Q: Related to incensing the altar, I have long had the following question.
In GIRM, 277, it states: “The cross, if situated on the altar or near it, is incensed by the Priest before he incenses the altar; otherwise, he incenses it when he passes in front of it”; and elsewhere in the GIRM, it always lists cross before altar when incensing.
In our church, the crucifix is mounted on the wall that is several feet behind the altar, which seems to me to be near the altar. Does this mean that the priest should first face the cross and incense it before he begins to incense the altar? Currently, the priest incenses the altar, then when he gets to the front of it, stops to incense the cross, then continues to finish incensing the altar.
(In some churches, the cross is suspended above the altar. Should the cross in that case also be incensed first before the altar? At those churches, I have also seen the priest do as we do at our church: incense the altar, then when he gets to the front of it, stops to incense the cross, then continues to finish incensing the altar.)
What is envisioned when GIRM, 277, says: “otherwise, he incenses it when he passes in front of it”?
Thank you for your help.
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A: The GIRM is probably vague here because it is impossible to express great clarity over all the different altar and cross combinations in the world. The priest may use his best judgment, and one priest may judge differently from another.
In my view, if the cross is on the back wall, it’s easier to signify he’s incensing that cross if the priest turns to it first rather than when he pauses halfway around his circuit of the altar. If it’s hanging directly above the tabernacle, it will be hard to signify which object he is incensing. We never incense tabernacles, but sometimes it looks that way.
If the cross is suspended over the altar, presumably facing the congregation, I’d probably pause halfway around the circuit so that I could incense the front of the cross.
In our cathedral, our crucifix is freestanding at about 2 o’clock from the perspective from the nave. I start incensing the altar, and then, when I pass in front of the crucifix, I incense it before finishing the incensation of the altar.