Lavabo

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A lavabo is a device used to provide water. In ecclesiastical usage it is the basin in which the priest washes his hands after preparing the Altar before saying Mass. The room in which it is kept is the lavatory. The word can also refer to a specific ritual in the Mass.

The name Lavabo ("I shall wash") is derived from the words of the 26th Psalm, which the celebrant is directed in the Missal to recite during the ceremony; "I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord, and so will I go to Thine altar." As he says this, he ritually rinses his hands in water, usually assisted by an altar server. This part of the mass is referred to as the Lavabo.

"In the third century there are traces of a custom of washing the hands as a preparation for prayer on the part of all Christians; and from the fourth century onwards it appears to have been usual for the ministers at the Communion Service ceremonially to wash their hands before the more solemn part of the service as a symbol of inward purity." Report of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline (Church of England) 1906

Though ecclesiastical lavabos are ordinarily of metal, a familiar lavabo consists of a terra cotta tank with a faucet attached and a small basin below it. Today it is a common feature in many gardens in Europe and the U.S, although as a decoration, whose practical use has been long forgotten.

The lavabo may be considered the forerunner of the modern sink.

[edit] External link

• Catholic Encyclopedia: "Ecclesiastical Use of Basins"