What is a church door called?
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine cathedrals and churches consisting of an entrance or lobby area at the west end of the nave opposite the main altar of the church.
What are the sides of a church called?
Aisles are the sides of the church and may run along the sides of the nave. The transept, if any, is the area across the nave near the top of the church.
What is the door of a cathedral called?
The Sacred Door (Latin: Porta Sancta) is traditionally an entrance portal within the Papal cathedral in Rome. The door is usually sealed with mortar and cement from the inside and cannot be opened.
What are the four parts of the church?
The words Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic are often referred to as the four marks of the Church.
What are the three parts of the church?
The Church is composed of people who have a vision of bliss and are in heaven. These divisions are known as the “three states of the Church,” especially in Catholic ecclesiology.
What is the vestibule of a church?
The vestibule is a small area just inside the main door of the building, but before the second door. Often you will find vestibules in churches. This is because they help keep heat from escaping every time someone enters or exits.
What is a church facade?
The facade or “west front” is the most ornate part of the exterior with processional doors, often three in number and often richly decorated with carvings, marble, or stone traces. The facade often has large windows, sometimes with rose windows or impressive groups of carvings as central features.
What is the door of mercy?
Passing through the door of mercy is a sign of opening ourselves to the mercy of God, which should lead us to practice the works of mercy and transform our lives in mercy.
What is the space around the altar called?
In church architecture, the clergy is the space around the altar, including the choir and sanctuary (sometimes called Presbyterian), at the eastern end of the liturgy in a traditional Christian church building. It may be terminated with an APSE.
What is the wall behind the altar called?
ALTAR PAINTING. The term REREDOS is used for a decorative screen or partition that is not directly attached to the altar table but is affixed to the wall behind it. The term retable simply refers to a decorative panel behind the altar.
What is a knave in a church?
The nave (/neɪv/) is the heart of the church, extending from the (usually western) main entrance or rear wall to the chancel, to the transept, or to a church without a transept.
What are church rooms called?
The Vestry, also known as the Holy of Holies, is the room or building attached to the church where ceremonial garments and objects are kept. The term is sometimes used to describe a committee of church members. Vestries tend to include many rooms outside the sacred sanctuary or gathering places for worship.
What is the back room of a church called?
A room in a Christian church where the vestments and sacred objects used in worship are kept and where the clergy and sometimes altar boys and choir members wear robes.
What is the basement of a church called?
A crypt (from the Latin crypta “vault”) is a stone chamber under the floor of a church or other building.
What is the cross on top of a church called?
A pointed cone at the top of a building is called a spire, especially if it rises from the roof of a church. A steeple is the part of a church roof that rises above the skyline of a city or the rolling hills of a village and points sharply toward the sky. Many church steeples have a cross at the top.
Why do churches have lych Gates?
A covered gate, usually at the entrance to a churchyard. The term lych is derived from the Saxon word for corpse, and the lych gate was traditionally the place where corpse carriers would carry the body of the deceased and place it in the communal bier.
What is a porch church?
A projecting entrance to the church, usually located at the southwest end of the nave, it is commonly referred to as the south porch. Early churches, especially those in Saxony, had no porch, and people entered directly into the nave.
What is an entrance vestibule?
The vestibule is a small enclosed entry chamber that traditionally served as a buffer between the indoors and outdoors in winter to trap air and minimize heat loss. Today vestibules also help keep cooled air indoors and outdoor heat in the summer.
What’s the difference between vestibule and foyer?
Vestibules are similar to foyers, but the terms do not have the same meaning. They have the same purpose, but foyers are larger, more formal spaces found in many public places. By design, foyers are often located behind an entrance or second door.
What is a ciborium used for?
A ciborium, plural Ciboria, or Ciboriums, in religious art, a vessel designed to hold the consecrated Eucharistic bread of a Christian church.
What are the architectural design of a church?
Most cathedrals and great churches have a cruciform plan. In churches of the Western European tradition, the plan is usually longitudinal in the form of a so-called Latin cross, with a long nave intersected by transepts.
What is a priest’s chair called?
The cathedra (Latin: “chair” or “seat”), a Roman chair of heavy construction derived from the crismos (a lighter and more delicate chair developed by the ancient Greeks). The cathedral was an early Christian basilica that served as a raised bishop’s throne placed behind the altar, near the apse wall.
Why do church altars face east?
The first Christians faced east when they prayed. This was probably derived from the ancient Jewish custom of praying in the direction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Because of this established custom, Tertullian says that some non-Christians believe that they worship the sun .
What is misericordiae Vultus?
Misericordiae Vultus (Faces of Mercy) is Pope Francis’ indictment (formal announcement or declaration) of a special jubilee of mercy.
What is a jubilee year in the Church?
Special anniversaries were proclaimed on the 50th anniversary of the Pope’s ordination (Pope Pius XI, 1929), at the close of the Second Vatican Council (1965), and to promote the knowledge and application of the Council’s achievements.
What is the difference between nave and sanctuary?
The nave is the sanctuary and contains the sacred objects that help guide parishioners to a state of holiness when they enter the nave to celebrate Mass. The sanctuary is clearly distinguished from the rest of the church and is usually raised slightly above the level of the nave.
Where is the altar located in a church?
The altar, centrally located in the sanctuary, is to be the focal point of the Church’s attention. At the beginning of the Roman rite of Mass, the priest first pays homage to the altar with a kiss, which only goes to the chair where he presides over the rite of introduction and the liturgy of the word.
What is the canopy over an altar called?
The baldachin, also called the bildachino or bildakin, in architecture is the canopy over the altar or tomb, supported by pillars, especially when cut free-standing from the enclosed walls.
What is the aisle in a church called?
In church architecture, an aisle (also called a YLE or alley) is more specifically a passageway to either side of the nave separated from the nave by columns or arcades. Sometimes the aisle stops at a transept, but more often the aisle can continue around the apse.
What is a nave and chancel?
The central, middle, or main part of Christ Church is the chancel (the area around the altar), from the entrance (narsex) to the transept (the sideway that crosses the nave in front of the cross-shaped church sanctuary) or in the presence of the transept.
What do you call the benches in a church?
A pew (/ˈpjuː/) is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of the congregation or choir of a church, synagogue, or sometimes court.
What is a worship area called?
Synonyms for place of worship A sanctuary. A place of worship. Mosque. Shrine. Synagogue.
What is the house next to a church called?
Clergy houses often serve as the administrative offices and residences of the local parish. They are usually located next to or at least close to the church their occupants serve.
What is a pastor’s house called?
Pastor literally means “house for pastors,” and parsons are primarily members of the Anglican clergy in England, although Lutherans often use the term as well. Other names for pastor include Rectory, House of Clergy, and Pastor.