Manuterges
The name given to the towel
used by the priest when engaged liturgically. There are two kinds of
manuterges. One serves the needs of the sacristy. The priest uses this
at the washing of hands before mass, before distributing Communion
outside of Mass, and before administering baptism. It can also be used
for drying the hands after they have been washed on occasions not
prescribed by the rubrics, but still customary after Mass. There are no
prescriptions as to material and form for the towel used in the
sacristy. It is usual to have it hanging over a roller, the two ends
being sewn together so as to make it into a circular band. The custom
of washing the hands before Mass appears to go back to the early days
of Christianity; the ceremony is expressly mentioned in the
sacramentaries of the ninth and tenth centuries.
The
other manuterge is used in the Mass for drying both the hands at the
Lavabo, an action preformed by the priest after the Offertory as he
recites the psalm, "Lavabo", and also by the bishop before the
Offertory and after the Communion. It is kept on the credence table
with the finger-bowl and cruets. There are no ecclesiastical
regulations regarding the form and material of this manuterge. The
towel, which is used after the Offertory during the recital of the
psalm "Lavabo", is usually small (18 in. by 14 in.), only the points of
the thumb and two fingers, and not the whole hand, being usually washed
(Ritus celebr., VII, n. 6). It usually has lace or embroidery at the
ends. This second manuterge is mentioned in chap. v of the "Statuta
antiqua" (fifth century): "Subdiaconus cum ordinatur. . . accipiat. . .
de manu archidiaconi urceolum, aquamanile et manutergium" (when a
subdeacon is ordained he shall receive from the hand of the archdeacon
a water-pitcher, a finger-bowl, and a manuterge) is written regarding
the rite used in bestowing the subdiaconate, a ceremony in practice, of
course, today.[1]
