Placing the Crucifix at the
Center of the Altar:
Why it Gives the Faithful and Celebrant a Common Point of
Reference
Fr. Mauro
Gagliardi
Throughout its history, the Church has established sensible
signs that would help the faithful to elevate their souls to
God.
The Council of Trent, referring in particular to the Holy Mass,
motivated this habit by recalling that "human nature is such
that it cannot be easily elevated to the meditation of divine
things without external aids: on account of this the Church, as
a loving Mother, has established certain rites…to render more
evident the majesty of such a great sacrifice and to introduce
the minds of the faithful, with these visible signs of religion
and piety, to the contemplation of the sublime realities hidden
in this sacrifice" (DS, 1746).
One of the oldest signs consists in turning to the east to pray.
The east is symbol of Christ, the sun of justice. "Erik Peterson
demonstrated the close connection between prayer toward the East
and the cross, evident connection at the latest for the post
Constantinian period. [...] Diffused among Christians was the
use of indicating the direction of prayer with a cross on the
eastern wall in the apse of basilicas, but also in private
rooms, for example, of monks and hermits" (U.M. Lang, "Rivolti
al Signore," Siena, 2006, p. 32).
Another is to look up: "If we are asked toward what do the
priest and faithful look during prayer, the answer must be: on
high, toward the apsidal vault! In fact, during prayer the
praying community did not look in front of it to the altar or
the chair, rather it raised its hands and eyes on high. Thus the
apsidal vault points to the most important element of the
decoration of the church, at the most profound and holy moment
of the liturgical action, which is prayer" (S.
Heid,"Gebetshaltung und Ostung in fruhchristlicher Zeit," in
Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana, 82 [2006], p. 369).
Hence, when Christ is represented in the apse between the
Apostles and martyrs, it is not just a representation, but
rather his epiphany before the praying community. The community
then "raised the hands and eyes on high to 'heaven,' looking at
Christ in the apsidal mosaic and talked with him, prayed to him.
Evidently, Christ was thus directly present in the image. Given
that the apsidal vault was the point of convergence of the
prayerful gaze, art furnished all that the man of prayer needed:
Heaven, from which the Son of God appeared to the community as
from a platform" (ibid., p. 370).
Hence, for these Christians, "to pray and to look formed a
whole. The man of prayer wanted not only to pray, but also hoped
to see. If a celestial cross of Christ in his heavenly glory was
shown in the apse in a marvelous way, then by that very fact the
man of prayer who looked on high could see this exactly: that
heaven opened for him and Christ showed himself to him" (ibid.,
p. 374).
Praying to God
Deduced from preceding historical scenes is that the liturgy was
not imagined primarily as a dialogue between the priest and the
assembly. We cannot enter into details here: we limit ourselves
to saying that the celebration of the Holy Mass "toward the
people" is a concept that entered to form part of the Christian
mentality only in the modern age, as serious studies demonstrate
and Benedict XVI confirmed: "[t]he idea that the priest and the
people in prayer must look at one another reciprocally was born
only in the modern age and is completely foreign to ancient
Christianity. In fact, the priest and the people do not address
their prayer to one another, but together they address it to the
one Lord" ("Teologia della Liturgia," Vatican City, 2010, pp.
7-8).
Despite the fact that Vatican II never touched this aspect, in
1964 the instruction "Inter Oecumenici," issued by the Council
in charge of enacting the liturgical reformed desired by the
Council in No. 91 prescribes: "It is good that the main altar be
detached from the wall to be able to turn around easily and
celebrate 'versus populum.'" From that moment, the position of
the priest "toward the people," although not obligatory, became
the most common way of celebrating Mass. Things being as they
are, the Holy Father proposes, also in these cases, that the old
meaning of "oriented" prayer not be lost and suggests that
difficulties be averted by placing at the center of the altar
the sign of Christ crucified (cf. "Teologia della Liturgia," p.
88).
Espousing this proposal, added in my turn is the suggestion that
the dimensions of the sign must be such as to make it very
visible, under pain of lacking effectiveness (cf. M. Gagliardi,
"Introduzione al Mistero Eucharistico," Rome, 2007, p. 371). The
visibility of the cross on the altar is implied by the General
Instruction of the Roman Missal: "There is also to be a cross,
with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, either on the altar
or near it, where it is clearly visible to the assembled
congregation. It is appropriate that such a cross, which calls
to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord, remain
near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations" (No.
308).
It is not specified, however, if the cross must be necessarily
at the center. Intervening here, therefore, are motivations of a
theological and pastoral order, which in the restricted space at
our disposition we cannot expose.
We limit ourselves to conclude quoting Benedict XVI: "It is not
necessary in prayer, and more than that, it is not even
appropriate to look at one another reciprocally; much less so
when receiving Communion. [...] In an exaggerated and
misunderstood implementation of 'celebration toward the people,'
in fact, the crosses at the center of the altars were removed as
a general norm -- even in the basilica of St. Peter in Rome --
so as to not obstruct the view between the celebrant and the
people. However, the cross on the altar is not an impediment to
sight, but rather a common point of reference.
"It is an 'iconostasi' that remains open, which does not impede
being mutually in communion, but is a mediator and still
signifies for everyone the image that concentrates and unifies
our sight. I dare to propose the thesis that the cross on the
altar is not an obstacle, but the preliminary condition for the
celebration 'versus populum.' Also made clear with this would be
the distinction between the liturgy of the Word and the
Eucharistic prayer. Whereas the first is about proclamation and
hence of an immediate reciprocal relationship, the second has to
do with community adoration in which all of us continue to be
under the invitation: 'Conversi ad Dominum' -- let us turn
toward the Lord; let us convert to the Lord!" ("Teologia della
Liturgia," p. 536).
* * *
Father Mauro Gagliardi is a consultor of the Office for the
Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff and of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, and a
professor of theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina
Apostolorum of Rome.
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