[Rationale divinorum officiorum]

Concerning the altar.

An altar is made in the church for three reasons, as will be stated under its dedication. It should be known, however, that Noah first, then Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob, are read to have built altars, which are understood as nothing other than raised stones upon which they slaughtered sacrifices that they burned with fire placed underneath. Moses also made an altar of shittim wood original: "lignis sethin", and likewise an altar of incense, which he overlaid with purest gold, as it is read in Exodus chapters 25, 27, and 29, where the form of the altar itself is also set forth. Solomon is also read, in 3 Kings chapter 7 near the end, to have fashioned a golden altar. From these ancient fathers indeed, the altars of the moderns have taken their origin, which are raised upon four corners, some of which are of a single stone, others are composed of many. Indeed, "altar" and "ara" an altar/hearth are sometimes found used indiscriminately, yet there is a difference. For an altar altare high thing or high hearth is so called because it is a place where priests burned incense; an altar ara area, that is, flat, or from burning is so called because sacrifices burned upon it.

And note that it is read in many ways in the scriptures regarding the "altar," namely: higher and lower, inner and outer, each of which is also twofold. The higher altar is God the Trinity, of whom it is read, "You shall not ascend to my altar by steps." There is also a higher altar, the triumphant church, of which it is said, "Then you will place calves upon your altar." The lower altar, however, is the militant church, of which it is read, "If you make me a stone altar, you shall not build it of hewn stones." There is also a lower altar, the table of the temple, of which it is said, "Appoint a solemn day in crowded assemblies even to the horn of the altar." And in 3 Kings chapter 7, it is said that Solomon made a golden altar. The inner altar is the pure heart, as will be stated below. There is also an inner altar, the faith of the incarnation, of which it is commanded in Exodus, "An altar of earth you shall make for me." The outer altar, however, is the altar of the cross, that is, the altar of burnt offerings upon which they burned the evening sacrifice. Whence in the canon of the mass it will be said, "Command these to be carried to your sublime altar, etc." Furthermore, the altar is our mortification or our heart, in which carnal motions are consumed by the fervor of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the altar also signifies the spiritual church. Its four corners signify the four corners of the world through which the church is dilated. Thirdly, it signifies Christ, without whom no gift can be offered to the Father that is acceptable. Whence the church is accustomed to direct prayers to the Father through Christ. Fourthly, it signifies the body of the Lord, as will be stated in part 6, under the title concerning Good Friday. Fifthly, it signifies the table at which Christ feasted with his disciples.

Truly, it is read in Exodus that in the ark of the covenant or of the testimony, the testimony was deposited, that is, the tablets on which the testimony was written. Although certain testimonies can also be said to be deposited there, and this is in testimony of the fact that He had revived the natural law written in hearts into written form. Also deposited there was the golden urn full of manna, in testimony that He had given bread to the children of Israel from heaven; and the rod of Aaron, in testimony that all power is from God; and Deuteronomy, in testimony of the covenant, by which they had said, "All things that the Lord has spoken, we will do." And for this reason, it is called the ark of the testimony or covenant, and for this reason, it is also called the tabernacle of the testimony. Upon the ark, indeed, the propitiatory was made, of which it will be stated in the preface of the fourth part. In imitation of this, in some churches, an ark or tabernacle is placed upon the altar, in which the body of the Lord and the relics are stored. The Lord also commanded a candlestick to be made, ductile and of purest gold (Exodus 25). It is read in 3 Kings chapter 8 that there is nothing in the ark of the covenant except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed in it at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel when they were going out of the land of Egypt. And note that in the time of Pope Sylvester, the Emperor Constantine built the Lateran Basilica, in which he placed the ark of the covenant which the Emperor Titus had brought from Jerusalem, and the golden candlestick with seven light-holders. In which ark are these: rings and golden staves, the tablets of the testimony, the rod of Aaron, manna, the loaves of the presence, the golden urn, the seamless garment, and the reed, and the garment of Saint John the Baptist, and the shears with which Saint John the Evangelist was tonsured. Truly, a man who rightly possesses an altar, a table, a candlestick, and an ark is the temple of God. It is necessary, indeed, for him to have an altar where he may rightly offer and rightly divide. The altar is our heart, in which we ought to offer. Whence in Exodus, the Lord commanded to offer burnt offerings upon the altar because works ignited by the fire of charity ought to proceed from the heart. Burnt offerings holocausta are named from 'holon' which is 'whole' and 'kauma' which is 'burning,' whence 'holocaustum' is that which is burned in its entirety. In this altar, therefore, we must rightly offer and rightly divide. We rightly offer when we bring the good that we think of to perfection. But we do not rightly divide if we do not do it discreetly; for often a man thinks he is doing good and does evil, and often from one part he does good and from another part he does evil, and thus he himself builds and he himself destroys. But then we rightly divide, when we attribute the good that we do not to ourselves, but to God alone. A man also must have a table so that the loaves of the word of God may be derived from there. By the table, we understand the Sacred Scripture, of which the Psalm says, "You have prepared a table before me against those who trouble me." You have given me scripture against temptations and the demonic. It is necessary that we have this, that is, that we store it in the mind so that we may take the loaves of the word of God into the mind. For the lack of this bread, Jeremiah says, "The little ones have asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them." He must also have a candlestick so that he may shine with good works. The candlestick illuminating the exterior is the good work which ignites others through a good example, of which it is said, "No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick." The lamp, according to the word of the Lord, is good intention, because Christ is called "the lamp of your eye." The eye, indeed, is the intention. We ought not, therefore, to put the lamp under a bushel.