Who is allowed into the Tabernacle?

[turtleoompa]

I need help from everyone concerning: Can EM’s go into the tabernacle? During Mass our EMHC go to tabernacle, retrieve Hosts and put them back at end of communion. Need a reference if you can find the answer.

 

[Cristiano]

You just opened a Pandora box. The EM (Eucharistic Ministers, I assume) can go and open the Tabernacle considering they are the ones consecrating the Eucharist. The Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion (that includes the Deacon are allowed to do that). The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are a different matter.

I will first address the case relate to the opening of the Tabernacle outside the Mass. The EMHCs are allowed to do that. I am an EMHC and I feel that I am not to open the Tabernacle in any occasion. That is why I always ask the Priest, the Deacon, or the Instituted (by the Bishop) Acolytes. I just kneel by the altar until the give me the pyx. However, this past Sunday the Deacon told me that it is part of my commission to open the Tabernacle and retrieve the Host for the homebound. He also added that he understands my feelings and that I can still ask for it, but that it should not stop me from bringing Communion to the homebound if no one else is around.

In the case of opening the Tabernacle during Mass, the Priest and probably the Deacon are there, and it is my opinion that no one else should access the Tabernacle during Mass. A couple of Sundays ago we ran our of Hosts and Father told me to get the ciborium with the previously consecrated hosts. I almost freaked out an fainted. God willing Father did not have anymore Hosts too, and so he went to the Tabernacle and got more for the both of us.

 

[Seatuck]

I believe this is a matter for a Bishop to decide and most of the US Bishop’s have allowed properly trained lay people to have access to the tabernacle when it is deemed necessary. Is it abused the way over use of EMOHC are? Probably.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I need help from everyone concerning: Can EM’s go into the tabernacle? During Mass our EMHC go to tabernacle, retrieve Hosts and put them back at end of communion. Need a reference if you can find the answer.

The Lay EMHC’s cannot, only the priest and deacons are permitted during the celebration of Mass, I believe.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The Lay EMHC’s cannot, only the priest and deacons are permitted during the celebration of Mass, I believe.

This is correct, but only recently, has the USCCB made it so.

Before, EMHC’s were going to the Tabernacle to the point that it got out of hand, everyone thought they could go and take communion from it. One Mass, I saw a non-EMHC from the choir, go to the Tabernacle and distribute communion to the choir members, after the Mass was over. They thought it was more important to sing during communion, than the receive the Eucharist.

This has all stopped since the change of the rule, and God bless him, our pastor enforces it.

Jim

 

[Seatuck]

The Lay EMHC’s cannot, only the priest and deacons are permitted during the celebration of Mass, I believe.

Can you come up with some documentation for this.

 

[turtleoompa]

Yes, I was talking about the Extraordinary Ministers during Mass. We have one of them go during the Our Father to the Tabernacle and bring the Ciborium of Consecrated Hosts to the credence table. The Extraordinary Ministers then put them into the patens for Communion. I need concrete written proof of any rule about who can go to the Tabernacle.

 

[John_Lilburne]

For a Stational Mass of the Diocesan Bishop, the Ceremonial of Bishops has:
“165 … Another deacon or one of the concelebrants takes any remaininig consecrated particles to the tabernacle, then at a side table cleanses the paten or ciborium over the cup before the cup is cleansed.”
(Ceremonial of Bishops, Liturgical Press, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1818-9, pages 59-60).

For other Masses I do not think there is anything forbidding lay people from going to the tabernacle.

The 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum has:
“107. … Furthermore all will remember that once the distribution of Holy Communion during the celebration of Mass has been completed, the prescriptions of the Roman Missal are to be observed, and in particular, whatever may remain of the Blood of Christ must be entirely and immediately consumed by the Priest or by another minister, according to the norms, while the consecrated hosts that are left are to be consumed by the Priest at the altar or carried to the place for the reservation of the Eucharist.[footnote 196: Cf. Missale Romanum, Institutio Generalis, nn. 163, 284.]”

From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“163. When the distribution of Communion is finished, the priest himself immediately and completely consumes at the altar any consecrated wine that happens to remain; as for any consecrated hosts that are left, he either consumes them at the altar or carries them to the place designated for the reservation of the Eucharist.
Upon returning to the altar, the priest collects any fragments that may remain. Then, standing at the altar or at the credence table, he purifies the paten or ciborium over the chalice then purifies the chalice, saying quietly, Quod ore sumpsimus (Lord, may I receive), and dries the chalice with a purificator. If the vessels are purified at the altar, they are carried to the credence table by a minister. Nevertheless, it is also permitted, especially if there are several vessels to be purified, to leave them suitably covered on a corporal, either at the altar or at the credence table, and to purify them immediately after Mass following the dismissal of the people.”

Who is permitted to have the key to the tabernacle? According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 938 §5: “The person in charge of a church or oratory is to see to it that the key of the tabernacle in which the blessed Eucharist is reserved, is in maximum safe keeping.”
(The Code of Canon Law: New revised English Translation, HarperCollins Liturgical, 1997, ISBN 000599375X.)

Which is the most safe? That the bishop have the key? The deacon? A visiting priest? An instituted acolyte? An extraordinary minister who is also the sacristan? I think it will depend on the people involved. I don’t think it has to be the priest.

 

[japhy]

Yes, I was talking about the Extraordinary Ministers during Mass. We have one of them go during the Our Father to the Tabernacle and bring the Ciborium of Consecrated Hosts to the credence table. The Extraordinary Ministers then put them into the patens for Communion. I need concrete written proof of any rule about who can go to the Tabernacle.

I have not yet found documentation about who can access the Tabernacle, but the parts I’ve bolded are in violation of the NDRHC.

PART II - Norms for the Distribution of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds
At the Breaking of the Bread

1. As the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God is begun, the Bishop or priest alone, or with the assistance of the deacon, and if necessary of concelebrating priests, breaks the eucharistic bread. Other empty ciboria or patens are then brought to the altar if this is necessary. The deacon or priest places the consecrated bread in several ciboria or patens, if necessary, as required for the distribution of Holy Communion. If it is not possible to accomplish this distribution in a reasonable time, the celebrant may call upon the assistance of other deacons or concelebrating priests.
   The EMHCs are going too early, and they are not permitted to distribute the Hosts into vessels.

There is also a question of whether they are even permitted to bring empty vessels to the altar at all, since the GIRM states:
Chapter IV - The Different Forms of Celebrating Mass
I. Mass With a Congregation
A. MASS WITHOUT A DEACON
The Liturgy of the Eucharist

1. The priest may be assisted in the distribution of Communion by other priests who happen to be present. If such priests are not present and there is a very large number of communicants, the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, e.g., duly instituted acolytes or even other faithful who have been deputed for this purpose. …

These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful.
The question is whether the EMHCs can enter the Sanctuary during the Liturgy of the Eucharist at all, before they enter to receive Communion. If they cannot, then they cannot bring empty ciboria or patens to the altar. In my parish, it is the duty of the Altar Servers to prepare the altar in its entirety, which includes bringing up empty vessels if needed.

 

[kage_ar]

I need help from everyone concerning: Can EM’s go into the tabernacle? During Mass our EMHC go to tabernacle, retrieve Hosts and put them back at end of communion. Need a reference if you can find the answer.

Do you have a REALLY BIG TABERNACLE or really teeny EM’s?

 

[YADA]

Do you have a REALLY BIG TABERNACLE or really teeny EM’s?

That is what I was thinking… .

Well, actually my first thought was God [Jesus - Father Son and Holy Spirit - you know - as in the Tabernacle is the abode of the Almighty]

My second thought was …hey our Tabernacle is really too small for any parishioner, even the tiniest preemie

 

[Sure]

On a serious note did anyone find documentation on whether a EMHC can put the ciboria into the tabernacle AFTER Communion has been distributed to the faithful? In other words is there a restriction on only the priest or deacon accessing the tabernacle?

Thanks!

 

[japhy]

On a serious note did anyone find documentation on whether a EMHC can put the ciboria into the tabernacle AFTER Communion has been distributed to the faithful? In other words is there a restriction on only the priest or deacon accessing the tabernacle?

I have found no such documentation yet, and trust me, I’m looking.

 

[YADA]

This is from the UCCB web site:usccb.org/liturgy/current/norms.shtml

1. After Communion the consecrated bread that remains is to be reserved in the tabernacle. Care should be taken with any fragments remaining on the corporal or in the sacred vessels. The deacon returns to the altar with the priest and collects and consumes any remaining fragments.

The full document is here…it appears to leave the “who” takes the consecrated Eucharist back to the tabernacle unidentified…

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

I want to know how big these tabernacles are in other places, that a whole grown-up EMHC can fit into a tabernacle, let alone several!

Oh- you mean open, close and lock the tabernacle doors, taking the Blessed Sacrament out and reposing Him. Never mind.

 

[twf]

Can an EMHC or an altar server retrieve Our Lord from the Tabernacle prior to the distribution of Holy Communion? I know of a situation where a lay person (the individual varies depending on the day) retrieves the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle while the priest stands at the altar during the Agnus Dei. This has always bothered me. Can anyone provide a definitive answer? I am, btw, in Canada, so US norms may not apply. (Sorry to complicate matters ).

 

[japhy]

Can an EMHC or an altar server retrieve Our Lord from the Tabernacle prior to the distribution of Holy Communion? I know of a situation where a lay person (the individual varies depending on the day) retrieves the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle while the priest stands at the altar during the Agnus Dei. This has always bothered me. Can anyone provide a definitive answer? I am, btw, in Canada, so US norms may not apply. (Sorry to complicate matters ).

We still don’t know of a document defining who can go to the tabernacle to retrieve or store the Blessed Sacrament. I would prefer it be only an ordinary minister of Holy Communion, but certainly that’s not the case in practice.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Can an EMHC or an altar server retrieve Our Lord from the Tabernacle prior to the distribution of Holy Communion? I know of a situation where a lay person (the individual varies depending on the day) retrieves the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle while the priest stands at the altar during the Agnus Dei. This has always bothered me. Can anyone provide a definitive answer? I am, btw, in Canada, so US norms may not apply. (Sorry to complicate matters ).

We are looking. A local parish with a few other liturgical issues stopped the EMHC’s from going to the tabernacle about two years ago. Requiring the priest or deacon to do so . There was a reason for the sudden change and it was in a document. I looked through the GIRM and RS and did not find anything except one statement about the celebrant returning the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacle. Both documents assume that the reserved Hosts will not be retrieved unless during Holy Communion they run out of Hosts.

 

[Seatuck]

We are looking. A local parish with a few other liturgical issues stopped the EMHC’s from going to the tabernacle about two years ago. Requiring the priest or deacon to do so . There was a reason for the sudden change and it was in a document. I looked through the GIRM and RS and did not find anything except one statement about the celebrant returning the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacle. Both documents assume that the reserved Hosts will not be retrieved unless during Holy Communion they run out of Hosts.

I’m glad you are looking because I seem to remember the opposite. That the US Bishop’s have something that states it is allowed. I’d like to know. Our Tabernacle is being moved back to a prominent space behind our altar and I want to make sure only the Priest will now be going to it during Mass if it is necessary and unfortunatey it always seems to be.

 

[japhy]

I need help from everyone concerning: Can EM’s go into the tabernacle? During Mass our EMHC go to tabernacle, retrieve Hosts and put them back at end of communion. Need a reference if you can find the answer.

Inveni! (I have found [it]!) I have found some references in documents on the USCCB’s web site pertaining to who has access to the tabernacle.

Here is an excerpt from an address by Francis Cardinal Arinze (Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the dicastery which put forth Redemptionis Sacramentum) to Bishops and a few hundred liturgists at a meeting in San Antonio in 2003. His talk was titled “Some Highlights of the Liturgical Renewal Initiated by Sacrosanctum Concilium”; here is an excerpt from section 6, “Lay Liturgical Roles”:
There should be no attempt to clericalize the laity. This could happen when, for example, lay people chosen as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion no longer see this role as being called on to help when the ordinary ministers (bishop, priest and deacon) are not available in sufficient numbers to cope with the high number of communicants. When the extraordinary ministers see their role as a power display to show that what the priest can do, the lay faithful can do too, then we have a problem. How else can we explain the sad error of the lay faithful struggling around the altar to open the tabernacle or to grab the sacred vessels - all against sane liturgical norms and pure good sense?

Here is an excerpt from the March/April 2004 BCL (Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy) newsletter on Redemptionis Sacramentum:
The ministers of Holy Communion are the priest celebrant or other priests or deacons who are present, or, in cases of necessity, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Because the faithful should ordinarily receive only hosts consecrated at the Mass which they are attending, the priest should not usually go to the tabernacle for already consecrated hosts to be used in the distribution of Holy Communion.

Here is a question and answer from “Thirty Questions on the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum…”:
22. Should the priest regularly go to the tabernacle before the distribution of Holy Communion?
No. The instruction cites the Roman Missal in reminding us that because the faithful should ordinarily receive only hosts consecrated at the Mass which they are attending, the priest should not usually go to the tabernacle for already consecrated hosts to be used in the distribution of Holy Communion.