Cruets
by Paul Turner
In the culinary world, cruets are small bottles for the
vinegar and oil you pour onto a salad. In the Catholic world, cruets may
hold water and wine for the Eucharist. They sat on the side table in
sanctuaries for hundreds of years, but they are becoming impractical.
The practice in the past is still honored in many catholic parishes: Glass
cruets matched perfectly; you could tell which held water and which held
wine by looking at their contents. Short and squat, they sat inside the
finger bowl nestled by a white cloth. Servers assisting the priest or
deacon first offered him the cruet of wine; he poured a few teaspoons into
the chalice. They next offered the cruet of water; he added a few drops.
They returned with the water cruet, finger bowl and cloth; they poured
water over the priest's fingers into the bowl
and he dried them with the cloth.
Although the ceremony has not changed, the shape and arrangement of the
vessels has. When communion is offered under both forms to the entire
assembly, keeping the wine for Mass in a small cruet is simply
impractical. A larger vessel, a carafe, is needed for the wine. The priest
or deacon may pour some wine from the carafe into a chalice and then place
the carafe next to the chalice on the altar. Obviously, the size of the
water container can be much smaller and need not match the carafe.
Furthermore, it is less likely to see the wine on the side table at the
beginning of Mass. It will be brought to the altar in procession with the
bread and gifts for the church and the poor. Placing two cruets inside the
finger bowl is like storing the vinegar and oil cruets at home in the
sink. It may look neat, but it does not express well the purpose of any of
these vessels.
Changes in the cruets represent a significant change in our practice of
communion. Matching vessels is not as important as partaking of both the
Body and Blood of Christ.
Copyright 1999 Resource Publications,
Inc., 160 E. Virginia St.#290, San Jose, CA 95112. (408) 286-8505.
This information has been
reprinted from Holy Cross' Sunday Bulletins
Holy Cross Catholic Church - Batavia, IL -- Page
Last Updated 03 Apr 2007
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