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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
were sprinkled, and the holy water scattered to the
north, east, south and west.
The blessing of the church having been com
pleted, the clergy went in procession for the relics,
two torch-bearers walking before the bishop and the
crucifix and incense being carried. On returning to
the front door of the church, the door was anointed
with holy chrism in the form of a cross and the relics
were carried in to the altar, while an antiphon was
intoned. The sepulchre of the altar was anointed
and the relics placed within it and sealed, with ce
ment, previously blessed. Five crosses were marked
upon the altar, which was sprinkled with holy water,
and five crosses of incense in the form of grains were
laid upon the places on which the five crosses had
previously been traced. Over each cross of incense
a thin wax taper in the form of a cross was placed
and lighted. This ceremonial with the accompanying
prayers concluded the service of consecration. The
new altar cloths, vases and ornaments were blessed
by the bishop and the church prepared for the pon
tifical mass.
For the consecration service Father Dan McCarthy,
of Savannah, acted as deacon, and Father E. M.
Walsh, of Albany, as subdeacon. The master of cere
monies was Father Leo M. Keenan, of Savannah. The
assistant priests were Very Rev. Joseph D. Mitchell,
Savannah; Father P. A. Ryan, S. J., of Augusta, and
Father Wilkinson, S. J., of Macon.
Those who served as ushers at the mass were:
C. A. McCarthy, M. C. McCarthy, A. J. Possar, N. T.
Stafford, W. J. Bremer, R. J. Warrick, R. W. Doyle,
Andrew McC. Doyle, Walter Powers, Joseph Cor
coran, D. J. Sheehan, T. J. Sheehan, L. J. Wilkinson,
James R. Gallagher, Lloyd Sanders and L. C. Burns.
In the choir were the following: A. J. Handiboe,
H. E. Worthman, T. A. Waters, John Y. Dyer, W. T.
Clower, J. P. Deacy, E. J. Cronin, J. A. Spellman,
J. L. McDonough, J. B. Piechocinski, Desmond O’Dris
coll, W. J. McGuire, E. Prendegast, Charles Passier,
F. X. Beytagh, J. B. Smith, J. A. Doyle, Jr., J. H.
Heagarty, T. A. McQuade, T. L. McCarthy, Dr.
Everett Bishop and the Marist Brothers.
THE CONSECRATION OF THE SACRED HEART CHURCH,
ATLANTA
EXPLANATION OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ANCIENT CEREMONIES AND SACRAMENTALS OF
A CONSECRATION.
June 9th was a red-letter day in the annals of the
Sacred Heart Church Parish, for it saw the solemn
consecration of the church. A successful drive,
launched by the Pastor, the Rev. P. McOscar, S. M.,
and generously seconded by the faithful, had pre
viously wiped out the debt. The Right Reverend
E. P. Allen, D. D., Bishop of Mobile, Ala., performed
the impressive ceremonies of the consecration, where
by the church has truly become a Catholic House of
Divine worship, never to be sold or used for any other
purpose.
To a casual onlooker, these ceremonies may ap
pear almost superfluous, but here, as in all other
ceremonies, there is a deep and beautiful meaning or
symbolism, full of instruction for every Catholic.
This symbolism, which is manifold, may best be
brought out under its different aspects by considering
the several reasons for which churches are conse
crated.
Why Consecration?
Churches are consecrated, first, to make them
sacred and holy; second, to show the state of the
whole Church; third, to remind us of our baptism.
Whilst churches were consecrated in the very first
century of the Christian Era, the present rite comes
down to us from the fourth century.
1. The first reason, then, why churches are con
secrated is to make them sacred, fit places for divine
worship, free from all secular use and profanation.
Men must be made aware by some exterior rites that
such or such a place has been reserved, set aside for
the worship of the Almighty. Since, then, it is dedi
cated to Christ, the God Man, His standard, viz., the
cross, is painted or nailed on the walls, whereby they
become, as it were, stamped with His seal. And be
cause it must be not a profane and common house,
but sacred and the palace of the King of Kings, it is
anointed with Holy Oil. For as oil was the noblest
and most penetrating fluid known at the time, it is
the fittest and most appropriate symbol of consecra
tion. Again, since the building is destined as the
place of sacrifice, prayers and the sacred functions,
it is sprinkled with Holy Water, incense is burnt, can
dles are lighted, the Latin and the Greek alphabets
are written on the floor by the Bishop, because in
those two languages only the sacrifice of the Mass is
offered to God, and also because faith, the founda
tion of all justice, was taught and preached by almost
the entire Church in these languages at the time
these ceremonies were introduced. Because men are
not only taught, but also moved and stirred on to
the practice of virtue and newness of life, water,
ashes, salt and wine are mixed. Water represents
man cold and indifferent to the service of God; ashes,
penance and mortification; salt, spiritual taste and
wisdom; wine, joy and fervor for the new life. Finally,
as it can not be an abode for the evil spirit, God and
the Saints are called upon to dwell there, the Bishop
knocks three times at the door, the devil is com
manded to depart, and the relics of the Saints are
brought in.