CORPORAL. – It is a square of linen on which the Eucharistic Species and sacred vessels are placed. Its name derives from its function of collecting the Body of Christ. In the early centuries, no cloths were spread over the altar; only at Mass, before the Offertory, deacons would spread a linen cloth to place upon it the bread and wine destined for the Eucharistic sacrifice, and with a fold of it the chalice was covered. Once the custom of covering the altar with two or three cloths had been introduced and, on the other hand, the offerings had diminished, the corporal was shortened so that by the Middle Ages it already appeared in its present form. The chalice was then covered with another small corporal called the palla (q.v.).
The material was determined by the reference to the Shroud in which the lifeless body of Jesus had been wrapped; therefore, the sacrifice of the Mass must be offered upon a linen cloth. In the Ambrosian liturgy, this comparison with the prayer preceding the Offertory, called “super sindonem,” is kept alive.
Nevertheless, ancient corporals of silk are preserved. In antiquity, after the consecration, the corporal was folded three times, placing the two ends inward so that “neither one end nor the other appeared outside.” Medieval liturgists saw in this the symbolism of Christ’s divinity, which has neither beginning nor end, but the true reason lay rather in the concern that any minute Eucharistic fragments remaining thereon might not fall into a profane place. For this reason, the preservation and washing of the corporal always demand reverent care; and by the 9th century, there already existed the prescription that corporals were not to be sent to the laundry before being washed at least once by a priest, deacon, or subdeacon. The regulations of Cluny on this matter are detailed and most curious. Corporals of elaborate workmanship are known, but modern legislation permits only damask linen, some embroidery at the corners, a small unraised cross in the center, and lace trimming on the edges. It is carried to the altar in a burse that follows the rules of liturgical colors.