Antimension

ANTIMENSION. - It is the portable altar of the Greeks. The Latin Church in time adopted only portable altars of stone, while the Greek Church made use of wood and also of cloth, and finally settled definitively on the latter alone. Today the a. is commonly a rectangle (sometimes a square) of 0.40 x 0.60 m., of silk or even of linen, which has sewn onto its back part a small pouch containing relics, included in it by the bishop at the consecration. It originated from the frequent need to celebrate the divine mysteries far from churches, or in places lacking fixed altars; but positive historical data exist only for the 8th and 9th centuries. In antiquity it was used only when the altar was not consecrated; today, however, it is used indifferently on all altars. Outside of Mass, it remains on the altar folded in four: the priest, in the celebration of the divine sacrifice, unfolds it in due time according to the rubrical prescriptions. Ordinarily it is consecrated during the ceremony of the consecration of a church, when the bishop, having washed the altar a second time with perfumed wine or with rose water, dries it with the a., and then repeats the same action after having anointed the altar with the sacred chrism. The a. thus consecrated must remain on the altar until seven Masses have been celebrated on it. In case of necessity they may also be consecrated at other times by the bishop or by a priest delegated for this purpose. Priests of another rite are forbidden to celebrate Mass on the a. (can. 823, § 2).

Enrico Dante