Illustrated
Architecture Dictionary
Tabernacle
Within Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and in some congregations of Anglicanism and Lutheranism, an ornamental locked box for the exclusive reservation of the consecrated Eucharist hosts
Etymology: derived from the Latin tabernāculum meaning "tent" or "hut"
| Eucharist,
also called Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper, in Christianity, ritual
commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, at which
(according to tradition) he gave them bread with the words, “This is my
body,” and wine with the words, “This is my blood.” The Eucharist has formed a central rite of Christian worship. All Christians would agree that it is a memorial action in which, by eating bread and drinking wine (or, for some Protestants, grape juice or water), the church recalls what Jesus Christ was, said, and did. According to the eucharistic doctrine of Roman Catholicism, the elements of the consecrated bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ: their substance is converted into the substance of the body and blood, although the outward appearances of the elements, their “accidents,” remain. - Encyclopaedia Britannica (online May 2020) |
| The tabernacle
is a liturgical furnishing used to house the Eucharist outside of Mass.
This provides a location where the Eucharist can be kept for the
adoration of the faithful and for later use (e.g., distribution to the
sick). It also helps prevent the profanation of the Eucharist. Thus the law requires, “The tabernacle in which the Eucharist is regularly reserved is to be immovable, made of solid or opaque material, and locked so that the danger of profanation may be entirely avoided” (CIC 938 §3). The word tabernacle means “dwelling place.” Any place someone dwells is a tabernacle. The term is also sometimes used for a temporary dwelling place. Thus the tent-like sanctuary that the Jews used before the Temple was built was called the Tabernacle, because God dwelt there. Similarly, for the feast of Sukkot the Hebrews erected temporary shelters to live in for the festival, which is often called “the feast of tabernacles” or “the feast of booths” as a result. The tabernacle in Church is so named because it is a place where Christ dwells in the Eucharist. - Catholic Answers (online May 2020) |
| In
the Middle Ages there was no uniform custom in regard to the
place where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. The Fourth Lateran
Council and many provincial and diocesan synods held in the Middle Ages
require only that the Host be kept in a secure, well-fastened
receptacle. At the most they demand that it be put in a clean,
conspicuous place. Only a few synods designate the spot more closely,
as the Synods of Cologne (1281) and of Münster (1279) which commanded
that it was to be kept above the altar and protected by locking with a
key. Reredoses containing cupboards to hold the Blessed Sacrament can be proved to have existed as early as the fourteenth century... - New Advent (online May 2020) |
|
Tabernacle,
Hebrew Mishkan, (“dwelling”), in Jewish history, the portable sanctuary
constructed by Moses as a place of worship for the Hebrew tribes during
the period of wandering that preceded their arrival in the Promised
Land. The Tabernacle no longer served a purpose after the erection of
Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem in 950 BC. Israel’s earliest sanctuary was a simple tent within which, it was believed, God manifested his presence and communicated his will. - Encyclopaedia Britannica: Tabernacle - Judaism (online May 2020) |