October 27, 2017

From the Archives

Stonewalled by altar stones

This photograph was taken at an event honoring senior citizens at St. Gabriel Parish in Connersville in May 1981. Following Mass said by Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara, several priests served dinner to 300 seniors in attendance. The priests are, from left to right, Fathers Harold Knueven, Stephen Jarrell, Glenn O’Connor, Robert Mazzola, and Archbishop O’Meara. Seated in front of the priests are Mistress of Ceremonies Karolyn Buckler and Elizabeth Mazzola, the mother of Father Mazzola, who made the archbishop’s apron. This photo originally appeared in the Connersville News Examiner.

One of the most common requests received in the archdiocesan archives is for the identity of the saints’ relics included in a church altar stone. This is not an easy question to answer, as many times the testimonial document verifying the relics was sealed within the stone itself. If the parish did not make a copy of the verification, there may be no way to determine the identity of the relics without destroying the altar stone.

Relics are only to be included in fixed and permanent altars that are not movable (Canon 1237 §2). Following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, some churches removed their fixed altars to construct new altars that would allow the priest to celebrate Mass facing the congregation. As a result, many altar stones from parishes around the archdiocese were removed and sent to the archives. In this photo, the stone from St. Joseph Church in Jennings County appears on the left, and the stone from the former St. Bernadette Church in Indianapolis on the right. If you have information about the altar stone at any parish in the archdiocese, please contact the archives and let us know!
 

(Would you like to comment on or share information about this photo? Contact archdiocesan archivist Julie Motyka at 800-382-9836, ext. 1538; 317-236-1538; or by e-mail at jmotyka@archindy.org.)

 

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