There was a time when more of us knew about basic sacristy work. As altar boys, we used to look with some awe at the preparation in the sacristy, and we smaller ones wouldn't touch the scary old thurible; it was heavy and they said we'd burn our fingers. We knew a little of what it's all about; we'd sometimes ask Father and try to understand what he said.
I look in some of the old books, such as my grandfather's old hand-missal, and there are detailed drawings of the making up of the chalice. One of the things I have discovered is that everything has a purpose, everything has a reason. Take, for example, the pall, which sits on the chalice for almost all of the Mass. That's the little square envelope of linen in the picture, with a stiff piece of card inside it to keep it rigid. It must be rigid because it stands over the precious Blood spilt, perhaps, it is called a pall.
And in a church such as ours, with flies buzzing overhead under the glass roof and particles falling down constantly, the pall prevents the most precious Blood from being polluted. On a related matter, I shall soon have to arrange for an altar cover that goes over the entire table of the altar, from end to end. That way, I may not have to scrub the dirt off the altar every morning.
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