PURIFICATORIO (abstenuorum, extersorium)
Small linen rectangle (25/30 x 40/50 cm) used at Mass to dry the fingers, lips, and chalice after the second ablution; to purify the paten before placing the consecrated Host upon it after the *Pater noster*; and to purify the chalice before pouring in the wine and water at the Offertory.
Until this moment, as well as after the ablution, the *purificatorio* is folded over the chalice, above or below the paten (Decr. Aut. S. Rit. Congr., n. 2572, 14 and 15). From the Offertory until the ablution, the *purificatorio* lies unfolded on the corporal to the right of the celebrant. Purification of the chalice and fingers was necessary so that no residue of the consecrated elements would remain, though ecclesiastical writers do not specify special cloths for this purpose.
The *Consuetudines Cluniacenses* are the first to mention it, while the *Consuetudines* of St. Victor in Paris distinguish between *terorias* for purifying the chalice and *mappulae* for purifying the priest’s fingers after Holy Communion. In the *Ordo Rom. XIV*, 33, the pope had a *teroso* for purifying his fingers and lips. The term *purificatorio* appears in a 1295 inventory of the papal treasury. In the aforementioned inventory, *purificatori* are kept in a *copertorio*, while corporals are stored in a *repositorio*. The use of the *purificatorio* became universal with the Roman Missal of Pius V. No special blessing is prescribed for the *purificatorio* (Decret. auth., 2372 ad 12 ct 13). A cross embroidered in the center of the *purificatorio*, already mentioned by St. Charles Borromeo, distinguishes it from the *manutergium* used for the *Lavabo*. The first washing of the *purificatorio* must be done by clerics (CIC 1306, 1. 2).