Attar-vase.—Vase to hold flowers for the decoration of the altar. The Caerem. Episc. (I, xii, n. 12) says that between the candlesticks on the altar may be placed natural or artificial flowers, which are certainly appropriate ornaments of the altar. The flowers referred to are cut flowers, leaves, and ferns, rather than plants imbedded in soil in large flowerpots, although the latter may fitly be used for the decoration of the sanctuary around the altar. If artificial flowers are used they ought to be made of superior material, as the word serico (ibid.) evidently implies, and represent with some accuracy the natural variations. Flowers of paper, cheap muslin, or calico, and other inferior materials, and such as are old and soiled, should never be allowed on the altar.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Altar Vase
1 section
Charles G. Herbermann and others (editors)
Transcribed from a dated scan; artifacts may remain. Edition notes
Trans. None. Written in English by the contributors whose signatures close each article., The Catholic Encyclopedia, An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, in fifteen volumes, 1907. Public domain.