A Brief Summary of Eucharistic Worship & Devotion

With the move of the tabernacle from the chapel to the sanctuary, I thought that it might be good to examine the theological reasons for the change and what kind of conduct is expected with the Blessed Sacrament in church. When our church was built in 1981, the American Bishops had just come out with a document for designing worship spaces according to the reforms of Vatican II. The older ones among us will remember when the long naves of churches were separated from the sanctuary by a communion rail. The priest said Mass in Latin with his back to the people. The emphasis was on the sacrifice of the Mass which the priest in the person of Christ offered up for the forgiveness of sins. As the priest said Mass at the altar, the congregation carried out their private devotions in the pews. They would ring the bells at the consecration so that everyone would look up to witness the miracle of the moment, then back to their private prayers. In view of the Jansenist heresy that characterized these times, many did not feel ‘worthy’ to approach the communion rail unless they had gone to confession the day before.

We would need to trace a rather long history going back to the Middle Ages to understand the development of the Mass as it was celebrated before Vatican II. In the renewal taken up at the Council, the Church Fathers went back to the sources of our tradition. There was a new interest in the Sacred Scriptures with the promulgation of the Decree, Dei Verbum. Our concern from the days of the Reformation was a focus on the sacramental life of the Church. With the new document we reclaimed the Bible as our own and encouraged the faithful to read it. Going back to our sources, which included a renewed study of the Church Fathers, insights were gleaned that formed the basis for the renewal of the Mass and sacraments.

In the New Testament times, the early Christians did not celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass. There was no need for priests until after the destruction of the Temple in 70AD. When St. Paul established his communities, he set up presbyters who presided over the communal meal described in the New Testament as ‘the breaking of the bread.’ Described as a ‘leiturgos,’ a Greek word which means ‘a work of the community,’ these gatherings were celebrated in the homes of the early Christians and involved the participation of everyone. Again, we would need pages to trace the history of the development of the Mass. The point of this brief summary is to show that the Fathers of the Council went back to the sources to retrieve important elements of the Eucharistic liturgy that had been lost in time.

So what were these changes? Essentially, it came down to balancing the priestly sacrificial offering with the presbyteral presiding over the ‘breaking of the bread.’ The altar was turned around to face the people, thus serving also as a table. The long narrow naves of churches turned into churches in the round, gathering the community around the altar/table. We went from the Latin to the vernacular to engage the people in the liturgy. It was not a time for a private devotion like praying the rosary. It required the full participation in prayer and song as a way of expressing the unity of the community.

One of the hottest debates in this time of transition was the location of the tabernacle. The design for the new churches built at this time was to reserve the Blessed Sacrament in a small day chapel outside the main body of the church. Many saw this as a lack of respect for the real presence of our Lord. The origin of the tabernacle was in medieval times. The Blessed Sacrament was reserved in a tabernacle in the sacristy for ministering to the sick during the week. As people felt less worthy of receiving Christ in Eucharist, the cult of adoring Christ in the Eucharist develops. The tabernacle is brought out of the sacristy and placed on the main altar. This is the time Eucharistic devotion begins. This is also the time the priest raises the host and chalice and the bells are rung at the time of consecration so that the lay people can adore the sacred species. Little by little, the focus of attention centers on the real presence in the Eucharist as opposed to the heavenly food that bonds us together into the Body of Christ. As the Vatican Council reflected on the presence of Christ in the Church, it discerned a crescendo in how Christ becomes present in our midst. Drawing upon the meaning of the Latin word for church, ‘ecclesia,’ the gathering itself is an act of faith. Where two or three gather in the name of Jesus, he promises to be in their midst. Then the crescendo builds as we listen to the word of God. We believe that when the Gospel is proclaimed, the power of the ‘kerygma’ makes it Christ himself who speaks to us. Finally, the symphony explodes into full harmony when Christians who hold the memory of Christ around the Eucharistic table presided over by the priest experience his special presence in the Eucharistic species. It is Christ himself who bonds us together in love with God, his Father, and one another thus becoming the Body of Christ.

The theological argument ran that if Jesus is already present sacramentally in the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle in the sanctuary, why celebrate Eucharist? We’ve already heard the end of the symphony. I think that there is still merit to this argument. I believe that the primary purpose of Eucharist is to bond us together into the Body of Christ. On the other hand, our traditional belief in the real presence in the Eucharist certainly is ground for personal adoration and devotion. People who spend quiet time in the presence of the Eucharist have found it a source of deep spiritual nourishment.

It is in accordance with present day norms, that we are moving the tabernacle to the area which the baptistery used to occupy. The presence of the tabernacle in the main body of the church does call for a review on how we conduct ourselves in church. First and foremost, we should acknowledge the Lord’s presence when we come into church. We have done that traditionally by genuflecting toward the tabernacle when we enter the pew. I do fear for some that the downward slope of our floor could make it difficult for them to genuflect. It would also be appropriate to bow toward the tabernacle as we bow before receiving the Eucharist. The action is not as important as the reverence that we show to Christ’s presence upon entering the church.

Some have expressed a concern about the talking before and after Mass. I feel that this is a time for building our community and is faithful to the concept of ‘gathering.’ If we see Christ in our midst in the faces of one another, then is this not a time of prayer (talking to God) when we greet one another. My caution would be that we do it reverently. We don’t need to yell at the person in the next section trying to get their attention. I also feel that we should also teach our children what proper conduct in Church is all about. For their own safety, I don’t think that they should be running up and down the pews or playing tag around the church.

I’m not sure what the magic formula is for balancing the exuberance of our community-building with the reverence of our personal piety. In traditional theology, virtue was to be found ‘in medias res.’ In other words, we work to avoid extremes and find balance at the center. As we work together to find this ‘center,’ may our love and reverence for Christ in his Eucharistic presence continue to grow and bond us more deeply as a parish family.