mysti­cal Body at prayer. Back into a world stricken and bewildered, she sends her militant sons and daughters to reestablish all things in Christ - the Mystical Body at work.

Members of the laity, therefore, who are eager to do their part in "this new day of Catholic Action," must direct their efforts towards the "pursuit of personal Christian perfection" before engaging in that "true apostolate in which Catholics of every social class participate." A better understanding and a deeper appreciation of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the central act of Catholic wor­ship, will lead to a more fruitful observance of the sacred mysteries of the Church, and help to develop that abundant interior life which is indispensable to the works of the active apostolate.

Altar and Sanctuary, an exposition of the externals of the Mass, was first published as a textbook for religious discussion clubs in the fall of 1932. Its extensive use by discussion groups throughout the United States and Canada during the past seven years, particularly by those which operate according to the simplified procedure recommended by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, indicates that it has been of service to young people and adults who engage in the cooperative study of their religion. Altar and Sanctuary now appears in a new and thoroughly revised edition. In content, arrangement, format, etc., it conforms in every detail to standards which have gradually developed out of the constructive thought and rich experience of the entire field.

Altar and Sanctuary is the first unit in a series of discussion-club textbooks which are being published by the Catholic Action Committee of the Diocese of Wichita. Praying the Mass, a study of the prayers and ceremonies of the holy Sacrifice; The Liturgical Year, an explanation of the cycles, seasons, and feasts of the ecclesiastical year; The Sacramentals, a study of the origin, nature, and proper use of the sacramentals; and Prayers, a study of prayers in common use in the Church, are also available. Additional textbooks will treat the history of the Mass, the ecclesiastical arts, and church history.

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to His Excellency, the Most Rev. Aug. J. Schwertner, D. D., who has inaugurated an extensive discussion-club program throughout his diocese, and who has encouraged the development of this series of textbooks; to the author, Angela A. Clendenin, whose distinguished services in the cause of religion have merited for her the papal decoration "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice"; and to the entire band of lay apostles who are active in the ranks of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in the Diocese of Wichita. May God, "Who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand," aid us, that "doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him Who is the Head, even Christ."

Rev. Leon A. McNeill, M. A. Diocesan Superintendent of Education

Feast of St. Dominic August 4, 1939
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Contents

Chapter 1. The Christian Altar- Part 1

Chapter 2. The Christian Altar, Part 2

Chapter 3. The Sanctuary

Chapter 4. Altar Furnishings and Decorations, Part 1

Chapter 5. Altar Furnishings and Decorations, Part 2

Chapter 6. Church Linens, Part 1

Chapter 7. Church Linens, Part 2

Chapter 8. The Sacred Vessels - Part 1

Chapter 9. Sacred Vessels, Part 2

Chapter 10. Light in the Liturgy

Chapter 11. Liturgical Use of Color

Chapter 12. Vestments in the Liturgy

Chapter 13. Amice, Alb, and Cincture

Chapter 14. Maniple, Stole, and Chasuble

Chapter 15. Surplice, Cope, and Humeral Veil

Chapter 16. Dalmatic, Tunic, and Bishop's Insignia


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