THE STRAINER

In order to have the wine for the service of the altar wholly free from all manner of impurity, it was customary in the early days to pass it into the chalice through a liturgical appurtenance called a colum, or strainer. This strainer, like all the other sacred utensils used about the altar, was frequently made of the most costly material, and was looked upon as filling a very important part in the service of the Mass. As a general rule it was made of silver, shaped like a spoon, and perforated with a number of very minute holes through which the pure wine was passed into the chalice in a filtered state. Cardinal Bona speaks at some length of these in his Rer. Liturg., p. 293.