[Rationale divinorum officiorum]

The light of the candelabra, however, is the faith of the people. To the Jewish people, the prophet Isaiah says: "Arise, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." To the Gentile people, the Apostle says: "You were sometimes darkness, but now light in the Lord." For at the rising of Christ, a new star appeared to the Magi according to the prophecy of Balaam. As Osius says: "A star shall rise from Jacob, and a rod shall spring from Israel." Concerning this, it was also said in the title concerning the altar. The snuffers are tongs for cleaning the wicks; they are the divine words by which we open the letters of the law and reveal the shining Spirit, according to that: "You shall eat the most ancient of the old, and you shall cast away the old upon the arrival of the new." The vessels in which the cleaned wicks are extinguished are the hearts of the faithful, who admit the legal observance from it itself. Again, the tongs, of which the fire is composed by double tension, are the preachers who instruct us with the harmonious pages of both testaments, and opposing them with morals, they approach from charity. The basins, that is, vessels of equal amplitude at the bottom and at the mouth, made for heating, are those doctors who do not hide the treasure of the heart but bring forth from it new and old things; nor do they put the lamp under a bushel but upon the candelabrum, so that those who are in the house of the Lord may receive the light and heat of the Holy Spirit. The cross also ought to be placed upon the altar, and it is carried by the cross-bearer, in whom it is recalled that Simon of Cyrene carried the cross taken from Christ's shoulders. Between the two candelabras, the cross is placed in the middle of the altar, because Christ exists as the mediator between two peoples in the church. For he himself is the cornerstone who made both one, to whom shepherds came from Judea and Magi from the East. Concerning this, it is said otherwise in the preamble of the fourth part under the title concerning the access of the priest to the altar. Again, the front of the altar is adorned with gold embroidery, according to that in Exodus 25 and 27: "You shall build me an altar, and you shall make for it a crown all around or in circuit, four fingers high." Indeed, the altar, which signifies the heart of man, in which the sacrifice of true faith ought to be offered through contrition, and then it signifies the conception of good work through gold embroidery, with which we ought to adorn our fronts so that we may shine to others. And whenever the altar signifies Christ, it then fittingly designates the ornament of charity through gold embroidery. For just as gold excels all metals, so does charity excel other virtues. Whence the Apostle to the Corinthians: "The greatest of these is charity." We ought to adorn our front in this way with the gold embroidery of charity, so that we may be ready to lay down our souls for Christ. Banners are also erected upon the altar, so that the triumph of Christ may be continuously remembered in the church, through whom we also hope to triumph over the enemy. The Gospel book is also adapted upon it, for the reason that the Gospel was edited by him, that is, by Christ himself, and he bears testimony to himself, and why it is said to be adorned on the outside will be said in the third part under the title concerning legal vestments. Then the vessels and utensils in the house of the Lord had their origin from Moses and Solomon, which in the Old Testament were many and diverse, as is read in Exodus, having diverse significations, of which we do not deal here for the sake of brevity. Indeed, all things that pertain to the ornament, in the time of Lent, ought to be removed or covered, which is done according to some on Passion Sunday, because then the divinity was hidden and veiled in Christ. For he let himself be captured and whipped as a man, as if he did not have the virtue of divinity in himself. Whence in the Gospel of this day it is said: "But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple." Then, therefore, they cover the crosses, that is, with the virtues of his divinity. Others do this from the first Sunday of Lent, because from then on the church begins to deal with his passion. Whence at that time the cross ought not to be carried out of the church unless it is covered. And according to the custom of some places, they retain only two veils or curtains then, one of which is placed around the circuit of the choir, the other is suspended between the altar and the choir, so that those things which are inside the holy of holies do not appear. That the sanctuary and the cross are then veiled signifies the letter of the law, that is, its carnal observance, or that in the Old Testament, before the passion of Christ, the understanding of the sacred scriptures was veiled, covered, and obscure, and those who were at that time had this veil of obscure knowledge before their eyes. It also signifies that sword which was before the gate of paradise. And because this carnal observance and obscurity and the sword were removed in the passion of Christ, therefore such curtains or veils are removed on Easter. But also because in the Old Testament there were animals chewing the cud and dividing the hooves, like oxen plowing, that is, discerning the mysteries of the scriptures and understanding them spiritually. Therefore, in Lent, few priests enter behind the veil, to whom it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. About this, however, it is to be noted that a threefold kind of veil is suspended in the church: namely, what covers the holy things, what divides the sanctuary from the clergy, and what separates the clergy from the people. The first is the note of the letter of the law. The second is the note of our unworthiness, because we are unworthy, or rather, powerless to guard heavenly things. The third is the restraint of our carnal lust. The first, namely the curtains which extend from both sides of the altar as the priest enters the secret, as will be said in the fourth part under the title concerning the secret, is signified in this, that as it is read in Exodus 34: "Moses put a veil upon his face," because the children of Israel could not sustain the brightness of his countenance. And as the Apostle says, this veil is still today over the hearts of the Jews. The second, namely the curtain which is extended in Lent in the office of the mass before the altar, is signified in this, that a veil was suspended inside the tabernacle which divided the holy of holies from the holy ones, as will be said in the preamble of the fourth part, through which the ark was veiled from the people, and it was woven with wonderful work and distinguished by beautiful variety, which was torn at the passion of the Lord, and by its example today they weave curtains with various beauty. Concerning the aforementioned veil and what kind the curtains ought to be, it is held in Exodus 26 and 36. Whence it then had its origin, because in the primitive church the wall, that is, the wall which circles the choir, is not raised except up to the eaves, which is still observed in some churches.