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Church Furnishings (altar cloths, chalice veil sets, analogia covers, royal door
curtains)
Altar cloths
There are a wide variety of altar cloth styles. Here are the three I most
frequently make:
"Greek" style: This cloth covers the top of the altar and hangs
down about 7-12' on all sides of the altar. It is finished with galloon and
fringe along the perimeter.
"Fully dressed" style: This style is actually two cloths--a bottom
cloth that sits on the altar and hangs down to the floor and is either buttoned or sewn
at the sides. A "Greek"-style altar cloth is then placed on top of the
bottom cloth. This can be as elaborate as a burgundy velvet embroidered set from
Greece or as simple as a white bottom cloth with various colored top cloths. If
you are building a new church or in a temporary location (mission parish), this can be
an excellent way to beautify an altar as the altar itself does not have to be elaborate
since it is not seen. When my own parish built a new church, we built our altar as
a basic "box" and then "fully dressed" it with burgundy velvet
cloths from Greece and spent about $4000 total (as opposed to spending $10,000 or more
on a custom carved altar). For missions, you can use a simple table with a light-
colored (white or gold) bottom cloth and then put on top cloths following either the
rubrics for "light" and "dark" or the various liturgical colors.
This is usually the most economical way to outfit a temporary altar.
"Jacobean" style: This is identical to the fully dressed style, but
the corners of the bottom cloth are "pooled" (fullness of the fabric left in)
rather than buttoned or sewn. While it is usually the most expensive of all the
styles (due to the massive amount of yardage needed to cover even a small altar), it is
very beautiful.
Please see the Pricing section for altar cloth prices.
Chalice veil sets
There are two approaches to purchasing chalice veil sets. The first approach,
typically used in Greek and Antiochian parishes, is for the parish to own one chalice
set which is usually fairly elaborate, either brocade with metallic galloon or
embroidered burgundy velvet. The second approach, typically used in OCA parishes,
is for the priest to have chalice veil sets to match each of his vestment sets.
Personally, I favor the first approach for a number of reasons: first, it is
much more economical in the long run (an elaborate chalice veil set costs about $400
versus $1000 for chalice veil sets to match 5 sets of vestments), second, it allows the
chalice veils and altar cloth to function as a "set" which is more
aethetically pleasing and thirdly, in the case a new priest is assigned to the parish
and does not have a chalice veils to match his vestments, the parish has a set of their
own.
Brocade chalice veil set $195 to $300 depending on fabric and galloon
choice.
Hand-embroidered chalice veil sets $450
Burgundy velvet chalice veil set with gold embroidery $400
Analogia covers
My "short" analogia cover is 16 inches by 40inches and my "long"
analogia cover is 18 inches by 72 inches, but these dimensions can be varied to
individual needs. The cloths are finished with galloon around the entire
perimeter, a double bank of galloon and fringe at the front edge, and a 6 inch cross
sewn to the front. These can be made in brocade or velvet and finished with a wide
variety of galloons. Analogia covers can be an excellent way to beautify a church
as they provide a large amount of visual interest. They also make excellent
memorial gifts.
Royal Door curtains
These are made out of burgundy velvet and finished with a variety of gold embroidery
designs. Since these are custom-embroidered in Greece, it can take awhile to have
these made. Panels can be purchased either finished or unfinished. Prices
vary on size and designs.
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