Next to the sacristy door of our church, there is a marble plaque dated 1923, which commemorates the re-consecration of the altar. The plaque itself indicates that this re-consecration was due to two reasons: 1) Deterioration due to the passage of time, and 2) Restoration to its liturgical form.
From this, we can deduce two things:
1) The deterioration of the altar; perhaps deterioration that began with the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. But to this significant factor, we must add the three hundred years that the altar had already accumulated by 1923. This deterioration necessitated the placement of a new stone—a slab—to replace the old one.
2. The inscription on the plaque regarding the “restoration to the liturgical form” indicates that, for whatever reason, the previous altar no longer met the requirements of the liturgical reforms that had been implemented in the Church since the Council of Trent. The reforms closest to the date of the consecration were those of Pope Pius X. We understand, therefore, that the altar had become obsolete.
As an additional point of interest, next to the transept doors that open onto either cloister, two granite stones with red crosses can be seen, commemorating the two consecrations of our church.
J.A.G.
