A bursa (or ''burse''), from Greek ''βύρσα'' ("hide", "skin", "bag"), is a parament about twelve inches square in which the folded

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

is kept in for reasons of reverence. It is used in the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Anglo-Catholic churches, and the Lutheran churches. Until the reform of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, when it fell out of use in many places, the bursa was carried by the priest to the altar when he entered for

Holy Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...

. It is placed upon the

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

at the beginning and end of the Mass and on the altar at benediction. Usually, the bursa was made from two pieces of cardboard which were bound together at three edges; the forth was open to receive the corporal. The outer side of the bursa has the same liturgical color of the day and occasionally the same ornamentation as the

vestments Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; amo ...

. The inner side is made of linen or silk. A cross or the nomen sacrum

IHS IHS may refer to: Religious * Christogram#IHS, Christogram IHS or ΙΗΣ, a monogram symbolizing Jesus Christ * ''In hoc signo'', used by Roman emperor Constantine the Great Organizations * Indian Health Service, an operating division of the US D ...

may be embroidered on the top. The two halves of the bursa are sewn together on one side and tied with ties or gussets on two sides to prevent the corporal from falling out.

References

{{Reflist Christian religious objects Eucharistic objects