No Tabernacle in the Sanctuary?

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Hello,

I attended a mass today in the diocese of Houston-Galveston and there was no tabernacle in the sanctuary. We asked where the tabernacle was and we were told that they keep the consecrated host in the one and only tabernacle which was in the chapel. Is this acceptable? It just felt odd knowing Christ was not truly there until the host was consecrated at mass. Thanks for the info.

In Christ,
Joe M
 
It’s not an uncommon practice to have a separate chapel for reservation of the Sacrament.

This allows people who want to spend some time with the Lord outside the context of Mass to do so - even if there’s Mass going on elsewhere in the Church.
 
It is certainly acceptable to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in a dignified side chapel.

There are arguments and counter-arguments - providing a place for prayer and reflection with the Blessed Sacrament on the one hand, and taking the Lord away from the centre of the church on the other.

However, it is sometimes the case that the side chapel or the particular positioning of the tabernacle is not in the least befitting for the throne of God. Perhaps or perhaps not this is the case in your particular church.
 
A tabernacle is not required to celebrate Mass.

In a Church the instructions for placing the tabernacle are:

“315. … Consequently, it is preferable that the tabernacle be located, according to the judgment of the Diocesan Bishop,
a. Either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration, in a form and place more appropriate, not excluding on an old altar no longer used for celebration (cf. above, no. 303);
b. Or even in some chapel suitable for the faithful’s private adoration and prayer
[footnote 129. Cf. Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction Eucharisticum mysterium, On the worship of the Eucharist, 25 May 1967, no. 53: AAS 59 (1967), p. 568; The Roman Ritual, Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass, editio typica, 1973, no. 9; Codex Iuris Canonici can. 938 § 2; John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae, 24 February 1980, no. 3: AAS 72 (1980), pp. 117-119.]
and which is organically connected to the church and readily visible to the Christian faithful.”

I suppose the issue is how “readily visible” is this tabernacle. According to the Code of Canon Law, canon 938 §2: “The tabernacle in which the blessed Eucharist is reserved should be sited in a distinguished place in the church or oratory, a place which is conspicuous, suitably adorned and conducive to prayer.” (The Code of Canon Law: New Revised English Translation, HarperCollins Liturgical, 1997, ISBN 0-00-599375-X, page 214). Perhaps the position is not sufficiently conspicuous. If you were to write to the bishop, this could be the point to make.
 
we share a chapel with the Protestant military community of our base, and therefore, we have our tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament room, reserved for our use only.
 
Even a non-catholic knows better than most modern Catholics about this…

I was at RCIA and a person converting asked our nun, where is the tabernacle, since it isn’t center at out parish.

She said we keep it off to the side since it is reserved primarily for storage for the sick.

He replied, “if Jesus is there shouldn’t He be at the center?”

She didn’t have any response, and there is no good response except to ignore the presence of Jesus.
Which leads me to believe that many really don’t believe He is really there.

Jesus should be center and most the newer experimental churches that look like barns should be gutted and renovated to be Catholic. Unless you really don’t believe in the presence of Jesus there as the center of our faith, then you can put Him anywhere.
Just look at the practice of people in the Church, if they talk, don’t genuflect and recieve communion in the hand you probably have a parish that doesn’t really believe Jesus is there and that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

In Christ
Scylla
 
When we celebrate the Mass, our main focus is at the altar table.

Personally, I prefer to have the tabernacle inside the Church than in a chapel.
 
water said:
When we celebrate the Mass, our main focus is at the altar table.

Personally, I prefer to have the tabernacle inside the Church than in a chapel.
Click to expand...
Do you believe that Jesus is truly present in the Tabernacle?

If yes, then why not have Him there at center as we Worship God not the Altar. The Altar is where the Sacrifice happens and appropriately at center also.

God Bless
Scylla
 
Here is part of an article by Fr Allen Morris about the placement of the tabernacle. It highlights the benefits of a separate chapel. It is dated 19 November 2006 and the full article is at totalcatholic.com/faith/faitharchive/faith20061119.html .

"… In the ‘old days’ things were easier. For the liturgy was much more static, and the place of reservation and the place for the liturgy were one and the same.

The tabernacle was on the altar and both were on the far wall of the sanctuary, and both formed the focal point of the whole church.

Now the focal point of the liturgy is a forward facing altar on which the tabernacle has no place and which is related in terms of design and arrangement to the ambo and the priest’s chair. It is not easy to find a worthy place of reservation in this same space.

It is easy to find a place here which is prominent and noble, but not one well suited for prayer.

Even if the tabernacle remains more or less where it was, on the sanctuary and on the wall, it lies away from the congregation, behind altar, ambo and chair.

More suitable would be a separate Blessed Sacrament chapel: one that is beautifully and richly decorated, one which allows the faithful to come close, and to have a place where they can rest in prayer, spending time close to the Lord.

But such a place is not available in all our churches, so a certain compromise has to be made – a place suited for prayer but it is not so prominent, or another, prominent but not well suited for prayer. …"
 
I read that article, this Father Allen is pretty good at the doubletalk.
(God is important but we move away from focusing on Him but He is important) Whaaaat?!

There is something wrong with a liturgy whose focus does not include God.

I am not saying there is something wrong with the Novus Ordo, but there is something wrong with your Church design if it doesn’t inspire for prayer and your future plans are for a Church that doesn’t inspire prayer.
If my future plans to modify the liturgy is to further move away from a place that inspires prayer and reverence there is a problem with my plans.

Wouldn’t it be more respectful to our Lord then to design the Church and focus the Liturgy on Him?

The Novus Ordo has been hijacked by some people to reflect just a community feeling that is moving away from focusing on God. We need to inspire our Priests and Laity to make sure they realize we are first at Mass to Worship God and He is first.

If the direction of our liturgy is going away from God as the center that is wrong, it needs to move more toward God being the center.

In Christ
Scylla
 
scylla said:
Do you believe that Jesus is truly present in the Tabernacle?
God Bless
Scylla
Click to expand...
I answered “yes” to you, but your question has a little to do with believing or not believing and it is little off topic compared with the original post.

My eyes get focused to wherever the location of the tabernacle is. Again, like I said, I preferred it to be inside the church than the chapel - it has nothing to do with believing or not believing. 🙂
 
water said:
I answered “yes” to you, but your question has a little to do with believing or not believing and it is little off topic compared with the original post.

My eyes get focused to wherever the location of the tabernacle is. Again, like I said, I preferred it to be inside the church than the chapel - it has nothing to do with believing or not believing. 🙂
Click to expand...
I am so sorry I misunderstood you, forgive me, I mistakenly thought it was the other way around. For some reason I was certain you had written the other way around, that you preferred Jesus outside, or that you preferred the tabernacle somewhere else.

This is common with those who deny the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That is why it is so important and the reason for my reaction. I think it directly is related to this discussion as Jesus is the center of our Worship, and if you truly believe He is there…
Then He should be there in the center.
I get a little crazy when people deny Jesus, especially Catholics.

Again, my mistake I am sorry for thinking of you as one of those heretics who deny the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

(I call them heretics because as people professing to be Catholic they have absolutely no reason to deny the presence of Jesus other than refusing to believe.)

At least my friends at Calvary Chapel sincerely believe that Jesus is among them when they pray, almost even more than some believe in the real presence.

In Christ
Scylla
 
If the faithful are to have a devotion to the eucharist, the most fitting place for the tabernacle is a chapel.

When the faithful wish to find a place of prayer during the week, it’s not idea to be in the middle of a huge church proper, with distractions such as noise, statues, altars, ambos, rehearsals etc., but rather having a Eucharistic Chapel, where Jesus is the focus, is much more fitting. If you wish to center on Jesus, a chapel is the way to go. If you want a lack of eucharistic devotion, and distractions, by all means, keep him in the church proper.

Putting him in a chapel ensures that anyone can see him at any time. When he’s in the church proper, that’s less possible with things such as rehearsals, public prayer services, sacred music concerts, etc.

One weird thing though that I notice a lot, is churches with the tabernacle in the church proper, but it’s out of the sanctuary off to side, or off to the side in the sanctuary. That’s just dumb.
 
Why should there be any noise in a Church? That is a sacred space. This is why we shut up when we go inside a Church, Jesus is there. This is why we genuflect, it is not a meeting room.
That is the huge difference between a Catholic Church and a Protestant Church. In most Protestant Churches it is not a problem to have other activities in the Church area such as food since they have a different theology than us.

The Church can also be designed with a chapel directly off to the side with the tabernacle at center of both.

What did they do in the old days? When Jesus was always at the center of worship? Does anyone know?

In Christ
Scylla
 
scylla said:
I am so sorry I misunderstood you, forgive me, I mistakenly thought it was the other way around. For some reason I was certain you had written the other way around, that you preferred Jesus outside, or that you preferred the tabernacle somewhere else.

This is common with those who deny the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That is why it is so important and the reason for my reaction. I think it directly is related to this discussion as Jesus is the center of our Worship, and if you truly believe He is there…
Then He should be there in the center.
I get a little crazy when people deny Jesus, especially Catholics.

Again, my mistake I am sorry for thinking of you as one of those heretics who deny the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

(I call them heretics because as people professing to be Catholic they have absolutely no reason to deny the presence of Jesus other than refusing to believe.)

At least my friends at Calvary Chapel sincerely believe that Jesus is among them when they pray, almost even more than some believe in the real presence.

In Christ
Scylla
Click to expand...
No problem- it could be the way I wrote, but don’t worry about it 🙂 I preferred the old way where the tabernacle placed at the center too. However, there are some churches which are so huge and we don’t even see clearly the tabernacle or we can’t get closer to it. At our new church, the area where the altar is huge and I feel it is ok to be located on the left where there is a kneeler for parishioner to come as closer to the tabernacle as possible.

I totally don’t like the idea of not having the tabernacle inside the Church .
 
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