The Altar

June 19, 2016

One way of thinking about the church, theologically as well as architecturally,is to begin with the church’s raison d’être, the holy altar, and allow the building to grow out from there.”
The Church Building as a Sacred Place, Duncan G. Stroik

From the earliest times in the Catholic Church, the altar has been the focus of the liturgy; hierarchically, it is the highest point in a church building, representing Christ Himself, and so it is at the “head” of the church, laid out as the Mystical Body of Christ.
It is on the altar where, during the Eucharist, bread and wine are sacramentally transformed into the sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood. Thus, the altar is both “the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord” (CCC 1383). In conformance with canon law and with the centrality of the altar in the celebration of the Mass, “it all starts with the altar”. Indeed, in The Church, Unlocking the Secrets to the Places Catholics Call Home, Cardinal Donald Wuerl says “A Catholic church is built for the sake of the altar.”
The architectural renditions of our new church feature a raised altar to highlight its significance in our liturgical celebration. The importance of the altar cannot be overstated for as Cardinal Ratzinger says in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, “the altar is the place where heaven is opened up. It does not close off the church, but opens it up – and leads it into the eternal liturgy.”

St. Philip the Apostle

Catholic Church
Flower Mound, Texas

The Altar

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