Show & Tell

Every now and then I have the privilege  of giving our young children a tour of Christ the King church.  The other day as we were going around checking out the various areas of interest the kids may have, it dawned on me that many of our community do not know the history or the significance of various signs and symbols of the Parish of CTK.  I will try to walk you through the church as I do with our Faith Formation classes.

Normally we begin from the pew near the Tabernacle.  They are instructed to follow me one by one and to take note of whatever they see that may interest them or have a question about.  We head out to the Reconciliation Room then into the Vestry and from there into the  East Narthex.


It is in this area we talk about and have a visual depiction of the parish Family Tree in the setting of frosted glass.  Please note the parish begins with Our Lady of the Assumption in the center.  On one side is an outline of St. Jude's chapel and on the other side is an outline of the Queen of All Saints building, now known as the Children's museum.  Both of these churches were known as mission churches of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Osterville. When the population increased in the town of Mashpee, the Diocese petitioned Rome to combine the mission churches of St. Jude and Queen of All Saints to develop a new parish which became the Parish of Christ the King.  The Diocese of Fall River and the Vatican are depicted  in the frosted glass on either side of the portals entering into the main church.  

On the opposite wall above the main door is a circular stained glass window with a portrait of Christ the King.  Remember this is the East wall, the sun rises from this direction.  Christ is the Son that never sets.

We are going into the church proper. As we walk down the middle aisle we come to the break.  That is where the front and the back are separated by a walkway.  At this point we stop and look around to see what might be of interest.  Most children notice the trumpets extending from the wall just above the door.  They are usually surprised when they find out the trumpets are an extension of the organ and that the longest one is eight feet long.

Some one will notice the statue of Joseph is looking at Mary and Mary is looking toward Jesus on the cross.  I normally explain this by telling them that St. Joseph was Jesus' foster father and his relationship with Mary was somewhat different than his relationship with Jesus.  Jesus however is looking at both.  Now if you can imagine the place we are standing is the center of a whirlpool.  Joseph is looking at Mary, Mary is looking at Jesus and Jesus is looking at both.  That puts us in the center of the holy families love for each other and for us at the same time.  In other words we are surrounded by god's love right here and right now.  We are caught in a vortex of Love .

Next we look at the stained glass windows Each window is a story of the life of Jesus.  It begins with the Annunciation, then the birth of Jesus, His first miracle and on around the church to His resurrection and ascension into heaven.  Here is where we get into the history of the faces in the stained glass.  It so happened when our first parishioners went to Queen of All Saints and to St. Jude's many pictures were taken of the people and especially children in Faith Formation at the time.  Some of those pictures were sent to the people who made the stained glass window.  They in turn used some of the photos to make the characters in the glass.  Therefore it may be that when you look at a scene on the glass you may see a similarity of someone you know who was here when the parish first began.  Who knows it may be one of your relatives in the glass.

As we enter onto the Sanctuary, we gather around the Altar and again look around to find out what may have us wondering what something may be or why it is there. The Sanctuary itself is the area in the church that holds the altar, the lectern, the tabernacle and the celebrants chair.  There are also chairs for the deacons, and the servers of mass and the lectors. The Sanctuary is considered a Holy and Sacred space.

The altar is the central fixture or table on which the Eucharist is celebrated, it is also considered a symbol of Christ.  The book called "The Roman Missal" contains the prayers the celebrant uses for the mass.  Candles adorn the altar to symbolize Christ's presence and light. The altar or table is set up with a table cloth, a place mat called a corporal,  a plate called a paten, a cup called a chalice. a square piece of cardboard covered with linen called a pall.  This pall is to protect the precious blood of Christ from contamination by flies or gnats.  There is a napkin called a purificator,which is used to clean the inside of the chalice after mass.

Other items you will see from here are, the crucifix, the tabernacle where the excess of hosts are stored.  There is a lamp above the tabernacle called a sanctuary lamp.  The lamp reminds us that Christ is present in the Eucharist that is reserved there.  The lamp is normally not lit on Good Friday, however, there may be special occasions when to lamp is extinguished. On the opposite side of the tabernacle is the lectern or the place where the word of God is proclaimed to the congregation during services.  The book the lectors use us called a lectionary.        

Again the Sanctuary is a Holy and Sacred space, a place that requires us to act with respect and with dignity. 

Deacon R.D. Lemay