Why Have Tabernacles Disappeared? [resurrected]

[mortify]

Many a Catholic asks why the Tabernacle has become hidden in some Churches, the answer is quite simple: The Tabernacle has been considered a liturgical corruption by liturgists, and therefore it needed removal. Consider these quotes from Dr Theodor Klauser, whose book was first published around the Second Vatican Council (please note the author's use of the word "traditional" in the first quote is essentially restricted to what he considers the apostolic/patristic age):

"The tabernacle is the one obstacle remaining in the way of our churches re-acquiring the traditional arrangement; the celebrant ought to have his place once more in the apse, i.e. behind the altar, and ought once more to be able to celebrate on the apse side of the alter, facing the people; for if the people are to celebrate the eucharstic sacrifice togehterh with the celerbant they ought also to be able to see and follow the offering of the sacrifice on the alter itself."


"It is not without some satisfaction that historians of the liturgy note that the Constitution (=Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, Second Vatican Council) does not say a word about any increase in the practice of devotions to the Blessed Sacrament; this in fact receives no mention at all... In this way, the Constitution silently corrects a tendency that has grown increasingly powerful to shift the cetnral point of the liturgy from the eucharistic sacrifice to the eveneration of the Sacrament."

Klauser, Theodor. A Short History of the Western Liturgy: An account and some reflections 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Pgs 140, 157


I had purchased Dr Klauser's book because I wanted to understand the mind of a reformer of the Liturgy. As I read the book I asked myself whether he believed the Church was guided by Holy Spirit, since he appeared to consider the entire history of the liturgy not of organic development, but of corruption, aberration, and distortion. In other words, Dr Klauser and those like him had adopted what is called antiquarianism, or the view that values *only* forms from antiquity. This is what Pope Pius XII had to say about it:

(I)t is neither wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances, one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar reduced to its primitive table-form; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in churches; were he to order the crucifix so designed that the Divine Redeemer's Body showed no trace of his cruel sufferings; lastly were he to disdain and reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms to regulations issued by the Holy See.

Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, section 62


One has to ask, "what happened?" Why was it considered "straying from the straight path" to desire what today has become the norm: the alter being reduced to a table, the abandoment of black vestments, the dissapearance of polyphonic music, and numerous other practices that the Church regarded as organic developments inspired by the Holy Spirit?

When considering why the Tabernacle has dissapeared, and why certain changes were made to the Liturgy, we have to understand the mind of those who were pushing for reforms. Seeing what I have read I sometimes wonder whether these men believed at all, but God knows best.

 

 

[Posted 09 March 2010 - 11:29 PM http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/103461-why-have-tabernacles-disappeared/]

[Apotheoun]

Thanks for the memories. That was a really good thread.

[mortify]

Yw Apo, you may now feel whole again

[Apotheoun]

I still like the picture I posted:

 

 

An absolutely magnificent altar and tabernacle.

[Nihil Obstat]

I had to read that thread, to check just in case I said something dumb which today I would now like to correct. Luckily that was not the case. 

Not too likely as late as 2010, but still possible.

[Nihil Obstat]

I still like the picture I posted:

 

 

An absolutely magnificent altar and tabernacle.

Do I remember you saying once that all Orthodox altars are traditionally precisely cubic?

[Apotheoun]

Do I remember you saying once that all Orthodox altars are traditionally precisely cubic?

Yes, that is the tradition. The altar must also be free standing so that the priest can circumambulate it, and incense it from all four sides. Morever, the tabernacle is always to be placed upon the altar, because the memorial (anamnesis) of the Lord's sacrifice can never be separated from His ongoing presence in the consecrated elements.

Edited March 19, 2013 by Apotheoun

[Apotheoun]

I just found this lovely image of the interior of the Catholikon at the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. If you look carefully you can just barely see the altar through the royal doors of the iconostasis in the center of the picture.

 

[Evangetholic]

Why Have Tabernacles Disappeared? Paul VI said that Holy Church is autodestructing.

[mortify]

Why Have Tabernacles Disappeared? Paul VI said that Holy Church is autodestructing.

 

Where did he say that?

[Evangetholic]

Where did he say that?

 

That awkward moment when you realize your quote comes from a Malachi Martin novel. He did not say this. Carry on.

[mortify]

Lol! Well Malachi Martin was another interesting character

[Nihil Obstat]

There is something interesting I have here that Pope Paul did say. Interested in reactions to it, if there are any.
 
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6691126.HTM

 

 

1. We ask you to turn your minds once more to the liturgical innovation of the new rite of the Mass. This new rite will be introduced into our celebration of the holy Sacrifice starting from Sunday next which is the first of Advent, November 30 [in Italy].

2. A new rite of the Mass: a change in a venerable tradition that has gone on for centuries. This is something that affects our hereditary religious patrimony, which seemed to enjoy the privilege of being untouchable and settled. It seemed to bring the prayer of our forefathers and our saints to our lips and to give us the comfort of feeling faithful to our spiritual past, which we kept alive to pass it on to the generations ahead.

 

[...]

 

 

8. It is here that the greatest newness is going to be noticed, the newness of language. No longer Latin, but the spoken language will be the principal language of the Mass. The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant.

 

[...]

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2013 by Nihil Obstat

[Apotheoun]

That awkward moment when you realize your quote comes from a Malachi Martin novel. He did not say this. Carry on.

:dancer2:

[Tufsoles]

I love the tabernacle.