What is the layout of a Catholic church?
The entryway to the church is the narthex; the church portals are located here. The nave, or center aisle is an elongated rectangle and pews are located to each side. During processions, ceremonies or masses, people walk up the nave to the altar. The crossing is where the transepts and nave intersect.
What are the key features of a Catholic church?
Catholic churches
- the altar – a table where the bread and wine are blessed during the Eucharist.
- the lectern – a stand where the Bible is read from.
- the pulpit – where the priest delivers sermons.
- a crucifix – a cross with Jesus on.
What direction do Catholic churches face?
Chances are you will find that the church is built facing the east. This is no coincidence. Though it has not been possible on every occasion, many Catholic churches have been built to face the east. There are scriptural roots to this orientation.
How is a church arranged?
Within church architecture, orientation is an arrangement by which the point of main interest in the interior is towards the east (Latin: oriens). The east end is where the altar is placed, often within an apse. The façade and main entrance are accordingly at the west end.
Why do church doors face east?
Direction: churches are always rotated east to west with the chancel, sanctuary and altar in the east. This is because the east faces towards the holy city of Jerusalem which is where, in medieval writing, God’s presence was said to be strongest.
Why do churches have three doors?
The iconostasis represents Christian continuity from the veil of the Temple in Jerusalem which separated the people from the Holy of Holies that housed the Ark of the Covenant. Normally, the iconostasis has three doors in it. These are the doors that the clergy will normally use when entering the sanctuary.
Why do cathedrals face east?
In the catholic liturgy, it describes an eastward orientation of celebrating Mass, according to the “cosmic sign of the rising sun which symbolizes the universality of God.” [1,2] It is interesting to note that the earliest churches in Rome had the main entrance facing east and an apse with the altar to the west; the …
What are the things inside a Catholic Church?
The Vestibule. Just inside the entrance to a Catholic church is the vestibule. A large, standing font or pool used to perform the sacrament of Baptism is typically located to one side. The paschal candle stands next to the baptismal pool. It is lit at Easter and immersed in the pool as a sign of Christ come to life.
What are the parts of a Catholic altar?
The component parts of a fixed altar in the liturgical sense are the table (mensa), the support (stipes) and the sepulchrum. (See ALTAR-CAVITY.) The table must be a single slab of stone firmly joined by cement to the support, so that the table and support together make one piece.
What is the architecture of the church?
Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of Christian churches. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by imitating other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions.