THE CATHOLIC SANCTUARY, THE CATHOLIC NAVE AND WHAT ABOUT SACRED SPACE?

Fr. Z at WDTPRS has some very good comments on the Ecclesiology of the Post Vatican II Mass as he makes comments about a post at Pray The Mass where Fr Evan Harkins has a reflection "sacred space" in Catholic Churches, well, not really, on sanctuaries being distinct from the nave of the Church, the holy of holies of the "sacred space" that is the church building.

My First comments: Normally Catholic Churches are divided into several parts with a hierarchy of importance:

1. Vestibule or narthex (decompression chamber from the profane world to the sacred)

2. Nave, the location where the laity participate in the Sacred Mysteries

3. Sanctuary or Presbyterium (aka, holy of holies) where the clergy participate and preside and offer sacrifice to God, complete the Sacrifice by consuming it and then giving a portion of the Sacrifice to the laity in the nave. This holy of holies can be distinct from the congregation through the use of altar rails or making the sanctuary elevated, higher than the nave.

4. Sacristy where the clergy and lesser clergy vest before the Sacred Rites of the Church.

Excerpts from Fr. Z's elucidation on this article that shows forth the ecclesiology of Vatican II and the reformed or Ordinary Form Mass:

First, a church is a sacred place, made sacred by consecration. The whole church is sacred. Within the holy space, there is a “holy of holies”, just as there was in the ancient Temple.

From another point of view, it is useful to consider what St. Augustine of Hippo (+430) explained concerning Christ speaking in every word of the Psalms. For Augustine, sometime Christ speaks with His voice as Head of the Body which is the Church, sometimes He speaks as the Body. At times He speaks as Christus Totus, the Body with the Head, together.

The true Actor of the sacred action of Holy Mass is Jesus Christ the High Priest, who through us His members having different roles, raises words and deeds to the Father. Sometimes He acts and speaks in the person of the alter Christus the priest (Head), sometimes in the words and actions of the congregation (Body), sometimes when the priest and people act and speak together (Christus totus). Christ makes our hands and voices His own in the sacred action, but He is the actor and speaker.

The older, Extraordinary Form of Mass may demonstrate more clearly how the priest is the head of the liturgical body and can speak alone for the whole. On the other hand, perhaps the Ordinary Form shows more clearly the three-fold dynamic of Head, Body, and Christus Totus.

The church building itself should manifest this three-fold distinction.

The sanctuary, at the head of the floor plan, is the place where Christ the Head of the Body speaks and acts, the nave is the place of the congregation, the Body. A communion rail is not only practical. It defines the holy of holies. Some might claim that the Communion rail then becomes a barrier for the laity in the congregation to keep from away from the holy of holies. I don’t see it that way at all. That rail helps to point out that, in the church building’s layout, the congregation has its own proper character and dignity that must not be compromised or violated by “invasion”, so to speak, by the priest – except in those defined moments such as the Asperges or Vidi aquam we have now in Easter season.

The lack of a clear delineation of space blurs all our roles.

If the priest and people are invading each others space and roles, then proper worship is crippled. Lay people receive mixed signals which erode their identity as and the priest devolves into a mere “presider”.

The congregation has its own important role and this is defined in the building. Dragging lay people into the sanctuary is a clericalism of the very worst sort. It signals to lay people that they have to be given the duties and place that pertain to the priest in order to elevate their status. “You aren’t good enough unless you are permitted by me to do what I can do.” I hate that clericalist attitude.

Kneeling at the Communion rail is not only a sign of reverence in the Real Presence before reception of Communion, but – for that close encounter of priest (head) and congregation (body) – is a reverent acknowledgement of the Christus totus in action in the sacred mysteries.

This is a useful way to understand in a healthy way something more about the outward expression of “active participation” during Holy Mass, and the meaning of altar rails and sanctuaries.

This is yet another reason why Summorum Pontificum is so important. We need its gravitational pull. We need what the older form of Mass – and all that goes with it – to revitalize our Catholic identity which flows first and foremost from our baptism and liturgical worship.

My final comment:
The EF Mass and the OF Mass have something to say to each other and that is both are needed for the proper ecclesiology of the Church symbolized at Mass and in Church buildings.

Father Z says it perfectly and I believe that both forms of the Mass can do exactly what he writes but work has to happen on both forms in other to make way for the third form of the Mass coming down the pike:

The older, Extraordinary Form of Mass may demonstrate more clearly how the priest is the head of the liturgical body and can speak alone for the whole. On the other hand, perhaps the Ordinary Form shows more clearly the three-fold dynamic of Head, Body, and Christus Totus.