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Special  Verbum Issue # 52,  Color - Winter 1994
St Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Winona, MN, USA.

"Introibo Ad Altare Dei"

              The Consecration of the Seminary's Main Altar

                                + A Photo Essay +

  Although it had been six years since the Society of St. Pius X acquired the former Dominican Novitiate in Winona as the site of our North American seminary, it was only in November of this past year that the altar in the Main Chapel was at last consecrated. Or, more precisely, re-consecrated. This consecration was necessary because, when the building was sold by the Dominicans in 1970 due to a lack of vocations, they properly removed the relics from the main altar, and thus the altar lost its consecration.

  The ceremony for the consecration of an altar is unlike anything most people have ever seen, lasting five hours when combined with the Pontifical High Mass which follows it. For most Traditional Catholics today, it is a once-in-a- lifetime experience: Many, indeed, will probably never witness such a magnificent event. And it is to those that we present this “photo essay" of our altar consecration.

  On this page are shown the two patrons of our Seminary, memorialized in the original stained glass windows that, appropriately enough, stand side-by-side in the Main Chapel. On the left, St. Peter Martyr, a Dominican from the 1200's killed by the Albigensians and from whom this former Dominican Novitiate was originally named:



and St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Dominican "Angelic Doctor" whose teachings are closely adhered to by the Society of St. Pius X.




    First-class relics of St. Peter Martyr, St. Thomas. and St. Emerentiana -  a virgin martyr of the early Church — are now entombed in the altar: for it is essential to an altar 's consecration that it contain the relics of martyrs and saints. (The photo shows the slab of the altar stone which seals the tomb, engraved with the names of the three saints buried within.)

Symbolism of the Altar

  In the mystical sense,  the consecrated altar symbolizes the Body of Christ on the Cross at Calvary, offering Himself to the Father on behalf of sinful mankind.  Like Calvary, the altar becomes the most sacred place in the world, for it is on this altar that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass — the re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary —is again and again offered  to God by the priest, humanly taking the place of Christ, the mediator between God and man. Calvary, as Scripture tells us, was also called "Golgotha" — the Place of the Skull— for it has been commonly believed through the ages that Adam's skull was buried on that very spot. Fittingly, for at Calvary Christ died for all the descendants of Adam,  hanging upon the altar of the Cross with His arms extended, embracing the whole of humanity. On this same altar the Blood of Christ is shed for the remission for our sins, like the Old Testament h0Ɩ0cαųst which prefigured this Sacrifice. The altar, then, represents the incarnation, passion, death, and burial of Our Lord Jesus Christ; indeed, the whole of our Redemption is epitomized in it. And, by means of the incense burnt into the altar during the consecration ceremony, it serves to continually offer our prayers to God, as Christ prayed for us while dying on the Cross.

  Furthermore, the relics of martyrs and saints are buried in the altar to symbolize how we human beings must he united to the Body of Christ. a practice dating back to the early Church. And the altar itself must be a single stone, without any cracks, to symbolize that the Mystical Body of Christ —the Church—is one and unified, inviolate, and unbroken by schism.

The following pages show the main highlights of the beautiful consecration ceremony. Our only regret is that more people were not able to be there in person to see it.

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  "Bless and Hallow This Altar, O Lord..."

  The altar consecration took place on November 1, (1993) Feast of All Saints. The ceremony, however, started the night before, when the relics of the three saints were placed in a special reliquary [Photo #1] in Our Lady's Chapel on the second floor of the Seminary. Matins and Lauds were then sung in common in this chapel, and the seminarians then retired for the evening to get well rested for the following day.

Monday morning, November 1, 1993.

    After a solid month of vigorous preparation by the sacristans. the Masters of Ceremonies, the Gregorian Chant schola, and everyone else involved in the ceremony, it finally begins. At 9:00 a.m., Bishop Williamson, led by the seminarians and priests, processes into the Main Chapel and vests in the sanctuary. The altar has already been stripped bare and the Blessed Sacrament removed the night before. While the Bishop vests, the choir chants the Seven Penitential Psalms. Next the Litany of All Saints is sung, to invoke the intercession of our friends in Heaven, especially the three saints whose relics will be in the altar. Next the Bishop blesses the Gregorian Water — a special type of holy water composed of blessed salt, ashes, water, and wine [Photo #2]. The Gregorian Water symbolizes penance, and the Bishop sprinkles the altar with the Gregorian Water as a way of purifying the altar and preparing it to be sanctified. With his thumb, he makes the Sign of the Cross over the five crosses that are carved into the top of the altar (the middle and the four corners, which symbolize the five wounds of Our Lord). This blessing is repeated seven times, interspersed by the Bishop intoning the "Asperges" antiphon, which is sung by the choir each time. After this the Bishop blesses the dry cement to be used for the "tomb" of the relics. Meanwhile a torchbearer pours the remains of the Gregorian Water around the base of the altar.

  Next, everyone processes with the Bishop out of the Main Chapel and upstairs to Our Lady's Chapel to retrieve the relics [Photo #3]. Holding them carefully in his hands, the Bishop processes back to the Main Chapel [Photo #4], where he places the relics in another reliquary. Then, using Sacred Chrism, he anoints the "sepulchre" — the small, hollowed-out square in the middle of the altar which will contain the relics. He then returns to the reliquary to get the relics [Photo #5], takes them to the altar, and places them in the sepulchre. The choir is chanting psalms and antiphons the entire time.

  With the relics in the sepulchre, the Bishop anoints the slab of stone that will enclose the relics [Photo #6]. A server brings the wet-mixed cement, and the Bishop seals the tomb with a trowel [Photo #7]. He then anoints the top of the slab with Chrism.
Page 2.

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  Next, all five altar crosses are anointed by the Bishop with the Oil of Catechumens — one of the special holy oils blessed on Holy Saturday [Photo #8]. This is interspersed by several psalms, antiphons, prayers, and incensations of the altar.


  More anointing follows. Taking a cruet of Chrism and a cruet of Oil of Catechumens, the Bishop pours these oils onto the altar [Photo #9] and, with his hand, rubs them over the entire surface of the altar [Photo #10].

  Next, small candles in the shape of crosses and containing five grains of blessed incense each are placed on the altar and lighted [Photo #11]. Everyone watches and waits until the incense is completely burned into the top of the altar. The altar then takes on the role of a permanent "altar of incense," continually offering the prayers of the faithful to God, as the accompanying antiphon says, " The smoke arose as a sweet smelling savor before God."





The Bishop then anoints the front of the altar as well as its supporting junctures on the sides [Photo #12]. While the Bishop cleans his hands of the holy oils, two priests clean the entire altar top and every part that has been anointed. The sacristans then cover the altar with the proper linens [Photo #13], adding all the usual candles, reliquaries, and flowers in preparation for the Pontifical High Mass that follows.

    After the final incensation and prayers by the Bishop, the consecration ceremony is complete, and all process to the back of the chapel to prepare for Mass — now celebrated here on an altar duly consecrated for that sublime purpose [Photo #14].

"I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." Apoc. 6:9
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For another photo of +Williamson consecrating:
https://www.cathinfo.com/sspx-resistance-news/bishop-richard-williamson-anniversary-june-29-2026/msg1032639/#msg1032639

Notice how fast  H.E. Williamson is rubbing the oils on the surface: only his hand is blurred in the photo. He was energetic and zealous!!   . R.I.P.+

Deo gratias+