Bishop Ruggieri blesses and dedicates a new altar in the cathedral chapel.
The chapel of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland has a beautiful new altar and ambo thanks to the generosity of a parishioner and the skill of local craftsmen.
The altar, which was built by M.R. Brewer, a Portland-based company, was blessed and consecrated by Bishop James Ruggieri during a Mass celebrated on March 19.
“The altar is not simply a table. It is not merely a functional piece of furniture. The altar, as the Church teaches in the Rite of Dedication, is a sign of Christ himself. That is why, in this rite, the altar is anointed with sacred chrism. Just as Christ is the Anointed One, so this altar becomes a sign of him. And it is upon this altar that the sacrifice of Christ becomes present,” Bishop Ruggieri said in his homily.
Father Seamus Griesbach, rector of the cathedral, said the former altar was in disrepair, and when he mentioned his desire to get a new one, a parishioner generously donated the money to have one built. An ambo was added to match. Father Griesbach, whose father was a carpenter, says he approached M.R. Brewer about taking on the project because he knew the family-owned company did quality work.
“We looked at all the different kinds of architecture of the chapel because we wanted to match that. They made it out of quarter sawn oak. They put over 250 hours of work into it. It’s just a really wonderful piece,” he said.
March 19 was chosen as the day for the dedication of the altar because it is the Feast of St. Joseph, who is the patron saint of carpenters.
“If the altar reveals Christ as the one who gives himself completely, then St. Joseph shows us what it looks like to participate in that self-gift. St. Joseph stands quietly at the center of the Holy Family, not as the source but as the faithful guardian. He gives himself entirely to Mary, to Jesus, and to the mission entrusted to him,” the bishop said.
During the Mass, the bishop sprinkled the altar, the ambo, and the congregation with holy water as a sign of the cleansing waters of salvation.
Following the Liturgy of the Word, all knelt facing the altar as the Litany of Saints was sung. The bishop was then presented with a relic of St. Patrick, a secondary patron of the diocese, to be inserted in the altar. A tradition that dates to the early centuries of the Church, relics represent the connection between the sacrifice of the Mass and the communion of saints.
“Today, when relics are placed within an altar, we are not adding anything to Christ’s sacrifice. Rather, we are proclaiming the power of Christ’s sacrifice. The saints are the fruit of the cross, the fruit of that one, saving sacrifice,” the bishop said. “The altar proclaims Christ’s sacrifice, and the saints bear witness to what that sacrifice can accomplish in a human life.”
The bishop then prayed the Prayer of Dedication, asking the Lord to “pour forth from heaven your sanctifying power upon this altar, built in the house of the Church, that it may be an altar dedicated for all time by the sacrifice of Christ.”
The bishop prayed that the altar may be a festive table to which guests of Christ hasten with joy and that it may be a place of intimate communion with God, a place of peace where those who feed on the body and blood of Christ may be filled with his spirit, and a place of fraternal harmony.
The bishop then anointed the altar by pouring sacred chrism on the center of it and on the four corners and rubbing it into the altar’s surface. Burning incense was then placed it, an act of purification and a symbol of prayers rising to heaven.
After the rite of anointing, the altar was dressed with cloths, and candles were placed on it, which were lit for the first time, the bishop saying, “Let the light of Christ shine upon this altar, and may those who share the Lord’s Supper shine with his light.”
During the Mass, the bishop also offered blessed the new ambo, praying that that it would "stand as a visible sign that, in this house of prayer, the Lord indeed visits his people with his holy word where it becomes for us spirit and life."
The bishop said while the altar is at the center of the community of faith, the ambo shouldn't be overlooked.
“From the ambo, the word of God is proclaimed. From there, Christ speaks to his people. And here, upon this altar, he offers himself to his people,” the bishop said. “Word and sacrifice, proclamation and offering, both inseparable. The Church is always gathered around both.”
