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What is the origin of the burse and veil at mass, and why have some churches abandoned their use?

Before the Counter-Reformation and the 1570 Roman Missal, evidence for the use of burses and chalice veils at mass is unclear.

In England, during the Middle Ages, it was customary for the large linen corporal, on which the Host was consecrated, to be kept either in a type of cloth bag, a sacculum, or even folded within the covers of the Missal. There are, however, some scattered references in late-medieval inventories to "corporas cases". At High Wycombe, for example, in 1475 there were "v corporas cases of diverse colours of silk, and vii corporas cases of linen".

Even greater obscurity surrounds the origin of the chalice veil. Some maintain the unlikely view that veiling the vessels was originally an example of the disciplina arcani -the law of secrecy that screens holy things from being profaned. Much more plausible is the theory that the chalice veil may have been derived from the humeral veil, which from the 15th century was used to hold and cover the paten until after the consecration, and that, by analogy, it was felt important to veil the chalice likewise. This was officially introduced only in the 1570 Roman Rite. Whatever its origin, it is obvious that the chalice, as well as the paten, had acquired a numinous quality as a sacred vessel of the most holy sacrament, and was treated accordingly.

The increasing abandonment of burses and veils among Anglicans is mainly due to the introduction of free-standing altars and the westward position, together with simplification of arrangements in the sanctuary. The vessels are no longer placed on the altar at the start of mass, but are left unveiled on the credence table until the offertory; this practice draws added attention to the point when they come into use in the eucharistic liturgy.

Widespread as these accoutrements became after Ritualists imported them in the late 19th century, the Prayer Book never required their use. Percy Dearmer, in the early 20th century, wrote in The Parson's Handbook: "Chalice veils, in fact, inconvenient as they are, were introduced in ignorance during the last century."

(Canon) Terry Palmer
Magor, Monmouthshire

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