Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Eucharist in Sacristy Safe
ROME, MARCH 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
In the wake of our March 10 comments on the importance of the altar of repose, a priest from Arizona wrote: "Thank you for clarifying what is meant by the rubrics for Holy Thursday. The only challenge is that since no hosts are consecrated on Good Friday we need to reserve a very large amount to accommodate the faithful who participate in the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion. Most repositories, and even tabernacles, are too small to reserve the Blessed Sacrament. Also, most repositories are portable and not secured as the tabernacle is required to be. Hence, the sacristy closet. What say you?"
Another reader asked: "At the end of the Holy Thursday service there is a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Up until a few years ago the procession ended at the tabernacle in our church. Our worship committee and liturgical director decided to build a resting place or shrine (for lack of a better description) for the Blessed Sacrament. This is located in the middle of the gym floor in our grade school next door. So now our procession goes through the church and then outside and over to the gym. My question: Is this liturgically correct? We have a perfectly good church and a tabernacle. I have a problem (as do others) with Jesus being left at center court. Not to mention the complaints I've received from people who have no way to kneel because of the hard gym floor."
Taking both questions together, I would suggest that most of these difficulties can be resolved over time and with careful planning. Since these difficulties will return every year, a parish could invest in a suitably sized portable tabernacle and large sacred vessels. In some cases, such as the Good Friday celebration, it is also an opportunity to reuse the large ciboria that were common before the present (and commendable) preference for administrating hosts consecrated at the same Mass. These large ciboria may still be held in storage somewhere.
It might also be an opportunity to purchase and restore to sacred use the liturgical appointments such as tabernacles and large candlesticks that come from closed-down churches.
Since the Holy Thursday procession represents the movement from the Lord's Supper to Gethsemane, the place for reservation should not be in the habitual tabernacle unless the church has a separate Blessed Sacrament chapel. It may be a side altar or some other place within the church or another suitable location nearby. It should be as beautiful as possible and decorated with flowers, lamps and candles. Many places also include portable olive trees and wheat sheaves to create a suitable ambience for prayer and reflection. It is also common to avoid excessive electric lighting and to drape the space around the tabernacle with carpet and fine cloth.
Therefore, it is not against liturgical law to set up the altar in the school gymnasium, provided that the place is decorated in a manner worthy of the Blessed Sacrament. It is important that at least some pews or kneelers be provided so as to allow for adoration. If the altar of repose is in the same church, then only the ministers and a representative of the faithful need take part in the procession while the others remain in their pews.
Because of its temporary status, and the fact that the Eucharist is usually accompanied almost all the time, the altar of repose need not be secured like other tabernacles. As mentioned last time, if there is a real danger of theft, then the Eucharist may be temporarily withdrawn after adoration.
What if so many people attend the Good Friday services that far more hosts are required than can be reserved in the altar of repose? In that case, it is possible to reserve just one large ciborium in the altar-of-repose tabernacle and reserve the others in a suitable place that should remain locked until the moment of communion. In this way, all adoration would center around the altar of repose. If the other place is the sacristy, then strict silence should be observed out of respect.
After communion on Good Friday the remaining hosts may only be used for the sick or, on Holy Saturday, as viaticum. These are not returned to the altar of repose but are placed in some other suitable and worthy place that remains locked. For example, if the church has a Blessed Sacrament chapel, then the hosts could be placed there but the chapel should be curtained and inaccessible until after the Easter Vigil Mass. It could also be some other space in the sacristy that can be suitably cordoned off.
After the Good Friday service a temporary altar of repose is usually dismantled and stored away. The flowers which customarily adorn it may be used for the Easter Vigil.
From the point of view of the sign, it is best not to use the hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday until Easter Monday so that as far as possible the faithful may receive hosts consecrated at the Easter Masses.
In the wake of our March 10 comments on the importance of the altar of repose, a priest from Arizona wrote: "Thank you for clarifying what is meant by the rubrics for Holy Thursday. The only challenge is that since no hosts are consecrated on Good Friday we need to reserve a very large amount to accommodate the faithful who participate in the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion. Most repositories, and even tabernacles, are too small to reserve the Blessed Sacrament. Also, most repositories are portable and not secured as the tabernacle is required to be. Hence, the sacristy closet. What say you?"
Another reader asked: "At the end of the Holy Thursday service there is a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Up until a few years ago the procession ended at the tabernacle in our church. Our worship committee and liturgical director decided to build a resting place or shrine (for lack of a better description) for the Blessed Sacrament. This is located in the middle of the gym floor in our grade school next door. So now our procession goes through the church and then outside and over to the gym. My question: Is this liturgically correct? We have a perfectly good church and a tabernacle. I have a problem (as do others) with Jesus being left at center court. Not to mention the complaints I've received from people who have no way to kneel because of the hard gym floor."
Taking both questions together, I would suggest that most of these difficulties can be resolved over time and with careful planning. Since these difficulties will return every year, a parish could invest in a suitably sized portable tabernacle and large sacred vessels. In some cases, such as the Good Friday celebration, it is also an opportunity to reuse the large ciboria that were common before the present (and commendable) preference for administrating hosts consecrated at the same Mass. These large ciboria may still be held in storage somewhere.
It might also be an opportunity to purchase and restore to sacred use the liturgical appointments such as tabernacles and large candlesticks that come from closed-down churches.
Since the Holy Thursday procession represents the movement from the Lord's Supper to Gethsemane, the place for reservation should not be in the habitual tabernacle unless the church has a separate Blessed Sacrament chapel. It may be a side altar or some other place within the church or another suitable location nearby. It should be as beautiful as possible and decorated with flowers, lamps and candles. Many places also include portable olive trees and wheat sheaves to create a suitable ambience for prayer and reflection. It is also common to avoid excessive electric lighting and to drape the space around the tabernacle with carpet and fine cloth.
Therefore, it is not against liturgical law to set up the altar in the school gymnasium, provided that the place is decorated in a manner worthy of the Blessed Sacrament. It is important that at least some pews or kneelers be provided so as to allow for adoration. If the altar of repose is in the same church, then only the ministers and a representative of the faithful need take part in the procession while the others remain in their pews.
Because of its temporary status, and the fact that the Eucharist is usually accompanied almost all the time, the altar of repose need not be secured like other tabernacles. As mentioned last time, if there is a real danger of theft, then the Eucharist may be temporarily withdrawn after adoration.
What if so many people attend the Good Friday services that far more hosts are required than can be reserved in the altar of repose? In that case, it is possible to reserve just one large ciborium in the altar-of-repose tabernacle and reserve the others in a suitable place that should remain locked until the moment of communion. In this way, all adoration would center around the altar of repose. If the other place is the sacristy, then strict silence should be observed out of respect.
After communion on Good Friday the remaining hosts may only be used for the sick or, on Holy Saturday, as viaticum. These are not returned to the altar of repose but are placed in some other suitable and worthy place that remains locked. For example, if the church has a Blessed Sacrament chapel, then the hosts could be placed there but the chapel should be curtained and inaccessible until after the Easter Vigil Mass. It could also be some other space in the sacristy that can be suitably cordoned off.
After the Good Friday service a temporary altar of repose is usually dismantled and stored away. The flowers which customarily adorn it may be used for the Easter Vigil.
From the point of view of the sign, it is best not to use the hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday until Easter Monday so that as far as possible the faithful may receive hosts consecrated at the Easter Masses.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
11:43 AM
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