141: So called from the Latin word _sedes_, a seat. This position, on the south side of the altar, is in all respects the most convenient for the clergy when not officiating. To sit _facing_ the people is a most painful position for the priest, as the eyes of all the congregation naturally rest upon him; it has, too, the _appearance_ of irreverence. 142: See p. 223. 143: See p. 223. 144: This word is tautological, derived from our common word _rere_, back, and the French _dos_, back, from its position at the back of the altar. Many of these altar-screens have in recent years been restored at immense cost, as at Ely Cathedral. 145: In Braburn Church, Kent, an altar-tomb, with armorial bearings around and above it, occupies the very place of the altar itself. In the church of Prendergast, South Wales, large marble slabs with elaborate epitaphs occupy the _entire_ east end of the chancel. The most prominent of these--immediately over the altar--records that the departed "had learned by heart the whole Book of Psalms, and all the Collects of the Book of Common Prayer, with twenty-four chapters of the Old and New Testaments, before she was thirteen years old, and several more after" However praiseworthy and marvellous these accomplishments, this is surely no fitting place for proclaiming them! 146: It is probable that the prayers and the sermon were formerly read from the same lectern. The first authoritative document of which we have record in which mention is made of the _prayer desk_, is the Visitation Articles of the Bishop of Norwich (Parker), in A.D. 1569. In the parish accounts of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, is an item in 1577 for "colouring the Curate's desk." But prayer desks were used at a much earlier time. 147: So called from the Latin word _almarium_, a closet or locker. The almery had many uses, and is to be found in all parts of the church, but chiefly in the chancel. Sometimes it was used to hold the priest's vestments; and in conventual churches, to hold the gold and silver vessels belonging to the monastery. 148: Gen. viii. 20; xii 7; xxxv. 1. 149: Exod. xxvii. 1. 150: The Council of Epaone in France (A.D. 509) ordered that none but _altars of stone_ should be _consecrated with chrism_. The custom of consecrating the altar with chrism is supposed to symbolize the anointing of our Lord's Body for the burial.--See _The Stone Altar_, by Rev. J. Blackburn, p. 46. 151: Rev. vi. 9-11. 152: "A type both of the womb and of the tomb."--_The Stone Altar_, p. 41. 153: 1 Cor. x. 4. 154: See "Prayer for the Church Militant." 155: Queen Elizabeth's _Advertisements_, A.D. 1564, require "that the Parish provide a decent TABLE, _standing on a frame_, for the Communion Table." Hence it appears that by the word _table_ at the era of the English Reformation, the _slab_ only was meant.--Parker's _Glossary_. 156: Matt xxvii. 66.