Building an altar at home
In the last year, I have heard more often than ever from people who are interested in building an altar for their home, or who have already done so.
The reasons for doing so vary somewhat. Some would like to have a formal prayer nook with icons or statues and wish to give it even more dignity by installing an altar beneath the sacred images. Others have a spare room in the house that is well suited to become a chapel where people can go to pray the Divine Office, the Rosary, or read Scripture, and surely no chapel is complete without an altar to remind us of Christ the Rock, the supreme sacrifice, and our duty to make our hearts their altar. But most want to build it in order to have a place where they can celebrate the Catholic Holy Mass in their city since there are fewer and fewer true Catholics left and fewer and fewer resources to get a worthy place for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, so true Catholics have to prepare a place where the Holy Mass can be celebrated.
Whatever the reasons, it is necessary to understand a few things before proceeding with the creation of such an altar.
First, while the family is indeed a domestic church, and the home is a sanctified place once it has been formally blessed using the "Rituale Romanum", nevertheless, such an altar has not received a solemn dedication, nor has a domestic chapel been consecrated for divine worship, so its use should be seen as something exceptional, or at least, something that should have a reasonable justification. Certainly, an emergency situation, such as the unjust suppression of worship in churches by the State, or the current situation of the Church, justifies this.
Secondly, the altar, if possible, should have a first class relic on it or at least placed on it for the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Some priests I know travel with a Byzantine antimension. The same prayer said by the priest in the Roman rite when he comes to the altar to kiss it before saying the Introit refers to the relics on and near the altar: "Oramus te, Domine, per merita Sanctorum tuorum [kiss the sacred stone] quorum reliquiae hic sunt, et omnium Sanctorum: ut indulgere digneris omnia peccata mea. Amen" (We beseech Thee, O Lord, by the merits of Thy saints whose relics are here, and of all the saints, to forgive me all my sins. Amen). A priest should be able to help you look for relics.
Third, if you build a custom altar, it would be improper to use it for any other purpose, especially once Mass has been offered on it. It should not serve as a dining table, nor as a television stand, nor as a surface for doing anything else. Let the altar be an altar and nothing else.
Fourth, make sure the altar is built to the correct specifications. Most normal tables are too low to be suitable for Mass, as they are made for sitting, not standing. While dimensions can vary considerably and still be acceptable, the following dimensions work admirably for a home altar and priests I know have found them adequate: 39 inches high; 59 inches wide; 20 inches deep. This height, depth and width allow everything needed for Holy Mass to fit.
When space and resources permit, it is optimal to place an altar on three steps, but this is not always feasible in a domestic setting. Although steps are a beautiful symbol, clergy are used to "making do" with whatever situation they have (for example, many priests when traveling offer Mass in hotel rooms). I have also seen home altars fully dressed with an altar frontal in the appropriate liturgical color of the time or feast; this can be considered a refinement when everything else is in place.
My opinion is that we should build altars in our homes. My wife and I commissioned a friend to build one, which we were privileged to see "inaugurated" with Holy Mass three days in a row when a priest friend was passing through town. Built of sturdy wood and stained dark brown, it was installed in our living room against the east wall, with an icon hung above it and two first-class relics on it.
Real priests who offer Holy Mass are usually well equipped to offer it anywhere, carrying reversible chasubles and the other vestments, as well as candles, altar cards and a missal. However, it is a good idea for those who have an altar at home to have a supply of candlesticks (preferably at least 51% beeswax), cruets for water and wine, three layers of linens to dress the altar and a small bell. It doesn't hurt to have the other items as well.
How ironic it would be if the "Christian house church" - that concept so dear to the antiquarian liturgical revolutionaries who took it as a pretext for their streamlined modern prayer service - turned out to be the place where the Catholic Holy Mass would have to end up being officiated, albeit in temporarily humble circumstances, would survive the coming upsurge of persecution of Catholics.
Perhaps the time is approaching when the words of St. John Chrysostom will once again be as apt as they were in the fourth century:
"As those who bring comedians, dancers, and harlots into their feasts call in demons and Satan himself and fill their homes with innumerable contentions (among them jealousy, adultery, debauchery, and countless evils); so those who invoke David with his lyre call inwardly on Christ. Where Christ is, let no demon enter; let him not even dare to look in in passing. Peace, delight, and all good things flow here as from fountains. Those [pagans] make their home a theatre; make yours a church. For where there are psalms, and prayers, and the dance of the prophets, and singers with pious intentions, no one will err if he call the assembly a church."