Cleaning the Tabernacle

[kmmd]

When praying before the blessed sacrament in my local church, I have noticed that the Tabernacle is quite tarnished. I mentioned it to a friend of mine who said that she had approached the Deacon (sadly he does the work of a pastor, while the priest is only “Sacramental minister”) and she said that he said that they weren’t sure whether they wanted to get a new tabernacle or to have the one that we have, fixed.

Now it is only dirty as far as I can see and I have great reason to fear what kind of tabernacle they would replace it with…and what would they do with the old one!!

I have quit giving to the weekly collection because of the level of liturgical abuse, but I do love the parish…so I am thinking that I would like to pay to have the tabernacle cleaned and polished.

Can any one tell me the proper way to go about it?

 

[Mokey]

I’m not sure how you go about cleaning the tabernacle, but I would like to say that you should not withold your weekly support of the Church because of liturgical abuses. I would talk to your pastor about your concerns and if he doesn’t do anything about them, I would contact your local bishop.

 

[Crusader]

kmmd:

When praying before the blessed sacrament in my local church, I have noticed that the Tabernacle is quite tarnished. I mentioned it to a friend of mine who said that she had approached the Deacon (sadly he does the work of a pastor, while the priest is only “Sacramental minister”) and she said that he said that they weren’t sure whether they wanted to get a new tabernacle or to have the one that we have, fixed.

Now it is only dirty as far as I can see and I have great reason to fear what kind of tabernacle they would replace it with…and what would they do with the old one!!

I have quit giving to the weekly collection because of the level of liturgical abuse, but I do love the parish…so I am thinking that I would like to pay to have the tabernacle cleaned and polished.

Can any one tell me the proper way to go about it?

I would use your alms to have a professional do it. A local jeweler or gold/silversmith would certainly be capable of doing a nice job if they agreed to take on such a job. Alternately you could send the tabernacle away to someone like C.M. Almy (www.almy.com) and have them tackle the job.

As long as your parish has (or can borrow) a substitute tabernacle, this should be no problem – and it would be a wonderful way to use your alms.

 

[kmmd]

Mokey:

I’m not sure how you go about cleaning the tabernacle, but I would like to say that you should not withold your weekly support of the Church because of liturgical abuses. I would talk to your pastor about your concerns and if he doesn’t do anything about them, I would contact your local bishop.

I have been a thorn in the side of two pastors and now the deacon. I have written to the bishop in the past. You will have to trust me that there is abundant evidence that the Bishop is not only aware, but fully supports the abuses.

 

[Crusader]

kmmd:

I have been a thorn in the side of two pastors and now the deacon. I have written to the bishop in the past. You will have to trust me that there is abundant evidence that the Bishop is not only aware, but fully supports the abuses.

Sadly, that sounds like my parish/diocese. Your idea to use your alms for cleaning the tabernacle is a wonderful idea. You should follow through on it.

 

[Mokey]

I would take your case to the Vatican. *Redemptionis Sacramentum * calls for this.

 

[kmmd]

I called the Deacon today and he is very glad to let me take on this project. Apparently he has had other parishoners complain about the state of the Tabernacle. He doesn’t know if it is gold plated or bronze. It appears to be very tarnished. There is a decent jewler in town, but he I don’t think he is Catholic and I am feel like I should make sure that anyone who touches the Tabernacle should do so with the greatest respect. Do you think that I should ask the jeweler to give his assessment and just explain to him that it is very holy to us?