Adoration Of The Blessed Sacrament

[antonabe]

We have an adoration Chapel in our Parish which is on the side aisle of the Main Alter and the Main Tabernacle.The Blessed sacrament is permanantly in the adoration Chapel but before mass the Opaque Curtain of the Tabernacle of the adoration Chapel is brought down and Mass is celebrated in the Main Alter without the Blessed sacrament being in the main alter.After Mass the Opaque curtain in the adoration chapel is raised and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and is visible even when the Church is closed from outside the Church.My view is that the Blessed sacarament should be be in the Main Tabernacle and should be relocated to the Adoration Chapel at certain specific times.Would like to have your views.

 

[AnglicanForMary]

We have an adoration Chapel in our Parish which is on the side aisle of the Main Alter and the Main Tabernacle.The Blessed sacrament is permanantly in the adoration Chapel but before mass the Opaque Curtain of the Tabernacle of the adoration Chapel is brought down and Mass is celebrated in the Main Alter without the Blessed sacrament being in the main alter.After Mass the Opaque curtain in the adoration chapel is raised and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and is visible even when the Church is closed from outside the Church.My view is that the Blessed sacarament should be be in the Main Tabernacle and should be relocated to the Adoration Chapel at certain specific times.Would like to have your views.

My view is that the Sacrament should reside in the Tabernacle at the High Altar, and that there should be a separate physical location for a Chapel of Perpetual Adoration

 

[Fiasco]

My view is that the Blessed sacarament should be be in the Main Tabernacle and should be relocated to the Adoration Chapel at certain specific times.Would like to have your views.

Why not have the Blessed Sacrament exposed, ie ENTHRONED, on the main altar? Why relegate Him to a so-called “Adoration Chapel”?

In the parish that i eventually gave up belonging to, “they” built an ugly new parish church with a separate “adoration chapel”. The PPs "explanation" was that the Blessed Sacrament is only a "static presence" (!!!), whereas the "worship space" is designed "......**for ACTION**."! :eek: Emphasis was in the PPs statement.

 

[sparrowhawk28]

My view is that the Sacrament should reside in the Tabernacle at the High Altar, and that there should be a separate physical location for a Chapel of Perpetual Adoration

Agreed. The church I go to used to hold the Sacrament in a small Tabernacle on a side altar, but now it’s situated behind the main altar. In my view this is much better.

 

[antonabe]

When mass is being celebrated in the Main alter should the Blessed Sacrament be brought back to the Main alter from the Adoration chapel?It does not seem right to celebrate the Eucharist in the Main alter when the Blessed Sacrament is somewhere else but not visible.When mass is being celebrated I agree that the Blessed sacrament should not be exposed but it should reside at the Main Tabernacle.

 

[kmuestwin]

When my parish has 24 hour adoration, the Blessed Sacrament is always in the adoration chapel. I like it better because adoration is a time to be close to the Lord. If the host was on the altar, I couldn’t be as near to it and I don’t think I would focus as well as I could. Also, the main chapel seats 500 so from an economic perspective, it takes a lot less energy to light a room built with a maximum occupancy of 12.

 

[Sherry_G]

We have an adoration Chapel in our Parish which is on the side aisle of the Main Alter and the Main Tabernacle.The Blessed sacrament is permanantly in the adoration Chapel but before mass the Opaque Curtain of the Tabernacle of the adoration Chapel is brought down and Mass is celebrated in the Main Alter without the Blessed sacrament being in the main alter.After Mass the Opaque curtain in the adoration chapel is raised and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and is visible even when the Church is closed from outside the Church.My view is that the Blessed sacarament should be be in the Main Tabernacle and should be relocated to the Adoration Chapel at certain specific times.Would like to have your views.

If you are saying that the Blessed Sacrament of Jesus is not repositioned into the tabernacle before Mass begins, then this is an abuse in my view and shhould be discussed with your parish priest and involve the Bishop if necessary. Insofar as having a separate adoration chapel, my old very large parish had one too. The main church was very large seating over 2000 people, while the adoration chapel was outside off the main gathering space. The main church could be locked and the heat/air turned back. People could still access the adoration chapel at any time of the day or night with the proper code punched in to the security lock. However, the blessed sacrament was not exposed except during announced times. Most times, Jesus was reposed in the tabernacle. While I personally want to see the tabernacle behind the main altar, I can at least tolerate this other arrangement as I know that Jesus is given proper honor and reverence at all times.

 

[AnglicanForMary]

Why not have the Blessed Sacrament exposed, ie ENTHRONED, on the main altar? Why relegate Him to a so-called “Adoration Chapel”?

I was trying to look up the liturgical norms for Exposition and found this on the website of the USCCB: nccbuscc.org/liturgy/q&a/devotions/perpetualexposition.shtml (responses were from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments)

Should perpetual adoration or exposition of the Blessed Sacrament take place in parishes?

RESPONSE: The Roman Ritual: Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass (HCWEOM), no. 90, states that, according to their constitutions and regulations, some religious communities and other pious groups have the practice of perpetual eucharistic adoration or adoration over extended periods of time. If by “perpetual eucharistic adoration” is meant prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, this involves no special permission. However, if by “perpetual eucharistic adoration” is meant adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the ciborium or monstrance, the permission of the local Ordinary is required.

Perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is a devotion and practice which is permitted to those religious communities that have it as an integral part of their communal life and to pious associations of the laity which have received official recognition.

If a pious association of the laity, which has perpetual exposition as a part of its constitution, is established within a parish, the activity of that association should be seen as separate from that of the parish, although all members of the parish are free to participate in it.
**
May perpetual exposition take place in the parish church?**

RESPONSE: Because perpetual exposition is a devotional practice of a religious community or a pious association, it should normally take place in a chapel of that religious community or association. If for some good reason perpetual exposition must take place in a parish church, it should be in a chapel distinct from the body of the church so as not to interfere with the normal activities of the parish or its daily liturgical celebrations.

Of course while looking for info I did find this gem: "The General Instruction of the Roman Missal: 1969-2002 - A Commentary [Paperback] Dennis Smolarski "

Michael

 

[Anna_Claire]

I’m not sure that I understand the question. There is nothing wrong with a chapel designated for prayer, devotion and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. More important…what do you think is happening at mass…a Eucharistic celebration? Christ is always present in the people gathered,in the priest presider, in the reading of the Word of God and especially in the consecrated bread and wine that we share. It’s the same Christ that is present in the tabernacle.

 

[antonabe]

The presence of the Blessed Sacrament in a Chapel or a Church is known when the lamp is lit and signifies that Christ is present in the Tabernacle.Usually it is kept in the Main Tabernacle of the Church.Sometimes the Blessed Sacrament can be exposed in the main tabernacle it is then closer to us for our adoration.In some Churches there is a side Chapel for adoration at specific times but when Holy Mass commences in the main alter the Blessed Sacrament cannot then repose in the side Chapel but must be brought back to the Main tabernacle.If it is left in the side Tabernacle we do not give Jesus Christ due reverence.

 

[AnglicanForMary]

I’m not sure that I understand the question. There is nothing wrong with a chapel designated for prayer, devotion and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. More important…what do you think is happening at mass…a Eucharistic celebration? Christ is always present in the people gathered,in the priest presider, in the reading of the Word of God and especially in the consecrated bread and wine that we share. It’s the same Christ that is present in the tabernacle.

I would respectfully disagree with the implication, that the two are identical activities of worship, Exposition and Adoration is an extension of the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass, but it is not the primary reason for the existence of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar: that reason is properly the making present to our eyes the One Sacrifice of Calvary, and the act of our taking into ourselves the divine life of Christ Jesus Himself by eating His Body and drinking His Blood.

The reason why a consecrated Host that is permanently exposed for Adoration is covered by a cloth when Mass is said on the same Altar upon which It is exposed, is so that the worshipers’s attention will be drawn not to the already consecrated Host, but to the eucharistic action in which s/he is participating.

For comparison, from the 28th of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (of the Church of England) we find this:

The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped [sic].

(1)

Which could be seen (and is so seen by Evangelicals and Dissenters (but hey that’s why they’re Dissenters )) as an absolute prohibition of Exposition and Benediction. The key words here though are “was not by Christ’s ordinance” i.e. Christ did not command it, but not commanding something to be done is not the same as positively forbidding it (I believe this was also Newman’s argument in his Tract 90), which means the primary focus of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is not the worship of the Host, but the application of its benefits and merits to those worshipers present, but which does not completely rule out the worship of the Same,.

The Article cited here is an example of extreme Protestant reaction (trying to throw the baby out with the bath water) to perceived extremes of Catholic piety: the perception (rightly or wrongly) that laity and religious ignored the communal nature of the Mass as the Lord’s Supper, in favor of a merely passive gazing upon the Sacrament, not daring to receive the Same (I don’t have citeable sources, but i believe there were parts of Europe where Christians refrained from receiving the Sacrament until their death-bed, or slightly less extremely, only once (or twice) though I’m open to correction on this point.

“Blessed, Praised, Worshiped, and Adored by Jesus Christ in His Throne of Glory and in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar”

(1) From the 1571 text, retrieved from eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/articles/articles.html#28

 

[Anna_Claire]

A for M…what was the purpose of your long drawn out comment with document quotes? I never said that a Eucharistic celebration of the mass and adoration were identical acts of worship. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. I was asking the OP to clarify and also to make the point that a chapel of repose is certainly a good thing and that Christ is always present when we gather for worship. The same Christ is present in us,the reading of the Word, in the priest and in a special way…the consecrated elements (which makes all other presences possible). That is why removing the previously consecrated Sacrament and placing in a separate chapel is fine. It gives more reverence and we can then focus on what is happening at the mass at which we are participating.

 

[antonabe]

The transfer of the previously consecrated Host to a separate Chapel is fine for dedicated adoration as there is focus without any distraction.However if the same consecrated Host which is the Blessed sacrament is not transferred to the main Tabernacle of the Church if Mass is held there then there is disrespect to the Blessed Sacrament which is in the Chapel.Of course it depends on where the Chapel is located.In our Church the Chapel,in fact it is only an Altar, is located in the side aisle of the Church so that during Mass people occupy the side aisle and thus there is disrespect to the Blessed Sacrament as the presence is completely ignored.Covering with a Curtain does not hide the fact that Jesus is present. Ideally it should then be relocated to the Main Tabernacle.Trust this clears the reservations I have…

 

[hudson]

I’m not sure that I understand the question. There is nothing wrong with a chapel designated for prayer, devotion and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. More important…what do you think is happening at mass…a Eucharistic celebration? Christ is always present in the people gathered,in the priest presider, in the reading of the Word of God and especially in the consecrated bread and wine that we share. It’s the same Christ that is present in the tabernacle.

Not sure what you mean here. At Mass we are taking part in Christ’s Sacrifice. We are actually eating the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. God is omnipresent yes, but we are truly seeing and eating Christs body and blood at Mass. When we eat Christs body, blood, soul, and divinity, that is different than saying God is always present in the people gathered and in the Priest. Now the Priest has a special role and does act In Persona Christi during the Mass. By the laying on of hands by the Bishop during his ordination, he is able to confect the Eucharist. No layman can do that. By no means is Gods omnipresence the same as Christ being physically present on the Altar or in the Tabernacle. If it were the same, we should be worshiping everything on Earth since God is present in everything. There is a big difference, I hope you see that.

 

[Anna_Claire]

Hudson, Christ’s presence in the Eucharistic species (par excellence) makes all other presences possible. They are all real presences and the same Christ…not all separate Christs.
**
The Different Modes of Christ’s Presence

In order that they should achieve a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist, the faithful should be instructed in the principal ways in which the Lord is present to his Church in liturgical celebrations.

He is always present in a body of the faithful gathered in his name (see Mt 18:20). He is present, too, in his Word, for it is he who speaks when the Scriptures are read in the Church.

In the sacrifice of the Eucharist he is present both in the person of the minister, “the same now offering through the ministry of the priest who formerly offered himself on the cross,” and above all under the species of the Eucharist. For in this sacrament Christ is present in a unique way, whole and entire, God and man, substantially and permanently. This presence of Christ under the species “is called ‘real’ not in an exclusive sense, as if the other kinds of presence were not real, but par excellence.”

—Sacred Congregation of Rites,
Instruction on the Worship
of the Eucharistic Ministry, #9**

 

[Cathryn]

Not sure what you mean here. At Mass we are taking part in Christ’s Sacrifice. We are actually eating the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. God is omnipresent yes, but we are truly seeing and eating Christs body and blood at Mass. When we eat Christs body, blood, soul, and divinity, that is different than saying God is always present in the people gathered and in the Priest. Now the Priest has a special role and does act In Persona Christi during the Mass. By the laying on of hands by the Bishop during his ordination, he is able to confect the Eucharist. No layman can do that. By no means is Gods omnipresence the same as Christ being physically present on the Altar or in the Tabernacle. If it were the same, we should be worshiping everything on Earth since God is present in everything. There is a big difference, I hope you see that.

:thumbsup:

 

[hudson]

Hudson, Christ’s presence in the Eucharistic species (par excellence) makes all other presences possible. They are all real presences and the same Christ…not all separate Christs.

what? There is only one Christ. There is only one Eucharist. You do not find the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ in everything simply for the mere fact that God is omnipresent. Do you deny that the Eucharist is the literal body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ?

 

[Cathryn]

As far as the Eucharist: “For in this sacrament Christ is present in a unique way, whole and entire, God and man, substantially and permanently.”

Sacred Congregation of Rites,
Instruction on the Worship
of the Eucharistic Ministry, #9

This is different than the other ways Christ is present in the Mass.

 

[Anna_Claire]

what? There is only one Christ. There is only one Eucharist. You do not find the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ in everything simply for the mere fact that God is omnipresent. Do you deny that the Eucharist is the literal body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ?

I never said that…I quoted church teaching.