Credence
credence
Small table of wood, marble, or other suitable material placed in the sanctuary of a church, near the wall on the Epistle side, to hold the cruets , acolytes’ candles, and other requirements for the celebration of Mass. At solemn Mass the chalice , paten, corporal and veil are placed here from the beginning of Mass until the Offertory. On solemn festivals it is covered with a linen cloth extending to the ground on all sides, on less solemn days the cover is shorter, and on ordinary days it merely covers the requisite part. In the Byzantine Rite the credence is a large table where the first part of the Liturgy is said.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Credence
(Or Credence-Table).
A small table of wood, marble, or other suitable material placed within the sanctuary of a church and near the wall at the Epistle side, for the purpose of holding the cruets, acolytes’ candles, and other utensils required for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. The credence, properly so called, is contemplated only in connexion with solemn Masses; on it the chalice, paten, corporal, and veil are placed from the beginning of the Mass until the Offertory. When a bishop celebrates, it should be of larger dimensions than usual, the ordinary size being about forty inches long, twenty broad, and thirty-six high. On very solemn festivals it should be covered with a linen cloth extending to the ground on all sides, on less solemn occasions the cloth should not extend so far, while on days of simple rite it should merely cover the superficies. For low Masses the rubrics contemplate a niche or bracket in the wall, or some small arrangement for holding the cruets, finger-bowl, and towel, but custom now favours the use of a credence-table.
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Cæremoniale Episcoporum, I, xii sq.; Rubr. Gen. Miss., XX; VAN DER STAPPEN, De Missæ Celebratione (Mechlin, 1902).
PATRICK MORRISROE Transcribed by Anthony J. Stokes
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IVCopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Credence
We add the following particulars from Walcott, Sac. Archaeol, s.v.:
“It either takes the form of a little table covered with a linen cloth at Brabourne it is on the south side, and formed of black marble, with a cross in a circle carved on it or is made like an aumbry in the wall. In some churches a second table held the mass vestments of the bishop. The wall credence is often connected with a drain, is rare in the 12th (one occurs at Lausanne), but is usual in the following century. Sometimes it occurs on the north and south sides of an altar; often it is divided by a thin slab of stone. When the pope celebrates on Easter-day there are three credences two on the epistle side, one containing the deacon’s plate, the second supporting two candles and necessaries required by the sacristan. The third, or pope’s credence, is on the gospel side, where, at the end of the Creed, the sacristan washes the sacred vessels, drinks of the wine and the water, and finally, at the offertory, tastes the particles from which the hosts are prepared, at the command of the cardinal deacon, as a precaution against poison. The first use of credences in the Roman ritual occurs in the time of Leo X, in 1516, and apparently was introduced when the custom of personal offering fell into desuetude.”