Empty Tabernacle on Good Friday?

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theunworthyservant

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In a conversation with our rector today, he mentioned that since the tabernacle for the Altar of Repose was too small to fit multiple ciboriums, he would transfer the hosts from the Altar of Repose to the main tabernacle at midnight after adoration hours on Holy Thursday. He also mentioned that they would remain there during the Good Friday Service(s). In my past experiences, and from what I have seen in other churches, the tabernacle was left empty during the Good Friday Service, and is only filled at the Easter Vigil Mass. Would our rector abuse the liturgy in this way? If you could, please provide the Church documents pertaining to this matter. Thank you.
 
theunworthyservant said:
In my past experiences, and from what I have seen in other churches, the tabernacle was left empty during the Good Friday Service, and is only filled at the Easter Vigil Mass.
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Is there another safe and worthy place for the Blessed Sacrament to be reserved in? No? But it’s a large parish right? Is there someone/s in the parish who would be prepared to buy a second larger second-hand tabernacle to serve as the Altar of Repose? Or even a craftsman who could build one to serve as the Altar of Repose each year?

Most Altar of Repose that I’ve seen and set up & decorated would certainly hold two large ciboriums or a large and a smaller one a the very least.


 
In my parish, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the sacristy from midnight Holy Thursday evening until after the Easter Vigil. It’s placed in a lockd cabinet that holds the chalices and ciboria. Perhaps your pastor could do the same?
 
theunworthyservant said:
In a conversation with our rector today, he mentioned that since the tabernacle for the Altar of Repose was too small to fit multiple ciboriums, he would transfer the hosts from the Altar of Repose to the main tabernacle at midnight after adoration hours on Holy Thursday.
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It is February. There is time to come up with an acceptable alternative between now and then, if someone steps up and helps the rector to do it.
 
I hate this solution. Let’s just place our Lord in a cabinet for the night. I am sure it is common practice, but it’s not right.
 
tafan2 said:
I hate this solution. Let’s just place our Lord in a cabinet for the night. I am sure it is common practice, but it’s not right.
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Well, if the tabernacle must be empty from Holy Thursday until after the Easter Vigil, and you need hosts for the liturgy on Good Friday and hosts for sick calls…the Blessed Sacrament must go somewhere. Any ideas on what should be done differently to comply with the GIRM?

The cabinet is not a metal filing cabinet…it’s built in to the wall and the interior is finished with silk lining like a regular tabernacle. There is always a sanctuary candle burning to remind us all of the Real Presence.
 
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tafan2 said:
I hate this solution. Let’s just place our Lord in a cabinet for the night. I am sure it is common practice, but it’s not right.
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The “cabinet” can be properly adorned for the purpose and changes made to the area so that it functions as a chapel and not a dressing room or a storage room. Yes, it is better to have an alternative tabernacle that is dedicated to the purpose. Having said that, not every parish has that. A secure place outside the main tabernacle has to be found.
 
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Buy a Tabernacle. Yes spent a few thousand dollars that will be used to house Jesus once a year.
 
Maybe some parishes don’t have that disposable income and have to make do? Not every church is rich, you know.
 
Yes, do but one less expensive. At one point they paid for one Tabernacle, an altar, ambo, etc. Certain things are simply required.
 
tafan2 said:
Buy a Tabernacle. Yes spent a few thousand dollars that will be used to house Jesus once a year.
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I don’t disagree, but it can be hard enough to get the parish to pay to have the common chalices re-plated when they start to corrode. These are the kinds of things that tend to get paid for when a donor group steps up and makes it happen.
 
Glennon_P said:
if the tabernacle must be empty from Holy Thursday until after the Easter Vigil
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If you read the GIRM link is posted, it doesn’t actually say that.

On Good Friday:

After Communion either the deacon or another suitable minister takes the ciborium to a place prepared outside the church, or, if circumstances require, may place it in the tabernacle
 
Well, if the need is not made known, a donor won’t step up.

Furthermore, I am sure that there are parishes with severe financial hardships. Most do not fall into that category. It’s a matter of priorities.
 
tafan2 said:
Well, if the need is not made known, a donor won’t step up.

Furthermore, I am sure that there are parishes with severe financial hardships. Most do not fall into that category. It’s a matter of priorities.
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Agreed. Sometimes, these things inspire a particular person or couple or group to step up. It does not hurt to get the word out.

As for whether parishes have severe financial hardships, pastors unfortunately tend get more, um, “strenuous” feedback on what they’re spending than what they’re not spending, just as they have this way of getting feedback on their homilies that concentrate on minutes elapsed as much as anything else. It’s the, well, if we have money for that, this parish doesn’t need my contributions mindset. Items used once a year are the kind of thing that pastors tend to reassure parishioners were given to the parish by someone’s generous donation. That’s not a good thing, in my estimation, but it is a thing.

As @1ke pointed out, it is tough to make the case that this is a need that a parish is duty-bound to take care of, because the GIRM does not require that a parish have a second dedicated tabernacle.
 
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PetraG said:
because the GIRM does not require that a parish have a second dedicated tabernacle
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Right. In fact, GIRM #314 would seem to prohibit a second tabernacle if there’s no suitable place for it outside of the church itself, which may be the case in a small parish or chapel.
 
1ke said:
On Good Friday:

After Communion either the deacon or another suitable minister takes the ciborium to a place prepared outside the church, or, if circumstances require, may place it in the tabernacle
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Yep. That’s the way I’ve seen it done – on Holy Thursday, the Eucharist is transferred to the sacristy. Following the Good Friday service, any remaining hosts are placed in the tabernacle.

The procession in the Good Friday service is from the place of repose to the altar.
 
I would suggest working with the pastor to find a larger tabernacle.

Unless I’m mistaken, no one says it must be made of gold and/or marble. There were plenty of tabernacles back in the 1800s that were made from wood.

As someone previously said, there is PLENTY of time between now and Good Friday to either build a larger tabernacle for the Altar of Repose or to purchase something.

Start making plans now. And if God forbid, it’s not ready for this year, it would be ready for Good Friday 2021. But there is no reason to not have the ideal year after year.

God Bless
 
It seems not. The sacristy has no locked cabinets, and it is a small parish so funding is scarce. There might be a people able to build them, but they might not be up for the task; I’ll have to inquire.
 
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