Church Inspection

[Bill Kibbel]

I am inspecting a very large church, 2 schools, rectory and convent at a property this week. I have questions for any Catholics.

What is the room called, where the priest prepares for mass?

There are a pair of sinks in this room. One is small and round and has no trap. The drain doesn't seem to tie into the waste piping of the building and might just dump into the ground. I'm guessing from the extra corrosion that it might be used for dumping leftover wine? Is there a name for this sink?

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[Jerry Simon]

What is the room called, where the priest prepares for mass?

The Sacristy

[Jerry Simon]

There are a pair of sinks in this room. One is small and round and has no trap. The drain doesn't seem to tie into the waste piping of the building and might just dump into the ground. I'm guessing from the unusual corrosion that it might be used for dumping leftover wine? Is there a name for this sink?

Yep. Sacristy sink. Google sacristy sink.

[Bill Kibbel]

Wow Jerry, thanks for the superfast response. It was holding up this report.

[Bill Kibbel]

Sacrarium

"In the sacristy you will find the sacrarium -- a special sink with a pipe that bypasses the sewer, unlike an ordinary sink, but instead goes straight into the earth. This sink is made thus to preserve the dignity of sacred things which can no longer be used. For ex., the sacred vessels are rinsed there so that no particle of the consecrated Host or no drop of the Precious Blood will end up in the sewer. The first rinse used to clean Altar linens, old baptismal water, sacred oils, blessed ashes, etc., all these are disposed of in the sacrarium, returning those substances to the earth".

From http://www.fisheaters.com/churchbuilding.html. After finding this, I gotta go put the correct terms for the parts of the church in the report.

[Marc]

I am inspecting a very large church, 2 schools, rectory and convent at a property this week. I have questions for any Catholics.

What is the room called, where the priest prepares for mass?

There are a pair of sinks in this room. One is small and round and has no trap. The drain doesn't seem to tie into the waste piping of the building and might just dump into the ground. I'm guessing from the extra corrosion that it might be used for dumping leftover wine? Is there a name for this sink?

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I think that room is called the sanctuary. As for leftover wine, there is no 'left over' wine in a Catholic Church. Trust me.

Marc

[Rob Amaral]

It's the sacristy for sure... The 'sanctuary' is where the altar is..

[Richard Moore]

For ex., the sacred vessels are rinsed there so that no particle of the consecrated Host or no drop of the Precious Blood will end up in the sewer.

But isn't that exactly where most of it eventually ends up anyway after being "processed" by the congregation?

BTW, I'm not discussing religion. I know better. My dog raised that question.