The Sanctuary and the Parts of a Catholic Church

The place where Mass is celebrated is itself part of the liturgy. In this session of The Mass Explained, Dr. Brant Pitre walks through the parts of a Catholic church as the General Instruction of the Roman Missal names them — the sanctuary ("where the altar stands, the Word of God is proclaimed, and the Priest… exercises his functions"), the altar, the cross and candles, the ambo from which the readings are proclaimed, the priest's chair, the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved with its sanctuary lamp, and the sacred images (GIRM 288–318). He then shows how each element draws on the biblical Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple — the sanctuary, altar, golden lampstand (menorah), and the ark with its cherubim (Exodus 25–27) — and on the synagogue, where the Law was read from a wooden pulpit (Nehemiah 8) and teachers sat on the "chair of Moses" (Matthew 23). With William Durandus and the Book of Revelation, he shows the church to be at once a New Temple, a New Synagogue, and an image of the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 4–5; 11:19; CCC 1186, 1198).

Key passages & sources examined: the sanctuary, altar, ambo, chair, and tabernacle (GIRM 288–318); the Tabernacle of Moses — sanctuary, altar, menorah, and the ark and cherubim (Exodus 25–27); the reading of the Law from the pulpit (Nehemiah 8:2–8) and the "chair of Moses" (Matthew 23:1–7); William Durandus on the church as the New Temple; the heavenly worship of Revelation (4–5; 11:19); and the Catechism on sacred space (CCC 1186, 1198).