Pray Tell is pleased to share excerpts of Johan van Parys’ latest book, What’s the Smoke For: And Other Burning Questions About the Liturgy. In the book, published by the Liturgical Press, Johan answers questions from parishioners and other interested readers about Catholic liturgical practices.
The final excerpt is related to the placement of the tabernacle.
Dear Johan,
I travel a lot yet I try to make Mass every Sunday. As a result I have visited many churches. Sometimes I am not sure if I am in a Catholic Church as I am unable to locate the tabernacle. Why is it not always located in the church proper?
Gentle Reader-
For those readers who might not know, the tabernacle is the receptacle in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved so it may be used for Viaticum (Communion at the time of death), Communion of the sick, Communion outside of the celebration of the Eucharist, and adoration.
The word tabernacle is derived from the Latin tabernaculum, meaning tent or dwelling. It is used in the Bible in reference to God’s dwelling place among the people or the people as the preferred dwelling place for God. As Christ is preeminently present in the Blessed Sacrament, it is only appropriate that the place in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved is called a tabernacle.
The place and manner of reserving the Blessed Sacrament has changed substantially over time. Sometimes the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in the church, at other times in the sacristy. At some times the tabernacle was affixed, such as in the gothic Sacrament towers; and at other times the tabernacle was small and movable, such as the eucharistic dove suspended in the sanctuary or a small box placed near the altar.
At the end of the sixteenth century, in light of the Counter-Reformation, it became customary to place the tabernacle on most elaborate high altars. However, it was not until 1863 that all other manners of reservation were forbidden.
When traveling to European churches and museums, one will notice the rich diversity of the manner in which the Blessed Sacrament has been reserved over the years. In the United States, however, where the churches were built after the Counter-Reformation, there is no collective memory or archaeological repository of this diverse manner of reservation. Here, the obvious place for the tabernacle was on the high altar, that is, until the Second Vatican Council when a return to earlier liturgical praxis also occasioned a rethinking of the place for reserving the Blessed Sacrament.
Today’s discipline is governed by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2011), which states, “In accordance with the structure of each church and legitimate local customs, the Most Blessed Sacrament should be reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is truly noble, prominent, conspicuous, worthily decorated, and suitable for prayer” (314).
The document goes on to say that the tabernacle may be located either “in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration, in an appropriate form and place, not excluding its being positioned on an old altar no longer used for celebration . . . or even in some chapel suitable for the private adoration and prayer of the faithful and organically connected to the church and readily noticeable by the Christian faithful” (315).
Thus there are different options when it comes to the location of the tabernacle. However, its location should be obvious to anyone visiting the church.
What’s the Smoke For: And Other Burning Questions About the Liturgy is available for purchase from the Liturgical Press, with an option that includes a CD containing bulletin inserts for parish use.
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