Need Suggestions for a Display Cabinet

Re: Need Suggestions for a Display Cabinet

Barry Irby

I am having trouble visualizing the cabinet. A picture would help.

I think the spacing on the shelves needs to be sequenced. Slightly taller at the bottom and shorter at the top. Glass shelves sound nice. Maybe gray or brown glass would give a little division.

Look into LED lighting for under cabinet in kitchens. They come as "tape" and you can cut them to length with scissors. Various spacing of LEDs for various intensities and they are dimmable. Could tuck a strip in left and right down the front.

Ambry

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

I'm now working on a second liturgical furnishing project, so I have been getting more knowledgeable about such things. The term for an enclosure for holy oils is "ambry". They can be of a variety of designs.

The one piece of advice I can give you is that the holy oils are very special and very meaningful. They need to be displayed in such a way that makes them special.

In a case that large, I would suggest segregating the case design. I would consider enclosing the top portion with a glass panel door. Light the interior of the enclosure to illuminate the holy oils. That then creates the ambry.

I would not light the rest of the case below but leave it open. By doing so, you will then be giving proper reverence to the holy oils and making them special.

The ambry door will also help "hide" the lighting. LED strip lights would work well for that application.

T.

Re: Aumbry

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Has often been a wall cabinet, set into a niche. It can be 3-shelf or single. The ones I've seen that were free standing used a closed base cabinet with the display section above and the shelf(ves) at or slightly above elbow height. With 6'+ to work with, consider repurposing the first 3' or so for storage.

If your cabinet has a solid back panel, I've seen very effective lighting as individual tiny spots aimed at the back to allow the light to be reflected out through the glass vessels. Lighting was always used to highlight the vessels and their contents so be careful not to turn your glass shelves into bright horizontal lines from transmitted light.

A photo of the existing cabinet would be helpful

Re: Ambry-- Good to know

Gary Smyth

Taken directly from WIKI. This is a new term for me. Depending on church regulation there may be some requirements. Seems there are components that in select religions and denominations that should be included.

Roman Catholic usage

In Roman Catholic usage, when commonly called an ambry, it is traditionally in the sanctuary (as in, the altar area) of a church or in the Baptistery, and is used to store the oils used in sacraments: Oil of catechumens (indicated by the Latin letters O.C.), Oil of the Sick (O.I.), and Sacred Chrism (S.C.). Former regulations required it to be secured and locked, and lined and veiled with either purple cloth (in reference to the Oil of the Sick) or white (for the Sacred Chrism). The door was usually marked "O.S." or Olea Sancta, to indicate the contents. Such regulations are now relaxed so that while many churches continue to use such an ambry, the oils are also stored and in some cases displayed in other ways.

Anglican Churches[edit]

According to Ritual Notes, the Anglo-Catholic manual of rites and ceremonies, aumbries are used for reservation rather than tabernacles in churches in some dioceses because the diocesan bishop has so ordered. These aumbries should conform in general to the requirements for tabernacles including an ever-burning light and covering with a veil. For storage of the holy oil of the sick a lesser aumbry is to be used; it should be lined with purple silk, covered with a purple veil and kept locked; the door should be inscribed "oleum sacrum". (If the priest lives far away from the church he or she may be authorised to keep the holy oil of the sick at home.

I have something that may have housed holy oil. I got this from a soon to be leveled seminary building. It needs repair and is a project down the list. (Been looking for the proper something to go inside) The door was glassed. I thought it was to house a statue or a monstrance but may have been for oil. About early 1900's if at the same time as the building. Approx. 19" x 12" x 8". This one sits fine on the ground but was wall mounted when it was removed.

Little help for your task, but perhaps a start..