Mediæval Sedilia And Piscinæ.

A three-level Sedilia and Piscina (Extreme Left), recessed into the thickness of the wall. The Nave was built around 1180. The Chancel was re-built in the 13th-Century.

The Celebrant (Priest) would sit on the highest level.

The Deacon the next highest level.

The Sub-Deacon the lowest level.

Saint Mary's Church, Buriton, Hampshire, England.

The seats are low and cold to sit on.

Photo: 28 January 2017.

Source: DSLR.

Author: Wikiedit01aaz

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

In Church Architecture, Sedilia (plural of Latin “Sedīle”, Seat) are Seats, usually made of stone, found on The Liturgical South Side of an Altar, often in the Chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating Priest and his Assistants, the Deacon and Sub-Deacon. The Seat is often set back into the main wall of the Church.

Not all Sedilia are made of stone; there is a timber Sedilia, thought to be 15th-Century, in Saint Nicholas' Church, Rodmersham, Kent.

When there is only one such Seat, the singular form, “Sedile”, is used, as, for instance, at Saint Mary's, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, or at Saint Agatha's, Coates, West Sussex.

A six-seater Sedilia, circa 1200.

The Priory Church of Deeping Saint James, Lincolnshire.

Photo: 28 October 2007.

Source: geograph.org.uk

Attribution: Richard Croft / Sedilia / CC BY-SA 2.0

Author: Richard Croft

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first examples in the Catacombs were single inlays for the officiating Priest. In time, the more usual number became three, although there are examples of up to five “Sedilia”.[1]

The custom of recessing them in the thickness of the wall began about the end of the 12th-Century; some early examples consist only of stone benches, and there is one instance of a single Seat, or arm-chair, in stone, at Lenham, Kent.

The Niches, or Recesses, into which they are sunk, are often richly decorated with Canopies and sub-divided with Moulded Shafts, Pinnacles, and Tabernacle Work; the Seats are sometimes at different levels, the Eastern Seat being always the highest, and sometimes an additional Niche is provided, in which the Piscina is placed.

15th-Century Piscina and Sedilia,

Lincluden Collegiate Church,

Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Photo: 10 May 2018.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tom Hughes

(Wikimedia Commons)

A Piscina is a shallow basin placed near the Altar of a Church, or else in the Vestry or Sacristy, used for washing the Communion Vessels. The Sacrarium is the drain. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a Piscina. For Roman Catholics, Sacrarium is a “special sink” used for the reverent disposal of Sacred substances.

This sink has a cover, a basin, and a special pipe and drain that empty directly into the earth, rather than into the sewer system” (USCCB, Built of Living Stones, 236).

Precious, or Sacred items, are disposed of, when possible, by returning them to the ground. They are in some cases used to dispose of materials used in the Sacraments and water from Liturgical Ablutions. They are found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches, and a similar vessel is used in Eastern Orthodox Churches.