Tabernacle Not In Sanctuary

[Ed Normile]

I see this in many church buildings and it always makes me feel uncomfortable. I see them off to the right or left and other times not even visible. Sad commentary on the more modern church buildings that they feel the center of the mass is the priest and not the Presence.

ed

[Gabriela]

To quote my favorite fictional Orthodox priest: "IS OUTRAGE!"

 

Thank you so much for sharing that link. It's hilarious! Favorited... :-D

[Maggyie]

The parish I visited this morning did not have a tabernacle in the main sanctuary.

It was located in a separate chapel, which was closed off during Mass. Closed doors blocked the entrance, no glass wall/windows. You could not see the tabernacle, and if I hadn't asked where it was, I would not have known it was there at all.

In short, there was no tabernacle in the room where we celebrated Mass, and you couldn't even tell the church had one.

An usher told me "this is how Vatican II wanted things to be."

Is this appropriate? Is this a liturgical abuse? What are the Church teachings on this? Thanks.

 

No, this is NOT a liturgical abuse. Liturgical abuse pertains to the liturgy. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle, on the other hand, is what is called a "private devotion." It is very very different from what happens at Holy Mass.

 

Reservation chapels are very common in Europe, just as Lady Chapels are - they are a centuries-old tradition. Adoration was an extremely popular devotion in Europe, and to accommodate the throngs of adorers, separate altars and chapels were constructed to house the Blessed Sacrament. Sort of like building a special palace-within-a-palace for Our Lord. In most ancient Cathedrals, you will find reservation chapels as well. These were very busy public places with constant comings and goings, even more so in centuries past!  Reservation chapels were considered to be much more suitable places for quiet and reverent prayer.

 

Pope Benedict mentions in his memoirs about how in the parish where he was baptized back in the 1920s, the tabernacle was not on the main altar but in its own special chapel (although from how he described it, it sounded like it was fully connected to the main body of the church. So a little bit different than a true Reservation chapel, which it sounds like this parish has!)

 

They are not as common in the United States, as by the time many parishes were built, the tabernacle was being located in the apse of most parish churches (where the bishop would normally sit if it were a cathedral). 

 

The Church requires only that it is "placed in a part of the church that is prominent, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer" - Canon 938. This is a subjective criteria (different people can have different opinions) but it is only the local bishop's opinion that matters. If he feels that it is prominent, conspicuous, beautiful and suitable for prayer, then so it is.

[Apotheoun]

The modern Western practice of separating the altar and the tabernacle is rejected as contrary to Apostolic Tradition by both Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians.  The video below shows the proper placement of the artophorion (i.e., the tabernacle) upon the altar in an Eastern Church:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YCFZnYQYZw&t=6m10s

 

The prayers at the altar begin 6 minutes and 10 seconds into the video.

[Apotheoun]

Reservation chapels are very common in Europe, just as Lady Chapels are - they are a centuries-old tradition. Adoration was an extremely popular devotion in Europe, and to accommodate the throngs of adorers, separate altars and chapels were constructed to house the Blessed Sacrament. Sort of like building a special palace-within-a-palace for Our Lord. In most ancient Cathedrals, you will find reservation chapels as well. 

 

That is not correct.  Ancient Cathedrals did not have "reservation chapels"; instead, that was a late Medieval Western liturgical innovation.