About the Mass Series: The Importance of the Tabernacle.

ABOUT THE MASS 

THE MASS

IMPORTANCE OF THE TABERNACLE OVERVIEW PART 2

A young child said to his mother at Mass one Sunday, “Can we go when the red light turns to green?”  

Of course, we know that the red lamp indicates that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the Tabernacle.  The original purpose of this reservation allowed communion to be taken to the sick and house-bound.

Tabernacles date back to the Jewish tabernacle, sometimes called the ‘tent of meeting’.  This was a portable shrine, said to have been constructed under Moses’ direction during the wilderness wanderings.  A full account is found in the Book of Exodus where it is described as having an inner shrine, the ‘Holy of Holies’, and an outer chamber, the ‘Holy Place’. The Tabernacle was held to embody the presence of God in the midst of his people.  

The Christian tabernacle is an ornamental receptacle for vessels which contain the Blessed Sacrament.  The main vessel used for this purpose is called a Ciborium, a chalice-shaped vessel with a lid, which came into use in the middle Ages.

The Councils of Trent in the 16^th century set the tabernacle in the middle of the altar and instructed that the priest face it as he said Mass.  This meant that he had his back to the congregation.  In the 1960’s the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council resolved that Mass should be celebrated with the priest facing the congregation.  This led to the publication of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal in 1970, which stated that ‘every encouragement should be given to the practice of Eucharist reservation in a chapel suited to the faithful’s private adoration or prayer’.(p.60 Para 315).

Tabernacles have to be suitably decorated, often covered with a veil, and by tradition having a lamp burning before them to indicate that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.