The altar
The choir altar is used for Eucharistic celebrations. With its white colour, the altar is a place of light.
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This work by André Gence, priest, painter and sculptor, marks the presence of the Mission de France, as the abbey church is the cathedral of this particular diocese (prelature).
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Certain highlights in the life of the Mission de France take place at Pontigny (ordinations, training sessions, Youth Service sessions, gatherings and festivals).
The quotation
At the crossing of the transept, three completely different styles are superimposed in a surprising way: the Cistercian style, sober and luminous; the Baroque style, virtuoso in its ornamentation; and the contemporary style, humble and simple in its symbolism. These different ways of fitting into the culture of the time are not a betrayal of the Cistercian spirit. People always talk about "the Cistercians‘ withdrawing from the world", but that's not true. In the spirit of the Incarnation, the monastic community drew a gap at the heart of the world to prevent it from narrowing on itself, and to inscribe in it the fact that without the afterhere man would suffocate in his self-complacency and, above all, in his craving for wealth. This concern, as we would say today, for the inculturation of the faith, no doubt explains why, in addition to prayer, which is naturally essential to the place, the Mission de France found itself in its place in 1954.
Jean-Marie Ploux, priest of the Mission de France, theologian
The picture
Painting by André Gence, a sign of resurrection
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The altar was created in 1984 by André Gence (1918-2009), for the church of St-Germain-des-Prés in Paris; it was moved to the Pontigny abbey church in 2012.
Several themes are represented on the four sides: the burning bush (place where the one God was revealed to Moses), the Cross that explodes in the Resurrection, the Tree of Life and the Eucharistic cup.
The reliefs, formed by the superimposition of cut-out and assembled shapes, create a play of light and shadow symbolising a Paschal dimension: ‘the passage from death to life, from black to white, from darkness to light’ (André Gence).
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The Prelature of Mission of France has been based at Pontigny since 1954. It had its seminary there until 1967, now in the Paris region. The priests and deacons of this particular diocese, and the lay men and women associated with it, are sent on mission in teams to different dioceses in France, and also abroad.
Glossary
Altar:
Table or flat-topped block at which the consecration and eucharistic prayers take place during a mass.
Eucharistic celebration :
Part of a mass centered around the consecration by a priest of the bread and wine, which for Catholics become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, which is then shared by the faithful (communion).
Cathedral of a Diocese:
church where you find the seat (cathedra) of the bishop of a diocese. Church that represents the headquarters of a diocese.
Ordination :
The religious ceremony of bestowing somenone with the sacrament of Holy Orders, thus confering the status of deacon or priest.
Prelature :
Sort of particular diocese, which is not attached to a given territory. The bishop of a prelature is a prelate.
Seminary :
An educational institution where future priests are trained for ministry.
Priest:
An ordained minister to whom a bishop has confered the mission of celebrating the Eucharist, forgiving sins, instructing and guiding the faithful in the name of Christ.
Deacon:
A deacon is an ordained minister who either helps the priest in a parish (permanent priest) or who is about to be ordained priest a few months later (transitional deacon).