TheStripping of the Altar or theStripping of the Chancel is a ceremony carried out in manyCatholic,Lutheran,Methodist, andAnglican churches onMaundy Thursday.[2]
At the end of the Maundy Thursday liturgy in Methodist parishes, thechancel is traditionally stripped; blackparaments are sometimes added forGood Friday as black is the liturgical colour of Good Friday in the Methodist Churches.[3] Methodist custom holds that apart from depictions of theStations of the Cross, other images (such as the altar cross) continue the Lenten habitude of being veiled.[4]
In addition to the stripping of the altar at the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday liturgy in Lutheran Churches, the "lectern and pulpit are [also] left bare until Easter to symbolize the humiliation and barrenness of the cross."[5]
In Anglican Churches, this ceremony is also performed at the conclusion of Maundy Thursday services, "in which all appointments, linens, and paraments are removed from the altar and chancel in preparation for Good Friday."[6]
In the earlier form of theRoman Rite, the stripping of the altar was done at the end ofMass of the Lord's Supper onMaundy Thursday. It is still carried out. All altars in the church, except for thealtar of repose, are stripped. In the present form of the Roman Rite, as revised in 1955, there is no ceremony of stripping the altar. At a suitable time after the Mass the altar is stripped, usually by thesacristan, and crosses are removed from the church, if possible.[7] There is no Mass onGood Friday orHoly Saturday, the next one being that of theEaster Vigil. On Good Friday, a white cloth is placed on the altar for the last part of the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord,[8] after the conclusion of which the altar is stripped, again privately, except that thecross remains on the altar with two or four candlesticks.[9]
The form of the Roman Rite in use immediately before the reform of theEaster Triduum ceremonies byPope Pius XII in 1955 had a formal ceremony of stripping the altar as a conclusion of the Holy Thursday Mass, which was then celebrated in the morning. After removing theciborium from thehigh altar to the altar of repose, the priest, accompanied by the other ministers, went to thesacristy, where he took off his white Mass vestments and donned a violetstole. Then, with the other ministers, he removed the altarcloths, vases of flowers,antependium and all other ornaments then customarily placed on the altar. Unlike present usage, thealtar cross and candlesticks were left on the altar. This was done to the accompaniment ofPsalm 22 (Vulgate) (Deus, Deus meus) preceded and followed by theantiphon "Diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea: et super vestem meam miserunt sortem" ("They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment").[10]
In earlier centuries, the altars were in some churches washed with a bunch ofhyssop dipped in wine and water.Augustine Joseph Schulte says that this was done "to render them in some manner worthy of the Lamb without stain who is immolated on them, and to recall to the minds of the faithful with how great purity they should assist at the Holy Sacrifice and receive Holy Communion." He adds that the ceremony was intended as homage offered to Jesus in return for his humbly washing the feet of his disciples,[10] the ceremonial commemoration of which was, before 1955, carried out separately from the Mass and stripping of the altar.
Eamonn Duffy alludes to this ceremony in the title of his bookThe Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400–1580, a history of Christian religious practice in England before and during theReformation.
...a plain wooden cross may now be brought into the church and placed in the sight of the people. ... During Silent Meditation and The Reproaches, persons may be invited to come forward informally to kneel briefly before the cross or touch it.
The liturgical color is black-or no color if the paraments (altar cloths) have been stripped.
stripping of the altar: Ceremony at the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday liturgy, in which all appointments, linens, and paraments are removed from the altar and chancel in preparation for Good Friday.
