Why doesn’t St John’s have a cross on its altar?
Most Episcopal Churches certainly do, although that practice is not as common as once it was because so many churches have free standing altars and placing a standing cross on a free standing altar is always problematic. The central focal point of our church is, undeniably, the tryptich, that three-fold icon which appears behind the altar, showing Jesus, Mary and John our patron saint. However, there is no shortage of crosses in the church if you stop to think about them. Within the tryptich itself, there is a cross, outlined in the nimbus behind the head of Jesus. There is a cross atop the hanging pyx, which is described elsewhere in this tract. There is another cross, a traditional crucifix, just north of the pulpit, at the station where the sick are anointed after the principal Eucharist on Sundays. When a processional cross is used, it is displayed in the sanctuary so that it is visible to the congregation. And during the sacred triduum, the last three days of Holy Week, when the a
