Creche in the sanctuary?

[toutestgrace]

Eventhough the Christmas season is over, I’d like to ask a question that’s been bothering me. My parish used to have a beautiful creche scene positioned in a niche just below the altar. It was not obtrusive and did not distract from the Eucharistic celebration. I found it to be a wonderful trigger for meditation on the Incarnation during the Christmas season.

In the past several years, the creche was removed and placed near the vestibule, so you did not really see it unless you stopped on your way in or out of church. The explanation I was given by someone on the Liturgy commission was that nothing in the sanctuary should distract from the Eucharist. Yet, there was a Christmas tree placed just behind the altar. What is the liturgical regulation, if any, regarding religious images in the sanctuary?

 

[rcballi46]

toutestgrace:

Eventhough the Christmas season is over, I’d like to ask a question that’s been bothering me. My parish used to have a beautiful creche scene positioned in a niche just below the altar. It was not obtrusive and did not distract from the Eucharistic celebration. I found it to be a wonderful trigger for meditation on the Incarnation during the Christmas season.

In the past several years, the creche was removed and placed near the vestibule, so you did not really see it unless you stopped on your way in or out of church. The explanation I was given by someone on the Liturgy commission was that nothing in the sanctuary should distract from the Eucharist. Yet, there was a Christmas tree placed just behind the altar. What is the liturgical regulation, if any, regarding religious images in the sanctuary?

I don’t have an ‘official’ response on this matter - but I do offer an observation. Having a Nativity scene in the sanctuary during the Christmas season is an appropriate display of the Incarnation. I got a similar answer from my pastor to my question why the American flag was removed from the sanctuary of the Church. Me thinks that the Liturgy commission(s) and some pastors just make things up as they go along. Most people are old enough to know the importance of the Eucharist vs. a Nativity display. I get tired of lay people (members of the liturgical commission) pushing their PC agendas under the disguise of “limiting my distraction”. In fact, not having the Nativity scene in the sanctuary would be a cause for me to be distracted (i.e. looking around to find out where it might be hidden from view, etc…)
I would go to the parish council meeting and tell them that a display in the sanctuary during the appropriate liturgical season is not only not a distraction, but it is a wise thing to do - after all, if Jesus had not been born, there would be no need for a Eucharist - one event pointing to another!