Few liturgical furnishings are surrounded with more superstition or pervaded by so many preconceptions as are the communion rails.

Originally, communion rails served the simple function of keeping dogs, and other stray animals, out of the sanctuary, thereby preventing any unwelcome interlopers from disturbing the celebration of the mass.

There are no records extant indicating when communion rails were first introduced.   However, since the sanctuary's design and general layout became fixed quite early in the church's liturgical life, it is safe to assume that communion rails have been in pale since at least the mid-second century.

Rubrics governing the dimensions and materials content of communion rails, if there were any, have not survived.   However, they have, historically, been fashioned in carved wood, metal, marble, or other precious material and usually stand approximately two feet six inches high with a depth of six to nine inches.

As can be seen from our own example, communion rails are no longer designed with their historic function in mind - any crafty canine or fleet footed goat could easily traverse the barriers that once purported to keep them at bay.

In fact, communion rails have ceased to serve this purpose for centuries and have mainly functioned, as they do today, as 1) the structural divide that separates the chancel from the sanctuary and, more importantly, 2) the place before which the faithful kneel (or stand) when receiving Holy Communion.

The former purpose needs little comment since, for those churches that do not have a raised sanctuary as we do, communion rails provide a clear visual indicator of where the sanctuary begins.   However, the second purpose does require further comment.

There is a healthy sense in which the communion rail provides a place where the people of God may gather to receive the gifts of God.

The communion rail is the place where we kneel or stand, shoulder to shoulder, with our neighbour, visually emphasizing the notion that we are all equal before God, and are all no more or less worthy to receive His Grace than the soul beside us.

In other words the communion rail, as an important object of our piety, should be the symbol that reminds us of the inclusiveness of God's grace, that we are all invited "in" to the body of Christ.

However, the liturgical practice in many churches, to this day, conveys the sense that the communion rail is not so much the place that symbolizes that we are "in" - by providing the place where we are all humbled and made equal before God.

Rather, some see the communion rail as the place which marks the divide between the sacred and the "even more sacred."

In other words, for some, the communion rail is the fence that protects the sanctuary from the unwanted or unworthy.

In a sense the sanctuary is still forbidden ground.

Sadly, it is predominately the clergy who have perpetuated this myth.

In the medieval church especially, the sanctuary was terra incognita to all save the priest, and other "sacred ministers" of the liturgy.

This sent the unfortunate message that God is inaccessible to all but those "holy" enough to approach the altar itself, a taboo that is still prevalent in the church.

However, rather than seeing the communion rail as an obstacle to God's grace, where only those "holier than thou" may approach, this symbol invites us to realize that God approaches us on equal terms; whether toe to toe or shoulder to shoulder, we all stand or kneel bound together as one body and one in reaching out receiving the bread of life.