Priest bowing in front of altar and not tabernacle

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Why does the priest bow in front of altar and not the tabernacle?

When the priest is coming to read the Gospel or giving the homily, he bows to altar not to the tabernacle. Why?

I did ask a priest this years ago but didn’t get an answer.
 
I’m a reader. Our instructions are to bow to the altar. Many readers are unaware of this and think they are doing the right thing by bowing to the tabernacle.

From the GIRM.
Greeting of the Altar and of the People Gathered Together
  1. When they reach the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the ministers reverence the altar with a profound bow.
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http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...cdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html

So, the first answer is that they are bowing to the altar because the GIRM says so - which is a sufficient reason.

As to “why” the GIRM would give this instruction, that’s an interesting liturgical question.
 
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The Tabernacle should be directly behind the altar, and thus he would be bowing before both. The altar contains a relic of the Saint for which the parish is named, and is the location where our Lord is rendered present.

Yet, Christ in His Body. Blood, Soul and Divinity dwells in the Tabernacle - indicated when the candle is lit, and is to be reverenced and worshiped. For that reason, a holy hour may be spent at any time before the Tabernacle, wherever it is located. Not so with the altar.
 
During mass, the altar is the focal point and should be bowed to. Outside of mass, the tabernacle is reverenced by genuflection.
 
Yes. That’s when the priest is coming up to the altar. I meant when he already was on the altar and was going to give a homily. He bows to the altar not the tabernacle and then walks over to give his homily.
 
@LittleFlower
I think that was once the case but not too much anymore.
 
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JamalChristophr said:
I think that was once the case but not too much anymore.
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We have a church here, whose altar was desecrated, and now it’s being reconsecrated with a relic of St Bakhita—pretty sure it’s a St Mary’s though. 😊 Interesting, never knew that!
 
I suppose at this late date, there may not be enough relics to go around. Or, they would have to be almost microscopic, in the case of parishes named after the Blessed Mother. You would have to ask. They are all supposed to have an altar stone. Good questions for Father as you exit the mass - better yet, great questions when you invite Father to dinner.
 
I’m still not 100% sure, but I think I remember a priest telling me that not all altars have that any more.
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Do all Catholic altars contain relics? Traditional Catholicism
We have a movable Altar, and even it has relics embedded inside. You can tell by the little square stone with cloth on it; pay attention on Good Friday!
wink
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In your opinion it should be; but in the opinion of the Church, there are several places where the tabernacle can be, and all of them are appropriate.

The tabernacle is not where the Consecration occurs; that occurs at the altar, which is why the altar is to be reverenced.
 
It doesn’t have to be the patronal saint, but an altar always contains the relics of a saint. In my parish we had our altar reordered(made higher to be more of a focal point) and the relics were placed in it in a special Mass a couple of weeks ago, by our cardinal.
 
I think the priest bows not before the altar but before the Eucharist. Two times, before both bread (body) and wine (blood) just after consecration and a third time after holding up both sacred species.

However, liturgy is highly complex and sometimes context dependent. There are very good reasons, refined over the millennia, as to why every detail is the way it is.
 
Before Vatican II the Latin Mass used to have the Tabernacle in the back of the altar. The priest used to face the altar and not the people. That to me is more reverent to God. It seems wrong to me that they don’t bow in front of the Tabernacle but it is not doctrinal. From what I am told the Church is constantly changing but not doctrinally that will never change. The Latin Mass seems like you are more in Union with God. But as long as we have ordained Catholic priest Christ will be present.
 
0104 said:
Before Vatican II the Latin Mass used to have the Tabernacle in the back of the altar.
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Actually, that continues to be the proper place for the tabernacle. (In a chapel within the church is also acceptable.)
 
Edmundus1581 said:
I’m a reader. Our instructions are to bow to the altar. Many readers are unaware of this and think they are doing the right thing by bowing to the tabernacle.

From the GIRM.
Greeting of the Altar and of the People Gathered Together
  1. When they reach the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the ministers reverence the altar with a profound bow.
Click to expand...
Your citation from the GIRM only addresses the ministers when they approach the altar at the beginning of Mass. I suspect, perhaps, that you meant to quote this section of the GIRM:
  1. A genuflection, made by bending the right knee to the ground, signifies adoration, and therefore it is reserved for the Most Blessed Sacrament, as well as for the Holy Cross from the solemn adoration during the liturgical celebration on Good Friday until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.
During Mass, three genuflections are made by the Priest Celebrant: namely, after the elevation of the host, after the elevation of the chalice, and before Communion. Certain specific features to be observed in a concele-brated Mass are noted in their proper place (cf. nos. 210-251).

If, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is situated in the sanctuary, the Priest, the Deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself.

Otherwise, all who pass before the Most Blessed Sacrament genuflect, unless they are moving in procession.

Ministers carrying the processional cross or candles bow their heads instead of genuflecting.
  1. A bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them. There are two kinds of bow: a bow of the head and a bow of the body.
a) A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.

b) A bow of the body, that is to say, a profound bow, is made to the altar; during the prayers Munda cor meum (Cleanse my heart) and In spiritu humilitatis (With humble spirit); in the Creed at the words et incarnatus est (and by the Holy Spirit . . . and became man); in the Roman Canon at the Supplices te rogamus (In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God). The same kind of bow is made by the Deacon when he asks for a blessing before the proclamation of the Gospel. In addition, the Priest bows slightly as he pronounces the words of the Lord at the Consecration.
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po18guy said:
The Tabernacle should be directly behind the altar,
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No. The tabernacle was not always behind the altar. In monasteries, in the pre-Vatican II Mass, as each priest-monk had the mandate to celebrate Mass once a day, and concelebration was not allowed in most circumstances, there were many side altars where Mass would be offered, often simultaneously, by the priest-monks, quite apart from the main conventual Mass.

Only one tabernacle was in the monastery, which meant that most of these celebrations occurred at altars away from the tabernacle, which BTW was not always at the main altar either.

The same situation would exist in any society of clerics.

Not all churches had the tabernacle behind or at the main altar, even in pre-conciliar days.
 
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