Page:Low Mass Ceremonial (Burnett).djvu/52

 mass lights (two wax candles in two candlesticks) one at each end, and cross or crucifix in the midst.

The step, or steps, upon which the altar is placed, should be wide enough to suit the purposes for which the altar may be used, and not more than five or six inches high. If three steps are used, the second and the third should run alongside the ends of as well as in front of the altar. The uppermost (or foot-pace) should be from three to four feet wide in front, and not more than two or three inches at the ends of the altar. The space underneath the altar should never be used as a cupboard or place to put things in.

The altar at which the holy Eucharist is celebrated should have upon it three linen cloths, white and clean. The two undermost of these three cloths are of heavy but fine linen, without any ornamentation, and are made the exact size of the top of the altar, with a hem of about an inch and a half wide. Quite distinct from these two cloths is the cere-cloth with which the mensa, if it be of stone, or the consecrated altar-stone which may be set in a wooden mensa, should be covered. The cere-cloth, a piece of heavy and fine linen, waxed on its under-side, should be hemmed and made to fit closely over the whole top and all four sides of the mensa. The uppermost cloth should be made of linen finer than the two below it, and have a hem of about an inch and a half or two inches wide. This upper cloth, the "fair linen cloth" of the rubric, should cover the mensa and hang down at each end of the altar nearly to the level of the foot-pace. The ends may be ornamented with white fringe or embroidery in white. In the part which lies upon the mensa five small equal-armed crosses may be worked in white thread, one in the middle and one towards and near each corner. These cloths should be kept white and clean; and, at such times as the altar is not being used, they should be protected from dust by a cover of some green-coloured material made to fit the altar-mensa. Except where the altar is richly ornamented with gold and colour, or with carvings, traditional usage and propriety call for at least a super-frontal (which may be supported by hooks attached to the cere-cloth, or by its own linen extension, laid over Rh