St. Agatha - St. James Church Tour
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St. Agatha - St. James Church Tour |
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We now approach the high altar and the main sanctuary chapel, which houses two altars. The main altar now is a simple slab of stone, resting upon a rectangular marble base. Behind this table the priest stands at Mass, celebrating the Eucharist as he faces the people in the nave space. This altar reflects the reforms of the second Vatican Council when new altars were installed in the mid-1960's. Set behind that new altar is the original high altar of 1887. It soars to a height of 27 feet, rising and expanding in a Gothic/Victorian extravaganza of pointed arches, niches, tabernacle and pinnacles. This altar is like a church in miniature, complete with towers. Its chief function now is to house the metal tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is stored.
Original altar with Lamb of God
At the base of the old altar appears a fine carving of the Lamb of God. This repeats the theme of the painted dome at the center of the transept. Here the image of the Lamb shares the same space as the priest celebrating the Eucharist, saying "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." The relief reminds us that the Mass is a foretelling of the mystic glories of Heaven, in which we hope to have some share.
The new altar was originally in St. Agatha's Church. It is simple in deliberate contrast to the complexity of the old one, except for its front face. The rectangle of marble is outlined by a border set in colored mosaic tiles. The decoration is in the manner of churches in Rome and elsewhere in Italy from earliest Christian times to the Renaissance. This simple decoration establishes a continuity between old Rome and where we are. The mosaic border also emphasizes the great letters at the center, Greek CHI combined with Greek RHO, the X and the P, to form the monogram of Christ, CHRISTOS in Greek.
When we approach this particular altar, especially on days when sunlight plays through the church, something extraordinary happens. The polished front surface of the altar table reflects the columns and capitals of the nave but it also reflects our own images -- look for yourself some morning! By that play of light reflected, we join Christ, who is our Head, just as we form his body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
Above the altars, stained glass and frescoes set forth other images of our Church. The central window of the clerestory zone presents the saint to whom this building is dedicated, James the Greater. He is joined here by six other saints to become the centerpiece of an early Christian community.
St. James sits enthroned. We recognize this bearded man as our patron saint because of the pilgrim's staff, from which hangs a jaunty hat, like that worn by travellers in the Middle Ages. On his shoulder we see James' cockle-shell, worn like an officer's epaulet. When we recognize this seated figure, we also realize that he sits on the long central axis of the church building, that he is clearly visible when we enter the church, and that his position here corresponds to the statue of that same pilgrim saint on the entrance gable of the church. James, it seems, is beginning and end, Alpha and Omega, of this building!
 St. Peter |
 St. Paul |
James, however, is not alone. To our left sits St. Peter, armed with the keys that Jesus gave him. To our right sits St. Paul, whose sword of martyrdom lies at his feet. The central triad of windows here includes the founders of the Roman Church.
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James, Peter and Paul are in turn flanked by the four evangelists.
Matthew and Mark are to our right as we look at James. Luke and John
are to our left. Each is identified by traditional attributes and
symbols. A book and a pen, tools of the writer's craft, lie at Luke's
feet. He is also accompanied by a bull, crouching at the lower left,
just as St. John the Evangelist is denoted by an eagle.
We have encountered the evangelists elsewhere, at the crossing where nave and transept intersect. There, these men serve as pillars of the church. Here, in the sanctuary, they sit enthroned in glory, raised up to heaven, just as the mother of James and John desired for her sons (Matthew 20:20-21). All here, however, look upwards, some gesturing in awe, others pressing hands together in prayer. They acknowledge what we cannot see, the glory of God. |
In 1912 the bare wall beneath these splendid windows was enriched by four frescoes showing the Doctors of the Church. Each stands in a gorgeously painted almond-shaped frame. From left to right they are St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan; St. Jerome, depicted as a Cardinal of the Church; St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo; and Gregory the Great, Pope around the year 600. "Doctor" here means one who is learned, and learning is the idea embodied by these men. Two, Ambrose and Augustine, occupy themselves with the work of scholarship, writing and reading. The others suggest a more inward form of learning, gained through prayer (Jerome) and contemplation (Gregory).
What the sanctuary wall also presents are two communities of holy men who lived at varied times in sacred history. The figures in the stained glass windows lived during or close to the time of Jesus in the early first century. Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome, however, flourished around 400. As our eye scans down the wall, we move through historical time, just as we progress back through history in our journey past the saints of the nave to the altar.
At Mass we see our priests against this backdrop of sacred communities as they celebrate Mass. We see the present day flesh-and-blood counterparts to these men of old. Think of the celebrant as he sits in the presider's chair and compare him with the apostles seated above. As he ascends the pulpit to proclaim the gospel and give a homily, he becomes the successor to the learned men who stand above. The images of the sanctuary present images of the Church in many ways, more than we can begin to consider in this tour!
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St. Agatha - St. James Church Tour |
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