Tabernacle location?

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Eli4n4

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Ok… so where is the best place for the tabernacle to be? I know it’s permissible for it to be located anywhere in the main part of the church as long as it is in a prominent place and the people can see it and pray before it. But the old churches have it in the middle of the alter which makes the church seem like an actual throne room. I always thought that would be the most respectful and dignified place for it, but I just read an article that says that it’s not as good idea to have it on the alter that is used during mass. It said that an old alter (not in use) or off to the side of the main church is a better idea. Is that really true?? I’m confused… Isn’t is always better to have the High Priest and King present on His alter in the middle of His church?
 
Definitely in the middle of the sanctuary: its traditional and fitting location. Christ should be at the centre of every church.
 
Eli, the following quotes from the Church should help you (Peace to you):

From the Apostolic Exortation Sacramentum Caritatis (Pope Benedict XVI, Feb. 22, 2007)

The location of the tabernacle
  1. In considering the importance of eucharistic reservation and adoration, and reverence for the sacrament of Christ’s sacrifice, the Synod of Bishops also discussed the question of the proper placement of the tabernacle in our churches. The correct positioning of the tabernacle contributes to the recognition of Christ’s real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, the place where the eucharistic species are reserved, marked by a sanctuary lamp, should be readily visible to everyone entering the church. It is therefore necessary to take into account the building’s architecture: in churches which do not have a Blessed Sacrament chapel, and where the high altar with its tabernacle is still in place, it is appropriate to continue to use this structure for the reservation and adoration of the Eucharist, taking care not to place the celebrant’s chair in front of it. In new churches, it is good to position the Blessed Sacrament chapel close to the sanctuary; where this is not possible, it is preferable to locate the tabernacle in the sanctuary, in a sufficiently elevated place, at the centre of the apse area, or in another place where it will be equally conspicuous. Attention to these considerations will lend dignity to the tabernacle, which must always be cared for, also from an artistic standpoint. Obviously it is necessary to follow the provisions of the *General Instruction of the Roman Missal *in this regard. In any event, final judgment on these matters belongs to the Diocesan Bishop. (SC 69, italics and emphasis added)
CEREMONIES OF THE MODERN ROMAN RITE
Chapter 1 The Setting for the Liturgy

The Tabernacle
  1. According to the Code, the Blessed Sacrament must be reserved “in a distinguished place in a church or oratory, a place which is conspicuous, suitably adorned and conducive to prayer”.37 This place is to be “very prominent, truly noble and duly decorated”,38 whether the tabernacle be located in a Blessed Sacrament chapel or at the center of the sanctuary of the church or in a shrine near the sanctuary.Therefore it is a grave abuse to relegate the tabernacle to a room or to an area at the back of a church or to place it behind seats for the people. The place of reservation cannot be said to be “very prominent” or “distinguished” if the faithful cannot see it from the body of the church or if they cannot find it easily.
 
The church building at our parish was built within the last 50 years or so, and has a very large tabernacle, slightly off to one side of the altar. I took my son to a beautiful older church recently, one with the altar of sacrifice in front of the older altar with the tabernacle built into it. As is common with the older altars, there is a white veil or curtain in front of the tabernacle door at this older church.

My son marvelled at the beauty of the church and furnishings, and then asked where the tabernacle was. I pointed it out repeatedly, but he could not see it. Then it dawned on me that our tabernacle at our home parish does not have the altar veil in front of the door. So I told him the tabernacle was behind the curtain. “Well,” said he. “That is a sneaky place to put it!” 😛 😃
 
Ah! Ok…I think what I read last night was a little snip-it from the Apostolic Exortation Sacramentum Caritatis (Pope Benedict XVI, Feb. 22, 2007). When I read the part where it shouldn’t go on the alter I thought it was talking about the sanctuary. Makes a lot more sense now. Thanks! 😃
 
That article you read ought to be thrown in the trash. The Tabernacle (our Lords home in the Church) should be prominantly displayed on the altar, so when you enter the church it is directly in front of you. This is the main focal point of the whole church, so why put it off in a corner. Consider what is inside the Tabernacle–The Holy Eucharist, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Eli4n4 said:
Ah! Ok…I think what I read last night was a little snip-it from the Apostolic Exortation Sacramentum Caritatis (Pope Benedict XVI, Feb. 22, 2007). When I read the part where it shouldn’t go on the alter I thought it was talking about the sanctuary. Makes a lot more sense now. Thanks! 😃
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Note that it says “on” the altAr. The reredos (back part) of a high altar is not considered part of the altar itself, so having the tabernacle in the center of the reredos, as all older churches did, is not the same as sitting freely on top of the altar, such as is done in many Eastern Rite churches. A traditional high altar with the tabernacle in the center of the reredos does not violate the prohibition of having the tabernacle on the altar.
 
The tabernacle is to be situated in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor. The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar
The tabernancle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent, outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord under the Eucharistic species.
The reason why we have a tabernacle is to reserve the consecrated hosts for those who get sick or are dying.
The bishop’s prefer it to be in another room and not in the sanctuary. The reason for this is, the hosts are consecrated at every mass, so there is no reason to have it on a back altar; furthermore, when a priest is saying mass, his back is facing the tabernacle which is disrespectful.
But again, as I said, it depends on each priest. My pastor was told by our bishop NOT to have it on the back altar, but in a separate room for worship, so he bolted it down so it could not be removed. And even today, it is on the back altar which we do not use for anything.
The previous pastor had it moved to the side,but when we had an appointed pastor he put it back on the back altar.
Our diocese has a liturgy committee and they are suppose to come down and make recommendations, but this pastor was determined to place it on the back altar without the permission of the liturgy committee and he did. So, each priest does what he wants to do. Not to sound disrespectful, but some priests listen to their bishop and some do their “own” thing.
 
The tabernancle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent, outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord under the Eucharistic species.

The original idea was that the tabernacle be used for storing the Eucharist for the sick, but now it’s there also so people can come and adore Him. That means it’s not just for storage anymore. If He’s gunna be present He might as well be in a place that’s not just a room for storage. We want to be with Him now that He’s here no matter what the reason was before. I think it’s good that His people now have a chance to be with Him even when it’s not mass time.

The bishop’s prefer it to be in another room and not in the sanctuary. The reason for this is, the hosts are consecrated at every mass, so there is no reason to have it on a back altar; furthermore, when a priest is saying mass, his back is facing the tabernacle which is disrespectful.

It’s true that the priest now has his back to it, but it wasn’t like that before. The priest would say mass as if to be part of the congregation with his back to the people and facing the tabernacle. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist in some Latin masses the priest will face the tabernacle now.

If I’m not mistaken your pastor should listen to the Bishop even if he doesn’t like what he’s saying as long as he’s not being asked to do something completely wrong. Moving it to the side doesn’t sound horrible enough for him to not be subordinate to the Bishop.

I must confess…my opinions don’t/shouldn’t count for much since I haven’t personally read a whole lot about any of this stuff. That being said here’s my opinion 🙂 : I love when I can walk into a church from any old side door and see my Jesus immediately. And in my experience, in churches where the tabernacle is kept in the middle, there is much more silence, reverence, and adoration before mass, after mass, and during times when there is no mass.

I hope I didn’t offend anyone. Like I said, my opinions are just opinions and could possibly be wrong. Hence the reason for the post in the first place. 👍
 
neitsab said:
That article you read ought to be thrown in the trash. The Tabernacle (our Lords home in the Church) should be prominantly displayed on the altar, so when you enter the church it is directly in front of you. This is the main focal point of the whole church, so why put it off in a corner. Consider what is inside the Tabernacle–The Holy Eucharist, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Lol…yea I agree with you. I think I must have misread the article. For some reason in my head I thought the “altar” also meant the whole sanctuary. feels dumb
 
Eli4n4 said:
furthermore, when a priest is saying mass, his back is facing the tabernacle which is disrespectful.

It’s true that the priest now has his back to it, but it wasn’t like that before. The priest would say mass as if to be part of the congregation with his back to the people and facing the tabernacle. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist in some Latin masses the priest will face the tabernacle now.
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However, the fact is that most Masses nowadays are celebrated facing the people. In this case, is really the central area behind the altar the best position of the tabernacle? If it is just a bit to the side, it is still clearly visible but the priest never have to have his back on it anyways.
 
In our parish it’s off in a small “chapel” off to the side. It’s a really nice place to go for contemplation and prayer. Contrary to what some may believe, I see nothing disrespectful in not having the tabernacle stay as part of the sanctuary (depending on the layout of the church, of course).

The way our parish is designed, it works very well. In other parishes, I can see where it wouldn’t, and in those cases it may very well be in the sanctuary is the best place for the tabernacle to reside.

So to answer the OP, “it depends”. 😃
 
Ahlman said:
However, the fact is that most Masses nowadays are celebrated facing the people. In this case, is really the central area behind the altar the best position of the tabernacle? If it is just a bit to the side, it is still clearly visible but the priest never have to have his back on it anyways.
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Does anyone have any feedback on this? My dad was an altar boy when they started celebrating mass facing the congregation. He said that the mass seemed to lose it’s extremely solemn sense. I would think that since the Pope made it permissible to celebrate mass facing the congregation that Jesus doesn’t mind. Not to mention Jesus appears right in front of the priest about a min from when he begins facing away from the tabernacle. Here’s how I picture it that seems to make it ok in my mind (not that anything in my mind is ok). 1) The tabernacle is like the throne…so it’s as if Jesus is sitting behind the priest watching over him and guiding him. 2) Jesus is acting through the priest during transubstantiation, so no matter how he’s standing I picture Jesus behind him or in him.

However here’s something I do find horribly disrespectful. When the tabernacle is not in the middle…the people doing the readings and the priest and the altar boys all bow to the altar every time they pass it. I’m always thinking “Hey…Jesus is to your left…why are you just gunna bow down to his table?”
I’ve also found that when the tabernacle is in the middle, everyone makes their way in front of the altar and when they bow it’s toward both the altar and Jesus.

Any feedback on disrespect facing away from the tabernacle?
 
In the center at the foot of the Cucifix. What perfect symmetry, theology, imagery and it promotes vertical worship.
 
Eli4n4 said:
Any feedback on disrespect facing away from the tabernacle?
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As I understand it, the correct practice is to genuflect towards the Tabernacle, and bow to the Altar. If, from where you are standing, they are in two different directions, the Tabernacle takes precedence, and you genuflect towards the Tabernacle. If at a later time, you pass by the Altar, you would bow towards the Altar as you came in line with it.

But if the Altar and the Tabernacle are in the same direction from where you are standing, then you genuflect, only - no bowing.
 
Great posts!

I hate it when people ignore the tabernacle.

I believe that when the priest enters at the start of Mass and goes behind the altar, sticks his rear towards the tabernacle and kisses the altar it’s plain stupid. He should kiss from the front, and always pass in front.
 
Eli4n4 said:
Does anyone have any feedback on this? My dad was an altar boy when they started celebrating mass facing the congregation. He said that the mass seemed to lose it’s extremely solemn sense. I would think that since the Pope made it permissible to celebrate mass facing the congregation that Jesus doesn’t mind. Not to mention Jesus appears right in front of the priest about a min from when he begins facing away from the tabernacle. Here’s how I picture it that seems to make it ok in my mind (not that anything in my mind is ok). 1) The tabernacle is like the throne…so it’s as if Jesus is sitting behind the priest watching over him and guiding him. 2) Jesus is acting through the priest during transubstantiation, so no matter how he’s standing I picture Jesus behind him or in him.

However here’s something I do find horribly disrespectful. When the tabernacle is not in the middle…the people doing the readings and the priest and the altar boys all bow to the altar every time they pass it. I’m always thinking “Hey…Jesus is to your left…why are you just gunna bow down to his table?”
I’ve also found that when the tabernacle is in the middle, everyone makes their way in front of the altar and when they bow it’s toward both the altar and Jesus.

Any feedback on disrespect facing away from the tabernacle?
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Yes. We should go back to celebrating Mass ad orientum, priest facing the altar.

All the Mass participants should genuflect every time they pass the tabernacle. If you attend a TLM, you will see the servers genuflect every time they pass the middle of the altar.

God Bless
 
jmcrae said:
As I understand it, the correct practice is to genuflect towards the Tabernacle, and bow to the Altar. If, from where you are standing, they are in two different directions, the Tabernacle takes precedence, and you genuflect towards the Tabernacle. If at a later time, you pass by the Altar, you would bow towards the Altar as you came in line with it.

But if the Altar and the Tabernacle are in the same direction from where you are standing, then you genuflect, only - no bowing.
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Thanks…I didn’t know that. In my parish everyone bows at the altar and completely ignores the tabernacle. The new pastor at a nearby church actually genuflected toward the tabernacle off to the left the first time he did mass there and even though it was awkward to me in my head I was like “This seems more proper.”
 
bilop said:
Yes. We should go back to celebrating Mass ad orientum, priest facing the altar.

All the Mass participants should genuflect every time they pass the tabernacle. If you attend a TLM, you will see the servers genuflect every time they pass the middle of the altar.

God Bless
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I attended a Latin mass recently at a nearby church with the priest facing the tabernacle. I could only understand a little but I would have no problem learning the Latin. It seems very worth it.
 
Eli4n4 said:
I attended a Latin mass recently at a nearby church with the priest facing the tabernacle. I could only understand a little but I would have no problem learning the Latin. It seems very worth it.
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👍
 
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