Comportment

Wow, Jeff, that's my parish you're writing about!
I received an phone call from a devout elderly lady who loves TLM, with the good news, as soon as she returned from 7:30 mass last week.I was thrilled, we have a century old altar which Monsignor McDonald, the former pastor, restored and installed when he built the new church in 2000, and it has always had a gaping hole where the Tabernacle should be.
What a happy day that will be! I can't wait to sse the effect having Jesus front and center has upon the parish. I'll post a celebratory photo on Causa Nostrae Laetitiae when the Tabernacle returns home!

The same thing happened to me on my latest trip to Chicago. I entered Holy Name Cathedral and genuflected at what -- from the great distance -- seemed to be the far-off tabernacle...instead it was the Cardinal's cathedra.

Oops.

-J.

I feel rather the idiot. At the church across the street from campus (grad school) where I've been attending mass since the start of the semester, I've been utterly unable to locate the whereabouts of the tabernacle. Since they're 'in the round' (or rather 'in the square') and they have 24/7 adoration, I figured that they had hidden Jesus over at their adoration chapel (and if only I could find it).. At mass just last night I finally caught a glimpse of a little red light and a shiny gold box. Both were behind what amounts to a WALL (with small square holes throughout) to which the Crucifix is attached (and the 'wall' is designed to have the cross incorporated into it, so it looks like the 'body' is hanging on the wall, not a seperate cross, and in front of which the Priest sits. And all this time I'm been profoundly bowing to the altar, praying that I'd one win at "Find the Tabernacle, Find the Little Red Candle"..

You bow to the altar and genuflect to the tabernacle, isn't that right? That's what I was taught. So if there's no tabernacle, you don't genuflect before you sit (assuming you are a genuflector).

The church I attended when I was young did a strange thing to the tabernacle. It is behind the altar stuck in the middle of a modernist stained glass window. They added an adoration chapel BEHIND it, so it is always at the front of the church and anyone can walk down the side aisles and behind the "wall," where there are kneelers and candles, etc. The tabernacle is in sort of a shelf or hole cut in the window. It is a 1960s modern church, and the addition is very striking, although not at all to my taste. I can't decide whether I like it or not, but it's certainly an interesting architectural solution. You can see it from the chapel side here:
http://www.stmpgh.org/about_us/inside/index.html

On the other hand, my husband's childhood church had a recent redesign, and the tabernacle is in an adoration chapel and completely invisible from the church. But the chapel is heavily used. It seems to work for them.

Gail

In our own chapel (at Maryknoll, NY), the tabernacle is behind the altar, screened off during Mass. After communion, we open the screen. In this way we are able to focus on the current sacrifice of the Mass as distinct from the act of eucharistic adoration, while being able to open the whole chapel to the latter outside mass, underscoring over all the sense of transcendence. A main problem with the novus ordo is the emphasis it puts on the presider. This is reinforced when the chair is placed behind the altar.

Seems someone might make a little dough by inventing a device to help people find the tabernacle... hey, didn't you already do that?

Mike, that seems silly to me. Who, really, is distracted by the presence of the tabernacle, so much so that they are confused about when they are supposed to pay attention to the miracle taking place in front of them and when they are supposed to be lost in adoration? And who is too much wrapped up in the presider? Solving this sort of non-existent "problem" seems to take up far too many people's time these days. I am willing to believe that these things do bother people, but why are the people bothered by such things unwilling to believe that many of us are not bothered in the least?

Gail

Gail,

Answer to your first question: the presider. Being behind the altar, they often are confused as to which way to bow. Answer to your second question: the presider. The novus ordo inhernently emphasizes the presider, and bad church design (e.g. chair behind the altar) further draws attention to him. It offers also considerable psychological reinforcement to clericalism.

My parish church has one of those annoying round setups and "hides" the tabernacle, much like Elizabeth's church. I moved here in June and I think it took me about 4 weeks to figure out what direction to genuflect in!

Of course, very few people seem to be bothered by this. They just genuflect in whichever random direction their pew is facing in, if they do it at all. It drives me so crazy when I see Catholics doing something without understanding its meaning. It only gives ammo to the Prots who attack us for performing "empty rituals!"

Blessings on this bishop for bringing the tabernacle front and center again. All is not lost in the U.S. if we still have good shepherds like him.

I read that real fast, thinking to myself, who the heck is Fr. Zalso?

I'm definitly one of the angle genuflectors.

I'll take the hit for people initially thinking I look funny but later realize that there's a purpose for genuflecting and maybe, just maybe, the tabernacle should be in a more centralized position.

Jeff, I always look forward to your Spine Awards! Here in our parish in Memphis, its not uncommon to see people coming back from Communion down the side aisles chatting away, like they're at Walmart. I bet of all the things this good bishop in NJ is trying to correct, he doesn't have to deal with that.

In one parish, I've seen people receive Communion and walk directly out the door...almost knocking over a Eucharist Ministe.