What’s inside our Church

Sacred Heart Church West Des Moines, IA

Holy Water Font • Holds the blessed holy water; • Reminds us of our baptism, the most important and significant

day of our lives; • We make the sign of the Cross which reminds us that we believe

in the Trinity and that Jesus died for us. Older students:

• As we sign ourselves with the holy water we also renew our bap-tismal promises;

• We not only recall our baptism, but we commit ourselves to Christ;

• We sign ourselves by the name in which we were baptized: In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

The Sanctuary • An area of the church that surrounds the altar; • Sanctuary means “holy place”; • The raised sanctuary symbolizes a mountain

which were old Testament places of worship that were frequently on a mountain;

• A mountain is where heaven and earth meet which is what happens at Mass.

The Altar

• The altar is a table where our church family gathers for a meal.

• We place our gifts of bread and wine on the altar where they become the Body and Blood of Jesus.

• The altar is a symbol of Christ. This is why the priest kisses the altar at Mass.

• We reverence the altar with a bow when we enter the church.

Older students: • The altar is the place of sacrifice; • At each Mass, we are present at Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (not the bloody sacri-

fice of Calvary but the re-presentation of that sacrifice at Mass.)

The Ambo • A special place where we read from the Scriptures; • It is raised so that everyone in the church can see and hear

the lector and also to remind us that Jesus speaks to us in the scriptures and he often went up on a mountain to teach;

• At a family dinner we may often look at pictures or tell our family stories;

• Our church family does the same thing every Sunday – the Scriptures from the Bible are our Christian family’s stories;

• Because the stories are sacred and very precious to us, they are read from a distinct place in our church.

The Baptismal Font • A special and beautiful font that holds the holy water for bap-

tism; • Usually for babies and small children.

Older students: • In the time of the apostles, people were baptized in rivers or

streams just as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River; • As Christianity spread and

churches were built, baptismal fonts were included in the buildings.

The Baptismal Pool • Many Catholic churches now include a baptis-

mal pool for adults who are to be baptized; • The earliest fonts have been found in the Roman

catacombs. They are usually shallow pools or basins where the person who is to be baptized stands as water is poured over their head.

The Holy Oils • Consecrated oils that are used to anoint

people and things at special times; • The Chrism was used when you were

baptized and when you are anointed at your confirmation. It is also used when a priest is ordained or when an altar in a new church is consecrated;

• The Oil of the Catechumens is also for baptism;

• The Oil of the Sick is for people who are sick or dying;

Older students: • In the Old Testament, oil was used for the consecration of priests and kings and

also in all the great liturgical functions such as sacrifice and consecration of altars; • The Oil of the Sick is not a medical prescription. St. James directed the apostles to

pray for the sick and anoint them in Jesus’ name.

The Easter Candle • Always the biggest and most beautiful candle

in the church; • Blessed and lit at the Easter Vigil each year

and after that is usually lit for funerals and bap-tisms;

• It is sometimes called the Paschal (Passover) candle because it reminds us of the Resurrec-tion – the day Jesus rose from the dead.

Saint Statues • Every Catholic church has statues that remind us of special

people called saints; • The saints are people who have lived holy lives. Many of

them have been recognized by God and the Catholic Church for everything they have done;

• Without our saints, there would probably be no Church; • Many of the saints were persecuted and killed for spread-

ing the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world; • When we look at our saint statues, we honor these special

people and remember what they did;

Candles • The candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world; • Votive candles: smaller candles usually located by the

saint statues; • Said to “keep the prayer” even when we have to leave

the church.

Sanctuary Lamp • In the Book of Exodus, God commanded the people

to light a lamp as a sign of his presence in the Taber-nacle;

• In our churches, we have something similar called the “Sanctuary Lamp”;

• It burns continually before the Tabernacle as a sign of Jesus’ presence within and that he remains with us night and day;

• At Sacred Heart, our sanctuary lamp is dark after Holy Thursday Mass until after Good Friday liturgy because the Body of Christ is not present in the Tabernacle;

• The lamp is usually red but that is not required; the im-portant thing is that it burns (it cannot be electrical).

Tabernacle • Beautiful box that holds the Blessed

Sacrament; • Must be beautiful, unmovable and

locked; • The Body of Christ is kept here to be

taken out to the sick or homebound; • We genuflect when we come before

the tabernacle.

Chapel • Since Vatican II, many Catholic churches have

moved their tabernacles to a chapel.; • The chapel provides a quiet place where peo-

ple can come to pray before the Blessed Sac-rament no matter what is going on in the church.

Stations of the Cross • The Stations are stat-

ues or plaques placed around the church that remind us of what happened to Jesus on the last day of his life here on earth;

• During Lent, special times are set aside to pray the Sta-tions of the Cross together as a church family;

• The Stations are like a picture album we look at to re-mind us how much Jesus loved us and died for us.

Sacristy • Storeroom for books, candles,

wine, unconsecrated hosts, priest’s vestments and other items used for Mass and cele-brating the sacraments;

• Vestments are special clothes the priests or deacons wear when they are at Mass or other special ceremonies. They are dif-ferent colors and are worn at dif-ferent times of the year:

• White – feasts of the Lord (Christmas/Easter/Christ the King), weddings, funerals and All Saint’s Day;

• Red – signifies the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) and the blood of the cross (Good Friday and Palm Sunday). Also worn for the feast of the martyrs;

• Green – Ordinary Time (hope and growth); • Purple – anticipation (Advent) or penance (Lent).

Reconciliation Room • A place of privacy where we can come

to confess our sins and receive absolution; • We can talk to the priest face-to-face or

we can kneel behind a screen.