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In the Catholic Church, and in Protestant Churches that derive their rituals from the Catholic Church, paraments are not used at all on Good Friday.

A parament, which is sometimes called an antependium, is the relatively heavily decorated hanging or tapestry for the front of the altar table. It conceals the front of the altar from the top to the floor, and from the left edge to the right edge. A parament is optional, unlike the mandatory altar cloth or cloths that cover the top surface.

If used, paraments should match the liturgical color of the priest's vestments, and this would suggest that the parament should match the black or red vestments worn by the priest on Good Friday, however paraments should not be used on Good Friday.

The altars are completely stripped after the Mass of the Last Supper, on the evening of Holy Thursday. The altar remains bare for most of the Good Friday afternoon service. At the end of the Good Friday service, before Holy Communion is to be distributed, a single, plain, usually white altar cloth is spread on the top of the altar table. The decorative parament or antependium is not permitted or used. Indeed, the only cloths used at the altar at this point are the single altar cloth, and a corporal about eighteen inches square, upon which the ciborium containing the Eucharist is placed.

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15y ago

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