Corporal (liturgy)
The corporal is an
During the
Origins
Early descriptions of altar linens do not clearly distinguish between the corporal and other altar cloths, and the
References to linen altar cloths continue throughout the Middle Ages.
Corporal and pall
The Catholic Encyclopedia speculates that early corporals were likely large enough to double back over the loaves of
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as attested by
The Roman Pontifical prescribes a special blessing to be given to both palls and corporals before use, which describes their purpose as "to cover and enfold the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ".[10] This blessing is mentioned in liturgical documents of the Celtic Rite as early as the seventh century, and the Spanish Liber Ordinum from about the same date gives it in a form very similar to the modern one.[1]
Form and use
According to traditional liturgical rules, the corporal must not be ornamented with embroidery, and must be made entirely of pure white linen, though there seem to have been many medieval exceptions to this rule. The
Regino of Prüm, writing in the tenth century, laid out rules for the handling of the corporal. He instructed that the corporal was never to remain on the altar, but was to be put in the Missal or shut up with the chalice and paten in some clean receptacle. When the corporal was washed, Regino wrote, it was to be washed first of all by a priest, deacon, or subdeacon in the church itself, in a place or a vessel specially reserved for this, because it had been impregnated with the Body and Blood of Christ. Afterwards it might be sent to the laundry and treated like other linen.[14][1]
The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia describes similar practices to those of the tenth century. It instructs that the corporal, when not in use, is folded twice in each direction, forming a small square. The folded corporal is stored in a small flat case called a burse, which is usually richly ornamented with embroidery. The corporal and pall, it says, must pass through a triple washing at the hands of a priest or subdeacon before being sent to a laundry, and should not be handled by non-clergy, except for sacristans to whom special permission is given.[1]
See also
References
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1908). "Corporal". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Mommsen, p. 51.
- ^ Optatus, VI, ed. Ziwsa, p. 145.
- ^ Ep. i, 123.
- ^ Hierosolymitanus, Sophronius. Fragmentum Commentarii liturgici. Migne - Patrologia Latina. p. M.87.3981.
corporale sindonem qua sepultus est
- ^ Patrologia Latina, LXXII, 93.
- ^ De Disc. Eccl., cap. cxviii
- ^ P. L., CLVIII, 550
- ^ De Sacrif. Miss., II, 56, "duplex est palla qu dicitur corporale"
- ^ "De Benedictione Corporalium". www.liturgialatina.org (in Latin). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
linteamen istud ad tegendum involvendumque Corpus et Sanguinem Domini nostri Jesu Christi
- ^ Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc., VII, 22; X, 16
- ^ Chrysostom in Matt., Hom. l
- ^ Paulus Silentiarius, Descr. S. Sophi, p. 758
- ^ De Disc. Eccl., cap. cxviii
Bibliography
- Atchley in St. Paul's Eccles. Soc. Transactions (1900), IV, 156-160
- Barbier de Montaultin Bulletin Monumental (1882). 583-630.
- Barbier de Montault, Le Mobilier Ecclésiastique
- Gihr, The Mass, tr. (Freiburg, 1902), 281-264
- Charles Rohault de Fleury, "La Messe" (Paris, 1888), VI, 197-204; Dict. Christ. Antiq., s.v. Corporal;
- Streber in Kirchenlexikon, III, 11O5-11O7
- Thalhofer, Liturgik, I, 777-781
- Van der Stappen, Sacra Liturgia (Mechlin, 1902), III, 102-110
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 189. .