Piscina

[pi-sahy-nuh, pi-see-]

A piscina or sacrarium is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. They are often made of stone and fitted with a drain, and are in some cases used to dispose of materials used in the sacraments. They are found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, and a similar vessel is used in Eastern Orthodox churches.

History

The piscina is a Latin word originally applied to a fish-pond, and later used for natural or artificial pools for bathing, and also for a water tank or reservoir. In ecclesiastical usage it was applied to the basin used for ablutions and sometimes other sacraments.

They were originally named for the baptismal font. Piscinae seem at first to have been mere cups or small basins, supported on perforated stems, placed close to the wall, and afterwards to have been recessed therein and covered with niche heads, which often contained shelves to serve as ambries. They were rare in England until the 13th century, after which there is scarcely an altar without one. They frequently take the form of a double niche, with a shaft between the arched heads, which are often filled with elaborate tracing.

Usage

The purpose of the piscina or sacrarium is to dispose of water used sacramentally, and particles of the consecrated Eucharist by returning these particles directly to the earth. For this reason, it is connected by a pipe directly to the ground.

Ordinarily the sacrarium is used in cleaning the vessels used during the course of the Mass (see Ablution in Christianity). Cleaning the vessels in this basin ensures that any remaining consecrated particles are returned directly to the Earth. If the consecrated Hosts become unusable, the priest disposes of the hosts by placing them in the sacrarium. This is accomplished by breaking the hosts up into small pieces and washing them into the basin - which returns the consecrated hosts to the ground.

At times the sacrarium has been used for disposal of other items, such as old baptismal water, holy oils, and leftover ashes from Ash Wednesday. In the past, consecrated wine was also poured down the sacrarium. In modern church practice, however, any wine that is left over after communion is consumed either by the priest or by those who assist in the distribution of the Eucharist (the Eucharistic Ministers).

In the Roman Catholic Church, pouring the consecrated wine, the Blood of Christ, or the Host down a sacrarium is never permitted. In accordance with what is laid down by the canons, “one who throws away the consecrated species or takes them away or keeps them for a sacrilegious purpose, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state.” This applies to any action that is voluntarily and gravely disrespectful of the sacred species. Anyone, therefore, who acts contrary to these norms, for example casting the sacred species into the sacrarium or in an unworthy place or on the ground, incurs the penalties laid down.

Eastern Christianity

In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches the piscina is called a thalassidion, and is located in the diaconicon (sacristy). The thalassidion is a sink that drains into an honorable place in the ground where liquids such as the water used to wash holy things may be poured, and where the clergy may wash their hands before serving the Divine Liturgy. In Orthodoxy the Sacred Mysteries (consecrated elements) are never poured into the thalassidion, but must always be consumed by a deacon or priest. In some ancient churches, the thalassidion was placed under the Holy Table (altar), though now it is almost always located in the diaconicon. At one time, before a monk or nun was tonsured, their religious habit would be placed on the thalassidion; now it is placed on the Holy Table.