My Anglican Heritage

Preserving. Proclaiming. Transmitting
The Anglican Catholic Heritage

“Thy testimonies have I claimed as mine heritage for ever:
               for they are the very joy of my heart.”
— Psalm 119:111

Menu

Traditional Christian Hymns

DO YOU KNOW WHY THE ALTAR TABLE IN THE SANCTUARY IS TREATED AS A PERSON & NOT AS AN OBJECT BY THE ANGLICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH ?

To many eyes, the Altar Table looks like a stone, wood, or a marble structure.

But to an Anglican Catholic Believer, the Altar Table is never treated as a thing but as a living person .

•	It is approached reverently.
•	It is kissed.
•	It is incensed.
•	It is spoken to through prayer.

Because in Anglican Catholic worship, the Altar Table represents a Person – the Person of The Resurrected Jesus, the Christ.

Let us figure out why…

  1. THE ALTAR REPRESENTS JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF

The Anglican Catholic Church teaches something profound:

Jesus Christ is the Priest who offers; the Victim who is offered; and the Altar on which the sacrifice takes place.

This is why the Altar is not handled like furniture. It is handled with The Belief That Jesus Christ’s presence is real and that HE is present there.

When the priest reverences the Altar,
he is not honoring a stone, but he is honoring the resurrected Jesus Christ, the Son of the ever living God – The Living Altar.

  1. THE ALTAR IS CONSECRATED, NOT INSTALLED

An Altar is not simply placed in a church.

IT IS CONSECRATED BY A BISHOP IN APOCALYPTIC SUCCESSION.

During the rite of dedication:

⁃	it is anointed with Sacred Chrism
⁃	it is Incensed
⁃	it is clothed with Linen
⁃	Candles are lit upon it

These actions are never done to objects. They are done only to persons and sacred realities.

The Anglican Catholic Church consecrates Altars because they stand in for a living reality.

  1. THE ALTAR RECEIVES GESTURES GIVEN ONLY TO PERSONS

Think carefully:

1.	We kiss persons.
2.	We bow to persons.
3.	We incense persons.

The Altar receives all these gestures.

WHY ?

Because gestures speak louder than words in the liturgy. The Church is teaching us, silently:

This Altar is not a thing. This Altar Table represents Someone.

  1. THE ALTAR HAS A ROLE, NOT A FUNCTION

Objects have functions & Living persons have roles.

The Altar’s role is not utility, it is participation. It participates in:

1.	the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
2.	the prayers of the Church
3.	the meeting of heaven and earth in real time.

This is why nothing random touches it and nothing ordinary rests upon it.

  1. THE ALTAR FORMS HOW WE APPROACH GOD

By treating the Altar as a person,
the Anglican Catholic Church trains us to understand this truth:

1.	God is not an idea.
2.	God is not an object.
3.	God is a living Person.

How we treat the Altar shapes how we treat God.

SO… WHY A PERSON, NOT AN OBJECT?

Because the Altar Table is:

⁃	consecrated, not used
⁃	reverenced, not handled
⁃	approached, not occupied

It stands in the church as the silent image of Jesus Christ, present, offering, and alive.

The Anglican Catholic Church teaches us that what represents Jesus Christ must be treated as Christ – The Anointed One.

Cecil K. Dewars