E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

THE CONSECRATION OF THE ALTAR. 15
A word as to the Tabernacle.
In England, after the sixteenth century, the Blessed
Sacrament was suspended in a case from the ceiling
over the high altar, and deposited in a pyx, which may
have been under lock and key. In France and in the
East the vase was in the form of a dove hung from the
ceiling the practice never seems to have existed in
Italy.
In Scotland there were one or two instances of the
Sacrament House, where the Blessed Sacrament was
in the church. There still exist the survivals
kept
at least of the Sacrament House in some parts of
Germany.
Tabernacles, as we now see them in England, date
from some period of the sixteenth century.
Altar-cloths are blessed by the Bishop or a priest
authorized by the Bishop. They are three in number,
or one cloth doubled with the top cloth lying over it.
The latter should cover the altar and reach the ground,
the under cloths cover the table of the altar.