30. THE ORATORY WHERE MASS IS OCCASIONALLY CELEBRATED
After briefly presenting instructions regarding the church building and the annexed parts, instructions regarding oratories are herewith given. One type of oratory is the one in which Mass is occasionally celebrated, and the other, erected by the wayside, is the one in which it is not celebrated.
The simple church or oratory will have a nave only, no less than twelve cubits long, ten wide and as high as is best in relation to the site. At its head it will have a chapel, facing east if possible, eight cubits or more wide, depending on the site, long and high in relation to its width.
There will be a single step at the entrance, with railings in the prescribed form. The altar, the floor, the vaulted ceiling, the windows, the cruet niche, the bell hung at the side and the rest will be as prescribed for the minor chapels and altars. The altar will have two steps, one of which will consist of the footpace of the altar itself.
From the base of the footpace to the bottom of the railing there will be a space of at least two cubits.
The windows of the oratory will be set up high enough so that it is impossible to look in from outside.
There will be a door opposite the altar, and a round window, like an oculus, in the prescribed structure. Near the door, inside, there will be a basin for the holy water in the shape indicated.
Annexed to the main chapel, the oratory will have a sacristy, if possible facing south, its size depending on the size of the oratory, furnished with the furnishings and other necessary objects, as prescribed.
On the other side, corresponding to the sacristy, there can be a small bell tower, different however from that of the parish church, or at least two stone piers will be built on the upper part of the wall, to which a single bell will be attached, according to the prescribed criteria.
If more than one Mass is to be celebrated in the oratory at the same time, chapels in the form prescribed above can be built on either side of and not far from the main chapel.
The form and building criteria of the other parts that belong to the oratory will correspond to those indicated for the structure of the church.
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