Going to the Tabernacle -- Cleric/Lay?

[CatholicFireman]

Also, if its a larger parish, there’s the possibility that there are a lot of Hosts that could have been left over from a previous Mass that was kept inside a second tabernacle. There’s just a number of reasons why this would be done and they are good reasons. Of course there are also bad reasons, but let us not bother with it

LOL. Gotcha. My parish is 5,000+ strong so I’m thinking you’re right.

 

[wisdomseeker]

The rules, issued by the Vatican on July 28, say that lay people:

• may not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion;
• may not place consecrated hosts into containers, known as “sacred vessels”;
• must receive the sacred vessels from the priest, rather than removing them from the tabernacle or picking them up from the altar themselves;
• may not assist in the cleansing of the sacred vessels after Mass;
• may not consume leftover consecrated wine after Communion unless the priest administers it to them.
  Sounds unlike myth or opinion to me. Looks like solid liturgical law. Now you try going into our tabernacle or touching any one of the sacred vessels in our parish…No lay person is even allowed into the Sanctuary at my church unless they wear a cassock- even the Sacristan must wear gloves to shield his hands from the sacred vessels he handles.

Ken

apparently these instructions is only for a few. All the Parishes I have been to in this town, women are the one who goes to the Tabernacle. Women and men are the ones drinking the remaining wine and so forth. Humm…

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Why is it that so many people on these forums believe that it is somehow wrong for a layperson (an EMHC) to go to the tabernacle and bring/return the ciborium? Am I missing something? Yes I think it would be great if almost ALL liturgical functions were handled by ordained men, but is there any instruction from Church that forbids a layperson from accessing the tabernacle during the Mass?

Lay people can take the ciborium out of the tabernacle and repose it. The lay chaplain at the Catholic college where I work does this every morning. However, if a sacred minister is present (bishops, priests, deacons) he should do it rather than a lay person.