sacristy

American  

[sak-ri-stee] / ˈsæk rɪ sti /

noun

• sacristies
  plural

1. an apartment in or a building connected with a church or a religious house, in which the sacred vessels, vestments, etc., are kept.

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sacristy British  

/ ˈsækrɪstɪ /

noun

1. a room attached to a church or chapel where the sacred vessels, vestments, etc, are kept and where priests attire themselves

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sacristies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sacristy

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin sacristia vestry, equivalent to sacrist ( a ) ( see sacristan) + -ia -y ³

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Explanation

A sacristy is the room in a Catholic church where religious objects used during rituals like Holy Communion are stored. Things like a chalice, altar linens, and holy oils are kept in a sacristy. A sacristy is sometimes called a vestry, although this is more typically used for the room where priests change into their vestments, or the special robes they wear during church services. And while robes might be stored in a vestry, most other holy objects are kept in the sacristy. Orthodox and Catholic churches are most likely to have a sacristy. The word literally means "repository for sacred things," from the Latin root sacer, "sacred."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sacristy sacristies

Now in the collection of the Art Institute, this painting—the first of Zurbarán’s 12 crucifixions—hung for almost 200 years behind a grille in a dimly lighted monastic sacristy in Seville.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

There is still scaffolding around much of the eastern end, and in coming years the outside walls of the apse and sacristy will need treatment.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2024

One sister recalled a time when she and another altar server accidentally spilled open a bag of already-consecrated Eucharist wafers as they were preparing for mass in the wood-paneled sacristy.

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024

“You could take the basilica to New York, but we are here,” he said in the sacristy, long after the day’s tourists had stopped wandering above.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 20, 2023

He knocks at the sacristy door and tells Stephen Carey,This is my son, Frank, who knows the Latin and is ready to be an altar boy.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

The sounds of “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hal-le-lu-jah!” echoed around the sacristies and the nave.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 27, 2019

One of our newspapers' slogans," snapped Father Narciso Saguer Vilar of San Ildefonso's Church, "is that we priests should only preach the Gospel and stay closed in our sacristies.

From Time Magazine Archive

When he died in 1614 his fame was already on the wane, and soon his greatest paintings were tucked away in dim sacristies and behind altars.

From Time Magazine Archive

Eyes that came to life in the moonblaze of sacristies and witnessed the birth of the world struggled to open against the priest’s grip.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

The mayor was regretting that he had asked for so little, and that the pictures in the sacristies and corridors of the monasteries would not be grouped with those taken from the churches.

From Great Masters in Painting: Perugino by George C. Williamson

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