EUCHARISTIC RESERVATION IN THE POST-CONCILIAR CHURCH

One of the most seminal theological times for me in my early priesthood was the opportunity to do post-graduate studies in Liturgical/Sacramental theology at the famed University of Louvain.  Founded in 1425, in the 1960’s due to the linguistic wars taking place in Belgium, the University split with the ancient campus in its historic setting in the town of Leuven where classes were conducted in Flemish and English, and a ‘new’ University built near Leuven in the French speaking section of the country called Louvain la Neuve. I took classes in English in Leuven.

Literally in the center of the old University town stood the collegiate church of St. Peter’s. Built in the 15th century, it was the principal church of the University town.  Unique to this beautiful Gothic Church is the Medieval Sacrament Tower where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.  This positioning of the Sacrament, not on the High Altar but near it, reflected the divergent practice that was commonly replaced in the post-Tridentine Church with the Tabernacle affixed to the High Altar.  Such a positioning was not always the practice in the Church. 

Eucharistic Tower in St. Peter’s Collegiate Church, Leuven, Belgium

Eucharistic Reservation in the Early Church 

Scholars of liturgical history tell us that the earliest places for the reservation of the Sacrament were in homes that were often freed from persecution. The primary reason to this day for Eucharistic reservation is that those who cannot be at the Eucharistic celebration due to illness can be taken communion from the reserved Eucharist. I’m sure many of us remember the charming story of St. Tarcisius, a young layperson, taking communion to others during the time of persecution and dying in martyrdom to safeguard the Eucharist.

Alexandre Falguière, Saint Tarcisius

  As the Church eventually emerged from being persecuted to receiving status within the state under Constantine and the legitimate practice of Eucharistic adoration ensued in our theology of the Eucharist, Eucharistic reservation varied in this early churches and Basilicas.  The emergence of a permanent place on the principal Altar housed in an ornate Tabernacle gradually became the norm.

Baroque Tabernacle in a Church in Germany

 An alternative ancient practice was reserving the Eucharistic presence in an ornate and enameled dove suspended over the Altar of Sacrifice. 

Eucharistic Dove suspended above the Altar

 With the development of a heightened Eucharistic Piety, it was only natural that in time greater prominence would be given to the consecrated element of bread now reserved in elaborate Tabernacles such as can be seen in St. Peter’s Church in Leuven.  It was during this time, especially from the 12th century on that the development of Eucharistic processions especially connected with the pious custom of “40 Hours Devotion” developed and continue to this day with a renewed resurgence.

40 Hours devotion at St. John Cantius in Chicago

 Sadly, superstitious practices also crept into the piety of the Eucharist at this time, such as gazing at the Eucharist during the Elevation of the elements during mass would suspend time and hence, one would not age! 

To curb such superstitions, the Council of Trent in her subsequent reform of the Missal that eventually witnessed the Missal of Pius V, brought standardization to the Eucharistic ritual and practice.

First edition of the Missal of Pius V

 With the rise of Jansenism that took an overly pessimistic view of human nature, the practice of frequent communion diminished. So much so that the Church was forced to legally require that all Catholics in good standing had to receive the Eucharist at least once a year – the Easter Duty.   

It was Pope St. Pius X who encouraged frequent and even daily communion and lowered the age of First Communion to 7 or 8, the age of reason that is the practice today. 

To encourage even more frequent communion, Pope St. John XXIII prior to the Second Vatican Council mitigated greatly the Eucharistic Fast, from the old fast from all foods and liquids from midnight until communion to a three hour fast before communion with water never breaking the fast.  That was even mitigated by subsequent Popes to a one hour fast from solid food prior to communion. 

Eucharistic Presence and Reservation after the Second Vatican Council 

The Great Ecumenical Council (1962-1965) called for by Pope St. John XXIII was a Council of renewal and reform in the Church.  In keeping with the ancient maxim, ecclesia semper reformanda est (the Church is always in the process of reforming), the Council was one of twenty-one moments in the Church’s history that called for reform and renewal to enable the Gospel of Christ to ring out with greater clarity in the times in which the Church found herself. 

The first major issue that the Council dealt with was the reform and renewal of the Sacred Liturgy – the public worship of the Church.  This conciliar reform in worship was preceded by nearly one hundred years of scholarship that revealed ancient sources to our common liturgical life.  This ressourcement of ancient sources to our liturgical tradition was called The Liturgical Movement.  While the Liturgical Movement had a variety of goals, common elements in time emerged: 

·      A recapturing of worship as a communal experience of all God’s Holy People

·      A move toward a vernacular liturgy moving away from celebrations in a language little understood by people today

·      A move from a preoccupation with the ‘static’ presence of the Lord in the Eucharistic elements to a renewed appreciation for the ‘dynamic’ presence in the Eucharistic celebration – the Mass. 

In December 1963 the Council solemnly promulgated the first of the eventual 16 formal documents, Sacrosanctum Concilium, on the reform and renewal of the Sacred Liturgy.  This document received the overwhelming approval of the council fathers with only 4 dissenting votes! (2147 votes in favor, 4 against, 2 invalid votes)

Council Fathers in the Aula of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Second Vatican Council

 That document set in motion liturgical and canonical legislation that would eventually witness the first practical fruits of the Council, the most obvious with the gradual introduction of a vernacular liturgy. 

The Liturgy Constitution and subsequent legislation also witness changes in church architecture to support a liturgy now reformed and renewed, that is, facilitating communal worship verses a clerical priest-centric liturgy. 

The move from an emphasis on the dynamic presence of Christ in the Eucharistic celebration verses the static presence in the Eucharistic elements led to some practical changes in church architecture and sanctuary arrangement. The most obvious and evident change was a move from a fixed altar at the far East end of the nave to a free-standing altar to accommodate Mass facing the people. 

Liturgical legislation prohibited a tabernacle affixed to the principal Altar to a separate area of reservation.  The separate area of reservation could take three forms: 

·      Eucharistic reservation in a separate chapel clearly identifiable from the main area of the church.

·      A separate area in the church proper that would be clearly visible and properly ornamented away from the sanctuary

·      An area behind the altar  

Sacrament Chapel in Christ Cathedral

It is important to note that the post-concilar documentation does not give priority to these areas but leaves it up to the Diocesan Bishop and Pastor to determine what would be most fitting in the local setting. 

By way of example, when Bishop Tod Brown became Bishop of Orange in 1998 he mandated that all new churches built in the Diocese of Orange have a separate Eucharistic chapel to house the Blessed Sacrament enabling intimate prayer and adoration.  If that could not be done in existing churches, the Blessed Sacrament was to be moved to a properly ornamented area to the left or right of the sanctuary.  It was not to be in the sanctuary area proper nor behind the principal altar.

Blessed Sacrament Chapel in Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano

 His successor, Bishop Kevin Vann, has approached this delicate area from a different perspective, respecting the decision of the pastor and the pious sensitivities and desires of his parishioners.   

Why was the post-conciliar legislation adamant about no longer reserving the Blessed Sacrament on the principal Altar?  The language of the liturgy is the language of symbol.  Hence, symbols in our liturgy reveal and disclose theological meaning. 

The Altar of Sacrifice that symbolizes Christ himself is the privileged place in every church where the Eucharistic celebration takes place.  Through this celebration the sacrifice of Calvary is renewed as a lasting memorial and the Lord’s greatest gift to his Church is realized – his real substantial presence, Body and Blood, soul and divinity in the consecrated elements of bread and wine.

It would be symbolically anomalous to enact so great a mystery by the power of the Holy Spirit in every Eucharistic celebration when at the same Sacred Table, the fruit of that celebration is already present in the Tabernacle.  The Church in her liturgical legislation wants to clearly delineate the difference between the dynamic Real Presence that comes to us through the Eucharistic celebration that is both meal and sacrifice and the static Real Presence that is the fruit of that celebration and worthy of adoration as well as taken to those unable to be present for the sacred mysteries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Time of Choosing

Those friends who follow my posts on Facebook don’t have to guess where my political leanings may lie. Ever since Donald Trump descended the golden escalator spewing his anti-immigrant bile, I have been an avowed anti-Trumper. Since my posts are not public (I’m not insane!), occasionally a Republican friend and supporter of Trump asks the question: “Since Trump is anti-abortion, how can you support a pro-choice candidate?” This is a question that is often asked of sincere Catholics and others who understand and accept the gravity of abortion from a Catholic ethical perspective. Perhaps, the following apologia for why one who supports the seamless dignity of all life, from ‘womb to tomb’ may support a Democrat for President and not Donald Trump:

Neither the Republican nor Democrat Presidential candidate and their respective platforms reflect perfectly Catholic moral values. Both are gravely deficient. As a Democrat, I of course, do not accept their entire platform, specifically on abortion. However, I find equally despicable and morally bankrupt Donald Trump’s stance on capital punishment, which is contrary to Catholic ethics, demonization of immigrants, ridicule of climate change as a hoax, demonization of anyone who disagrees with him, his threatening the integrity of the Constitution which is the very essence of our democracy. Most of all, political leaders must possess both the character and moral center to lead with integrity all the people entrusted for the common good. Donald Trump, in my opinion and that of countless women and men who worked with him in his prior administration, is totally bereft of character and integrity.

As Pope Francis so rightly has pointed out, when we are faced with conflicted moral and political choices, it comes down to a matter of personal conscience in determining which candidate and platform proportionately on the whole will support Catholic values. I am not as naive as to question that some conscientious Republicans, arrive at a good faith conclusion that Trump and the Republican platform best represents that. And I would only ask that Republicans and Trump supporters afford me the same courtesy, aware that I too have weighed the proportionate values and disvalues and have arrived in good conscience at a different conclusion.

However, I categorically reject those who state that voting for a Democrat means one is supporting abortion and, hence, all Democrats directly cooperate with intrinsic evil and are guilty of grave sin and should even refrain from communion! This important distinction is clearly articulated in the USCCB’s statement, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

In an important letter written to an American cardinal when he was Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stated:

“A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

While single issue voters exist, I far more believe that it is the full complement of political decisions that a candidate may support that either support, compromise or violate Catholic ethical principles that inform the conscientious Catholic voter to choose which candidate, overall, best reflects Catholic ethical principles. That decision remains in the inviolate area of personal conscience.

I find it interesting when I encounter folks who say they ‘despise Trump’s character’ but since he’s against abortion, they have no other choice than to vote for him. The Nazi laws enacted by Hitler for the Third Reich outlawed abortion as a crime for Aryans and was strictly enforced. I would certainly hope that if Hitler were alive today, nobody would vote for him because he was against abortion!

More on Harrison Butker's Commencement Address

Far too much ink has been spilled to date over Harrison Butker’s recent commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.  I was going to refrain from commenting; however, a number of folks were asking me what I thought and so here goes. 

I’m a firm believer in the ‘big tent’ theory of who we are as a Church.  In other words, there’s a lot of room for all different kinds of folks on the ideological spectrum – so called liberals, conservatives and centrists. Whatever floats your spiritual boat is just fine with me as long as you’re not trying to throw some out of the boat!  

I’m sure Harrison Butker is a great guy and a fantastic kicker in a sport I have little interest in.  I do, however, have a great interest and more than a bit of theological background in the Church that I have served for 50 years as a priest.  It is from that perspective that I offer my comments. 

Benedictine College is a very traditional boutique Catholic College.  The President obviously invited Butker to reinforce their particular ideological perspective on the faith.  No surprise here.  I’m sure, as was reported, his words were well received, and a standing ovation was given to him at its conclusion.  No surprise. 

To conclude, however, that Butker’s words represented orthodox Catholic theological belief is wrong.  They did not. Butker, or whoever drafted the talk for him, obviously had several theological and liturgical axes to grind and grind they did! 

As a liturgist, I took grave exception to the following section of his talk: 

“I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today. It is through the TLM that I encountered order and began to pursue it in my own life. Aside from the TLM itself, too many of our sacred traditions have been relegated to things of the past, when in my parish, things such as ember days, days when we fast and pray for vocations and for our priests, are still adhered to. The TLM is so essential that I would challenge each of you to pick a place to move where it is readily available.” 

Now, to imply – and I’m being diplomatic here - that the unreformed Mass of Trent, a la the Missale of 1962, is how God wants to be worshipped today, disregards the liturgical reforms of an Ecumenical Council, the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the most recent Instructions of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, reigning in the wholesale use of the pre-reformed rites!  This is hubris at a totally new level but sadly reflects the dissident ideological perspective of not a few Catholic traditionalists.  This is NOT the teaching of the Catholic Church. 

Such views reinforce a sad comment recently shared with me by a young person in our parish.  When asked why he wasn’t seen at Mass, he stated, I go to the real Mass at St. Michael’s Abbey.  Now, my good friends at the abbey would be the first to disabuse this young fellow from such nonsense, I would hope!  Yet, Pope Francis is right to be gravely concerned that such sentiments are being reinforced either overtly or tacitly at the TLM.  Such comments by a popular football star given at a Catholic College certainly reinforce such heterodox opinions. 

I’m going to stop here because I’d like to make the excellent and thorough response of Henry Karlson in his May 21 post in Patheos my own.  It is excellent.  Tolle et lege! Read here

 

In Memoriam - Pope Emeritus Benedict

The death this morning of Pope Emeritus Benedict prompted a flood of memories for me.  On the bucket list of this liturgist was to be in the Piazza San Pietro for the election of a Pope.  While a student priest in Belgium in the late 70’s, I was fortunate to attend the inaugural liturgy marking the beginning of the pontificate of a relatively young John Paul II, having missed the election. 

I was pastor of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano when Pope John Paul II died in April, 2005.  The wheels of my mind began to turn realizing that this would probably be my only chance to fulfill a dream and be present for the election of a Pope.  Amazingly and, I’d like to think, providentially, I called Delta Airlines hoping that I could use miles to book a flight to Rome after calculating when the Conclave of Election would begin.  Miraculously, a flight was available!  I then booked a room in one of my favorite hotels near the Pantheon, Grand Hotel Minerva, for one week – all of this hoping that the Conclave of Election would not last too long so that I could be there for the inaugural mass of the new Pope. 

I remember distinctly at the International Terminal at LAX prior to my flight, seeing the TV monitors and the Cardinal electors processing into the Sistine Chapel to begin election of the successor to John Paul II. 

Landing in Rome some 12 hours later, I made my way to the hotel and immediately walked to St. Peter’s Square to witness the smoke from the third ballot of the Cardinals.  Gathering with tens of thousands in the square, the smoke was visibly black, no Pope elected.   

I ran into a group of priest friends from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who invited me to join them for lunch.  The excitement in the air was palpable.  After lunch, I returned to the hotel to try to get a bit of rest before returning to the square for the results of the 4th ballot in the late afternoon.  Too excited to rest, I decided to return to the piazza a bit early.  As I was walking down the Via della Conciliazione, the main thoroughfare leading to St. Peter’s, I could see folks running, some leaving their cars on the side of the road, and I realized something was about to happen. 

Tiered banks of media, the likes of which, I had never seen, circled the Piazza.  Quickly, the crowds grew to over a hundred thousand.  And then, we saw the white smoke coming from the small ancient chimney above the Sistine Chapel.  The crowds roared with excited anticipation.  The great bells of the Basilica began to ring out in jubilation. 

It was a bit of time between the white smoke and the eventual pulling back of the red curtains on the loggia window overlooking the square.  Finally, the Dean of the College of Cardinals emerged and proclaimed the ancient formula: Anuncio vobis, Gaudium magnum, habemus papam!  “I announce to you, great joy, we have a Pope!”  The declaration went on in Latin, yet when he spoke the word, Josephum, it was clear before he got to the last name, Ratzinger, who was elected.  The crowds erupted in wild excitement and jubilation.   

A few moments later, the new Pope, Benedict XVI, appeared to impart his first words and blessing to the city and the world.  The crowds, now filling the piazza were delirious with excitement and joy.   

Timing was on my side, and I was able to be present for Benedict’s inaugural mass in all its papal splendor.  It was a week that I will never forget. 

Rest in Peace, faithful servant of the servants of God.