Altar cards are three cards placed on the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

during the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

. They contain certain prayers that the priest must say during the Mass, and their only purpose is as a memory aid, although they are usually very beautifully decorated.

History

Altar cards were not used before the sixteenth century, and even today they are not used when a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

celebrates the Tridentine Mass, because he reads the entire Mass from the Pontifical Canon. When

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

restored the Missal, only the card at the middle of the altar was used, and it was called the "Tabella Secretarum". The left card was added first, and then the right one was added for the sake of symmetry.

Content of the cards

The altar card on the left contains the Last Gospel (John 1:1–14), which is said at the very end of the Mass. The card on the right contains the prayer for blessing the wine and water ("Deus qui humanæ substantiæ") and the ''Lavabo'' ("I shall wash", from the words of

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

26 5 in the Septuagint/Vulgate6–12). The larger, centre card contains the '' Gloria'', the prayer ''Munda cor meum'' recited before reading the Gospel, the ''

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – or its shorter version, the Apostles' Creed – in the Mass, either as a prayer, a spoken text, or sung as Gregorian chant or other musical sett ...

'', the prayer for offering the Host (''Suscipe, Sancte Pater''), the Words of Consecration, and portions of the Canon of the Mass. Usually, the card's centre contains a picture of the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

Uses and regulations of altar cards

The altar cards may only stand on the altar during Mass. The center one stands against the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

, altar cross or other support, and the left and right ones stand against either the candlesticks or the superstructural steps (each called a "gradine") of the altar. After Mass, they must either be removed or placed face downwards under the altar cover. The cards must be removed for the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

References

{{reflist Tridentine Mass Christian religious objects