Gift for a friend

[John-Paul Volkenant]

I have a friend who is a Roman Catholic priest. On March 19, he will celebrate
a traditional Latin Mass for the feast of St. Joseph. He purchased altar cards, but didn't have any frames for them. What an opportunity for me!

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[Jim Koepke]

With a little care he should be able to use those for many years.

jtk

[Dan Andrews]

Very nicely done. What a nice and thoughtful gift.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

awesome! They are very nice!

[Brian Kent]

John-Paul, what are Altar Cards? Are they the text of the part of the mass said behind the altar?

[John-Paul Volkenant]

John-Paul, what are Altar Cards? Are they the text of the part of the mass said behind the altar?

What a great question! Thanks for asking. To answer your question, I have to give you a little history.

Since about the time of Pope Gregory the Great, c. 5th century, the Catholic liturgy was celebrated in Latin, with the priest facing in the same direction as the people, i.e., towards God. Liturgical changes coming from the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's changed the way in which the Catholic liturgy is celebrated. I don't know if you are a Catholic, but many Catholics probably don't know what altar cards are or even how Mass was celebrated for some 1500 years.

Altar cards contain a portion of the prayers of the Mass that never change. Certain prayers are said when the prayer book (the Missal) is not strategically placed. The altar cards fill that void. For example, the Missal spends much of its time in the center of the altar. When the priest goes to the right to wash his hands, instead of carrying the book over, the altar card with the Lavabo (I will wash...) prayer is already over on the right side. The picture below shows you how the traditional Latin Mass, w/ altar cards, is set up.


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The picture is from historic St. Stephen Church in Cleveland, Ohio. A woodworker would love this place. The sanctuary was imported from Germany, and won the 1899(?) World's Fair. Its made entirely of German black walnut. Again, a woodworker would love St. Stephen Church. Intricate woodwork all throughout. The high pulpit below is a piece of work!

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If you're interested in seeing a beautiful video that shows a part of the traditional Latin Mass, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_2-eNClSXA&feature=related

[Brian Kent]

Thank you very much for the info and pictures. I am Protestant and we do the communion service on the first Saturday & Sunday of the month. There are parts of the liturgy that are fixed, and prayer cards would be a very good idea. Other parts vary with the season and with the cultural intention of the service. We can go High Church, overlapping a great deal with Catholic and Episcopal, and we can go Free Church, which is much more conversational and explanatory in how we preset it. I attended a number of Russian Orthodox services while living there for a year. Also fascinating, with no chairs and a 3 hour liturgy. It ends up being a drop-in service with people coming for 45 minutes at a time.