The word "rood" comes from the Saxon word "rode," which means "cross". The rood screen is so called because it is a screen surmounted by the Rood -- a large figure of the crucified Christ -- and it separates the sanctuary from the nave of the church. The rood screen at Our Lady of the Atonement Church is a major architectural feature of the interior, with the central arch providing a frame for the tabernacle and altar. The pictures below begin with our rood screen, followed by pictures of other screens (many of which are medieval in origin).
Our Lady of the Atonement Church, San Antonio, Texas
(Another view, below)
(Another view, below)
Our Lady of the Atonement Rood Screen
(above, decorated for Easter)
St. Brinius, Dorcester-on-Thames, near Oxford
All Saints Church, Turkdean, Gloucestershire
Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh
All Saints Church, Litcham, Norfolk
(The Rood was destroyed at the time of the Protestant Reformation)
The Minster, Boscastle, Cornwall
(This is a Rood Beam, instead of a full screen)
3 comments:
Very Interesting Father. Is the origin related to separating the altar from rest of church as a holy of holies section?
Randy Atherton
In many ways it's rather like the iconostasis found in Orthodox churches, and it does serve as a separation. The iconostasis is a solid wall of icons, whereas the rood screen is more open.
Thanks for the post on rood screens. I can tell I will have to visit San Antonio to see yours. It strikes me that a rood screen makes a very important theological point: that the cross is an essential step on the Christian journey, but not the end. and I might add a related point, that the whole church worships, on heaven and earth (as represented by the nave and the choir-sanctuary) worships as one, even, divided by death, and (another) that we pass from the one to the other by offering our whole life unto death in union with our Lord on the Cross. I could go on...
Pax,
Michael LaRue
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