Tabernacle In The Church

[NotWorthy]

Yes only a priest or deacon should access the tabernacle.

Really?

It seems to be the norm in our diocese (unless a deacon is present) for the Eucharistic Ministers to do this.

 

[dprewett]

Really?

It seems to be the norm in our diocese (unless a deacon is present) for the Eucharistic Ministers to do this.

According to what I have read. They should not be called Eucharistic Ministers but Extraordinary Ministers. They should never be responsible for the care of the Host. This is a job of the clergy.

I have heard that we aren’t supposed to refer to “ministers of the Eucharist” or “eucharistic ministers.” If not, what are we supposed to call ordinary lay people who distribute Communion? Some of the books that I have seen often refer to them as “special ministers.” Is that okay?

As has already been recalled, “the only minister who can confect the sacrament of the Eucharist in persona Christi is a validly ordained priest.” Hence the name “minister of the Eucharist” belongs properly to the priest alone. . . .

This function is to be understood strictly according to the name by which it is known, that is to say, that of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and not “special minister of Holy Communion” nor “extraordinary minister of the Eucharist” nor “special minister of the Eucharist,” by which names the meaning of this function is unnecessarily and improperly broadened (154, 156; cf. CIC 900 §1).

This I got from the Catholic Answers Web Site

 

[NotWorthy]

According to what I have read. They should not be called Eucharistic Ministers but Extraordinary Ministers. . …

Yeah, I know. Old habits die hard. Thanks for the info.

They should never be responsible for the care of the Host. This is a job of the clergy

I’m stumped by this one, for I don’t consider my diocese anything but orthodox. And my priest is one of the most orthodox in the diocese.

But I travel around (I’m an outside salesman) attending daily masses at over 10 different parishes in the diocese, and only a couple of them stand out as having only the priest or deacon remove and return the Eucharist to the Tabernacle.

Why, at the Cathedral during the daily Mass, the person who removes the host from the Tabernacle, while the priest is breaking the bread during the Lamb of God, is not even the Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

You guys have given me some food for thought.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Yeah, I know. Old habits die hard. Thanks for the info.
I’m stumped by this one, for I don’t consider my diocese anything but orthodox. And my priest is one of the most orthodox in the diocese.

But I travel around (I’m an outside salesman) attending daily masses at over 10 different parishes in the diocese, and only a couple of them stand out as having only the priest or deacon remove and return the Eucharist to the Tabernacle.

Why, at the Cathedral during the daily Mass, the person who removes the host from the Tabernacle, while the priest is breaking the bread during the Lamb of God, is not even the Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

You guys have given me some food for thought.

That is also another issue that is incorrect. The Hosts in the tabernacle should not normally be removed unless they are needed. Holy Communion should be distributed from the Hosts consecrated at that Mass.

 

[NotWorthy]

That is also another issue that is incorrect. The Hosts in the tabernacle should not normally be removed unless they are needed. Holy Communion should be distributed from the Hosts consecrated at that Mass.

I’ll be more alert in the future. But I KNOW at the Cathedral they are normally brought out (I only attend daily mass there).

At my parish on the weekends, we definitely bring it out. During Daily Mass, father counts attendance and only uses those he consecrates.

But I know from time to time I’ve seen it at most of the other parishes that I attend for daily Mass and rarely Sunday Mass.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I’ll be more alert in the future. But I KNOW at the Cathedral they are normally brought out (I only attend daily mass there).

At my parish on the weekends, we definitely bring it out. During Daily Mass, father counts attendance and only uses those he consecrates.

But I know from time to time I’ve seen it at most of the other parishes that I attend for daily Mass and rarely Sunday Mass.

There really should be very few Hosts in the tabernacle of a regular parish, especially with daily Mass.

 

[Eilish_Maura]

There really should be very few Hosts in the tabernacle of a regular parish, especially with daily Mass.

People make several mistakes about why there is reserved Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle to begin with - and having ‘extras’ to cover the number of people at a mass is NOT one of the reasons.

 

[NotWorthy]

There really should be very few Hosts in the tabernacle of a regular parish, especially with daily Mass.

Hmmm…

On the Wednesday Mass before Holy Thursday a couple of years ago (Isn’t this the day that all hosts have to be consumed?), there were so many in the Saborium (?) that Father was giving multiple hosts to each communicant. I think he placed 3 in my mouth that day. Of course, this guy is from India and I wouldn’t place him in the “orthodox” category (there are 3 priests at the Cathedral).

Why do I get the feeling there are going to be 3 mysterious Jesuits with long cowls over their faces sitting in the back the next time I go to Mass? Man, I’ve got to quit reading Dan Brown novels.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

People make several mistakes about why there is reserved Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle to begin with - and having ‘extras’ to cover the number of people at a mass is NOT one of the reasons.

There are of course exceptions to this depending on circumatances. For instance a parish that is served by one priest who has three to take care of. A larger number of Hosts might be reserved in the tabernacle in case the priest is unable to make it to a Sunday Mass. Or when Mass is celebrated in a parish only one weekend a month and a Communion service the other three Sundays.

 

[paperwight]

Notworthy, I was surprised to hear that all the Hosts had to be consumed the day before Holy Thursday. Is that written down anywhere? I’ve never heard it before.
In our church, any remaining in the ciborium are transferred to the Altar of Repose after Mass on Maundy Thursday anyway. There’s no wholesale consumption on the Wednesday.

 

[Phemie]

Notworthy, I was surprised to hear that all the Hosts had to be consumed the day before Holy Thursday. Is that written down anywhere? I’ve never heard it before.
In our church, any remaining in the ciborium are transferred to the Altar of Repose after Mass on Maundy Thursday anyway. There’s no wholesale consumption on the Wednesday.

At the start of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday the tabernacle is supposed to be empty. The faithful are to receive Communion that night & on Good Friday strictly from the species consecrated at that Mass. We make sure that only a few hosts are consecrated during Holy Week so that there will only be a few left on Thursday. Those can be used for Communion for the sick and shut-ins.

That said, that’s what we did in our parish this year. In the other parish our priest ministers to, he’d had a funeral on the Monday and had consecrated way too many hosts. He used those for the Triduum.

 

[FromTheAshes777]

From the very little experience that I have so far visiting Catholic Churches for Mass (I do believe in the Real (physical) Presence, though I’m not fully Catholic…well…yet.), I tend to prefer the Tabernacle in the center behind the altar where Mass is celebrated.

I don’t think there is anything wrong though with an adoration chapel where the Sacrament can be exposed in the Monstrance for adoration as long as people are there of course and Jesus isn’t left alone.

The main reason I think I prefer the traditional placement of the Tabernacle is that it eliminates confusion on when, where, and what direction one should genuflect before you enter a pew.

You always know that you should simply genuflect straight down the isle in the direction of the Tabernacle behind the Altar because we know Jesus is present in the reserved Sacrament.

It keeps everything much more simple in my mind.

How do you genuflect if the Tabernacle is off to the side or is in another chapel or something? Do you at all, or do you simply give a bow to the Altar? Or do you kinda genuflect in the direction of the Tabernacle?

~Josh

 

[Phemie]

The main reason I think I prefer the traditional placement of the Tabernacle is that it eliminates confusion on when, where, and what direction one should genuflect before you enter a pew.

You always know that you should simply genuflect straight down the isle in the direction of the Tabernacle behind the Altar because we know Jesus is present in the reserved Sacrament.

It keeps everything much more simple in my mind.

How do you genuflect if the Tabernacle is off to the side or is in another chapel or something? Do you at all, or do you simply give a bow to the Altar? Or do you kinda genuflect in the direction of the Tabernacle?

~Josh

If the tabernacle is in a side chapel you bow to the altar. That’s what you do on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and at the Easter Vigil when the Blessed Sacrament is not present.

 

[ecp007]

If the tabernacle is in a side chapel you bow to the altar. That’s what you do on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and at the Easter Vigil when the Blessed Sacrament is not present.

You know, this is of great confusion to me. I went to Catholic School for 13 years with Sisters from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and they were very clear on this teaching.

The commandment says “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have anyother gods besides me.” In their minds, this meant that you could only bow, or kneel in reverence to Jesus and the Holy Sacrement. They said that you were NEVER to bow or kneel to the altar, an inanimate object. To them, that was like bowing to the golden calf. You should always kneel to the Tabernacle, because that is where the Body of Christ is.

Our Tabernacle was behind the altar, but over to the right hand side, so I could never tell where the priest was bowing towards. However, when we had to read the scripture, we would bow to the Tabernacle to the right, NOT the altar to the left.

Now, most churches I go to, the Tabernacle is way off to the side, but the priest still bows towards the altar. Sometimes, I see that there are ciboreums (sp?) on the altar, which may be why the priest bows to the altar, but I don’t know if they are consecrated already or not and it is not all the time. The readers also bow to the altar.

Honestly, to me I think this is blasphemous!

Why are you bowing or adoring a table? Even if it is a special table where consecration occurs, the only thing we should bow before is God. Right???!?!

I never bow / kneel towards the altar, I always turn myself toward the tabernacle.

 

[Phemie]

The GIRM tells us this:

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 showing of the host, after the showing of the chalice, and before Communion. Certain specific features to be observed in a concelebrated Mass are noted in their proper place (cf. above, nos. 210-251).

If, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is present 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 bows: a bow of the head and a bow of the body.

1. 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.
2. A bow of the body, that is to say a profound bow, is made to the altar; during the prayers Munda cor meum (Almighty God, cleanse my heart) and In spiritu humilitatis (Lord God, we ask you to receive); in the Creed at the words Et incarnatus est (by the power of the Holy Spirit . . . made man); in the Roman Canon at the words Supplices te rogamus (Almighty God, we pray that your angel). 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 speaks the words of the Lord at the consecration.

 

[CradleCath]

A friend of mines church took the tabernacle out and put it in a seperate area altogether seperate from the church itself. It’s in a little small room with chairs in it to sit or kneel if you want. When some people complained that they would prefer to have it remain in the church the priest explained that when you first enter a church the first thing you should focus on is not the tabernacle. He listed several things that should be focused on first before the tabernacle (I can’t recall all the things listed). The ambo was on the list even before the tabernacle. This sounds strange. Would anyone have any idea what he’s talking about? Any opinions please. Any documentation on this anywhere? Thanks

The Ambo??? The ambo should be focused on BEFORE the Tabernacle? Why…because the Word is proclaimed from the Ambo? I’ve never heard such a thing, but I have seen the Tabernacle banished to the crying room, the “gathering space”, where everyone is milling & visiting.

 

[muffinmojo]

Just want to say- there is nothing INHERENTLY wrong with movign the tabernacle off to the side, or a separate room, but everywhere I’ve been that does that also happens to be incredibly irreverant, with no focus on God at all. Coincidence…? Simple things like placement, subtle style, etc can affect the way people act and worship a great deal. It is unfortunate the people are so connected to physical things, but it is true. Having the tabernacle with the altar, so that the reserve and table of sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist are central and prominent helps reinforce the idea that the Mass is about God and not us, especially in the genuflecting and such.

 

[paperwight]

At the start of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday the tabernacle is supposed to be empty. The faithful are to receive Communion that night & on Good Friday strictly from the species consecrated at that Mass. We make sure that only a few hosts are consecrated during Holy Week so that there will only be a few left on Thursday. Those can be used for Communion for the sick and shut-ins.

That said, that’s what we did in our parish this year. In the other parish our priest ministers to, he’d had a funeral on the Monday and had consecrated way too many hosts. He used those for the Triduum.

Oh, thanks, Phemie. I’ve realised,thinking about it, that I’d completely forgotten that there is a private chapel in the monastery that’s attached to the church, and the ciborium from the tabernacle is taken there and brought back during the Easter Vigil. Sorry about the (my) confusion.

 

[down_under]

The tabernacle is NOT any focus of the Mass never mind a ‘main focus’.

Its sole purpose is to hold reserved Sacrament (for things like private prayer and visiting the sick and infirm).

no your wrong the eucharist is the source and summit of the faith. the tabernacle belongs right there in the middle of the church. if not in fact in the center then in sight of the alter. not in some closet so for away that you are not even aware the church has a gold box unless you specfically ask.

 

[down_under]

Nothing in the link I provided says that the tabernacle is the main focus - especially not the main focus of the Mass.

All the comments are regarding a proper and suitable location with no specification beyond that. You will notice the remarks you quote and underline do NOT say the tabernacle needs to be near the altar.

actually genius they do in fact say the tabernacle needs to be near the alter. it has to have the place a greatest honor. that means it must even have a place greater then the priests when he is saying mass. aka the center which is usually near the alter.