Case XIX: Washing the Church Linens

Father Paul, a young priest, is assigned to a parish where it is the practise for the sisters to wash the altar linens. Among these linens are the purificators and corporals. In the seminary it was taught that certain of the altar linens ought to be washed only by a man in sacred orders, and Father Paul remembers having taken his turn at this work after he had received subdeacon’s orders. He desires to know whether it is only a pious practise for a man in sacred orders to wash the purificators and corporals, or whether there is any strict obligation for a priest or major-order man to wash them, or may they be turned over to the sisters together with the rest of the church linens to be washed and repaired by them.

Answer. I. The purificators, corporals and palls, when soiled, must be washed by a priest or deacon, or at least by a subdeacon. It is not lawful to give them to any one else, even to religious women, until they have been first washed, at least once, by a man in sacred orders. This is of strict obligation, and by no means a mere pious or becoming practise.

1. The third part of the decree of Gratian, in the Corpus Juris Canonici, treats “de consecratione.” Distinctio I, canon 40, prescribes how the altar linens shall be washed. “But the palls and veils of the sanctuary, if they have been soiled in the ministry, are to be washed by the deacons with the lower ministers within the sanctuary, not taking them outside the sanctuary; and they are to wash the coverings of the Lord’s table, lest perchance dust of the Lord’s body fall away improperly. But they are not to wash the linen cloth outside; and doing this will be a sin. Therefore we command the ministers to guard these holy things diligently within the sacristy. Indeed, a new basin is to be obtained, and nothing else besides this is to touch it.

Nor is that basin itself to be used for washing any cloths except those which pertain to the service of the Lord’s altar. Only the altar palls are to be washed in it, and in another basin the door curtains.” In this canon, therefore, it is commanded, and not merely recommended, that the altar linens, when soiled, be washed by a deacon, assisted by clerics of lesser degree, a Diacono cum humilibus ministris; which does not mean that the clerics of lesser degree than the deacon may themselves wash the altar linens, but that they are to assist the deacon in the performance of this ministry. This canon of the decree of Gratian contains some prescriptions that have since been abrogated by the general practise obtaining in the Church. Thus, for example, the canon ordains that the linens shall be washed within the sanctuary, and that they shall not be removed from the sanctuary. Also that the altar cloths are to be washed in the same way as the other linens. But the general practise of the Church, abrogating certain of the provisions of this fortieth canon of Gratian’s decree, does not extend to the washing of the purificators, corporals or palls, which must still be washed by a man in sacred orders. This appears from repeated answers of the Congregation of Rites. Again, in the rite of ordination of a subdeacon, as contained in the Roman Pontifical, the bishop admonishes the cleric, whom he is about to raise to the office of subdeacon: A subdeacon ought to wash the altar palls and corporals. According to a decision of the Congregation of Rites, September 12, 1857, this washing of the purificators, corporals and palls, since it is enjoined by the Roman Pontifical on the subdeacon, as one of the duties of his office, may not be committed to any persons not in sacred orders except by the Roman Pontiff himself.

2. The purificators, corporals and palls must be washed by hand, and not with instruments or by machinery. It is not required that they should be altogether clean, when they leave the hands of the subdeacon, or that they should not be washed again, but nevertheless, the cleansing that they receive at the hands of the subdeacon should be a real washing, vera ablutio. According to the rubrics found at the beginning of the Missal, de defectibus (tit. x, n. 12), the corporals, purificators and palls should be washed three times, and each time, according to the common opinion of the rubricists, in fresh water. But these two extra washings are not considered preceptive, but only commendable, while the first washing is of strict obligation. This is evident, the rubricists say, from the canon of the decree of Gratian, as well as from the Roman Pontifical, both of which prescribe only one washing.

3. According to the decree of Gratian these linens are to be washed intra sanctuarium. The general practise of the Church, as well as the interpretations of the rubricists, take these words as meaning that these linens are not to be washed in the houses of the laity.

4. The linens are to be washed in a bowl or basin reserved for this sole purpose, and are never to be washed with any household linens. The words of the canon are explicit: Indeed, a new basin is to be obtained, and nothing else besides this is to touch it. Nor is that basin itself to be used for washing any cloths except those which pertain to the service of the Lord’s altar. Only the altar palls are to be washed in it, and in another basin the door curtains.

5. The water used at least for the first washing must be poured into the sacrarium, according to the canon.

II. It is never lawful for sisters or other religious women to give the linens the first washing. In the office of St. Soter, as found in the Breviary for April 22, it is stated that the saint ordered that women of religious orders should not touch the altar linens. “Soter decreed that sacred virgins should not touch the sacred vessels and palls.”

The decree of Gratian, distinctio XXIII, canon 25, says: It has been reported to the Apostolic See that women consecrated to God, or nuns, among you touch sacred vessels or consecrated palls and carry incense about the altars; no one of sound judgment doubts that all these things are full of blame and reproach. Therefore, by the authority of this Holy See, we judge that you must cut off all these things utterly as quickly as you can. And lest this plague be spread more widely, we command that it be eradicated throughout all the provinces with the greatest speed.

The same is gathered from the response of the Congregation of Rites, September 12, 1857. The Congregation was asked: “Whether nuns or pious women leading a common life under a rule can, with the permission of the Ordinary, wash corporals, palls, and purificators?” The Sacred Congregation answered: Negative.

This prohibition, however, affects only the first washing.

It is becoming that the second and third washing also should be done by a man in sacred orders, but it is not obligatory. Therefore, after the purificators, palls and corporals have been washed once by a person in sacred orders, there is no prohibition against handing them over to the sisters or other religious women, who will wash them again and iron and repair them.