The altar of repose is a temporary altar where the Communion hosts consecrated on Maundy Thursday during the Mass of the Lord's Supper are placed, or "reserved", for use on the following day, Good Friday.
Good Friday is the day we commemorate Christ's Death, followed by the Eater Vigil on Saturday and the commemoration of Christ's death on Easter Sunday.
Communion hosts thus cannot be consecrated, and any hosts used on Good Friday or for viaticum for the dying must have been consecrated beforehand. The Altar and meditation area represents the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night He was arrested. After stripping the main Altar, the Sacrament is transferred by a procession to the Altar of Repose. This procession typically occurs during the reading of Psalm 22.
This tradition can be found in Roman Catholic, Catholic, Anglican (especially Anglo-Catholic), and some Lutheran churches. The decoration of the Altar of repose should be unique: at least several candles or lamps, and preferably more, should burn around it and should be tastefully arranged with flowers, drapes, refined cloths, carpets, and use of subdued electric lighting to create the necessary ambiance of silence and meditation. Spending some quiet time at the Altar in mediation and prayer is traditional. Finally, it is processed back into the church's main Altar on Good Friday for the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified, where it is all consumed.
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