The tabernacle - what, where and why?

The artiphorion or tabernacle on the altar at a celebration of the Eucharist in the UkrainianGreek  Catholic Church.

The first mention of the word tabernacle is in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Exodus. It refers to the mishkan – the dwelling place of God:

“And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.” (Exodus 25:8–9)

The mishkan, or “Tent of Meeting”, was the place where, above all, the people approached God. God was among His people. It was a visible sign of His enduring presence – a local and physical sign. It housed the Ark of the Covenant, containing the Ten Commandments given to Moses.

Jumping forward to the first millennium following the Resurrection of Christ, Christians had reason to reserve the consecrated bread after the Eucharist, principally in order to bring it to the sick who were unable to participate in the celebration (Viaticum).

Over time, the reserved consecrated bread became a focus of special veneration. It is noteworthy that in the ancient rites and customs of both the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western Churches, the consecrated bread was housed in a special and sacred container on the altar where the Eucharist was celebrated. Only since the reforms of the 1960s has the tabernacle often been placed apart from the altar in the Roman Catholic Church. Today, it is typically located within the sanctuary, often behind or to the side of the altar where Mass is celebrated.

The sanctuary area including the altar and, behind it, the Tabernacle in my home parish of Holy Trinity church, Goresbridge, County Kilkenny

For Catholics, the tabernacle is a sacred and special place where Jesus Christ is truly, really, and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament. It is a focal point for prayer, adoration, petition, and silent contemplation. Typically, a sanctuary lamp, often red, is placed nearby to signify that the Eucharistic presence of Christ is reserved there.

In some parts of the Anglican Communion, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, usually for the purpose of Communion for the sick between celebrations of the Eucharist. However, some Anglo-Catholic (“High Church”) communities give a place of prominence to the reserved sacrament, as in the example below, where a hanging pyx is used. The image of the Bread of Heaven, or manna, suspended above the altar is striking.

High Wycombe Anglican church, Buckinghamshire. Photo by Sarumsleuth

Practice in the Eastern Orthodox Churches is similar in some respects to that of the Roman Catholic Church. There, the Artophorion (Greek for tabernacle) is placed on the altar where the priest celebrates the Divine Liturgy. An important difference, however, is that the Orthodox generally do not practice private Eucharistic adoration outside the liturgy, as is common in the West. Rather, the consecrated Gifts are venerated within the context of the liturgy itself.

Below is a striking and beautiful image of the sanctuary in a Russian Orthodox church.

In the centre of the sanctuary, beyond the Royal Doors, is the altar table, which can only be glimpsed from a distance when the doors are opened during services. The Holy Table, or Prestol, is where the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered; the Book of the Gospels rests there, the Antimension is placed upon it, and the reserved sacrament is kept in the Artophorion (tabernacle). It is honoured as the throne of God, the tomb of Christ, and the heavenly altar.

Note the “altar of oblation” to the left. It is called the Prothesis and is the place where the bread and wine are prepared before the Divine Liturgy.

The Altar at the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinburg - Sergei Pyatakov / Sputnik

Tomorrow, I will explore the place of the Antimension in the Eastern liturgy. It is rich in symbolism and draws together many Eucharistic themes.

Everywhere, always, by all

 

In my blog of this series (“Bread for the Journey”) published yesterday (Just believe) I quoted from the Imitation of Christ written in the 15^th Century:

Do not argue in your own mind, or try to answer the doubts the Devil hurls against you. Trust the word of God, believe his saints and prophets, and you will put your wicked enemy to flight.

The author was interested in a relationship with the Lord and not in disputes over philosophy or theology important and useful as these may be in context.

Just believe

There is a considerable temptation on the part of some devout souls to agonise over aspects of the mystery of the Divine Eucharist and the manner of Christ’s presence in the same.

I suspect that devout souls in England were perplexed by some of the controversies swirling around the realm at the time of the Reformation and subsequent political and theological battles that ensued.  In a widely used poem whose source is disputed but often attributed to John Donne (1573-1631) and which has alsobeen attributed to Queen Elizabeth I (of mixed memories in Ireland, let it be said) there is a flavour of this in the lovely quaint English:

He was the Word that spake it;
He took the bread and brake it;
And what that Word did make it,
I do believe and take it.

Sinful men and the power of the word

Many people have been deeply wounded by the institutional Church, and this in at least two distinct but related ways.

First, some individual priests have been guilty of grievous and, at times, heinous crimes.

Second, some bishops — including those in very senior positions — knowingly covered up wrongdoing and reassigned offenders, even when the risk of re‑offending was clearly grave.

It is therefore not surprising that many people cite these failures as reasons why they “walked away from the Church” long ago.

Celebrating in communion with the whole church

 

The Eucharist is not a private affair. It is the gathering of believers who come together to hear the Word of God, proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus, and receive his Body and Blood. It is an act of the whole Church. On his journey to martyrdom in Rome, sometime around 110 A.D. , Saint Ignatius of Antioch wrote to the Church at Smyrna:

Preparing for Pentecost

Ascension Sunday

Sunday 17 May 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47(46)

Ephesians 1:17-23 Matthew 28:16-20

Meditatio:

‘ I am with you always.   (Matthew 28:20)

 

Commentary:

---

What was formerly celebrated as Ascension Thursday has become—at least in Ireland—Ascension Sunday. This is something of a loss, as it interrupts the traditional and indeed biblical pattern of a nine‑day period of prayerful preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The first Christian novena was this very prayer to the Holy Spirit, made in the company of the Apostles and Mary, the Mother of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:14).

This Sunday’s Gospel is taken from the very closing section of the relatively long Gospel according to Matthew. While written with a Jewish audience particularly in mind, it reminds us that the universal call to salvation now extends to all nations. There are no privileged groups or insiders now. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ, who sends us out as his missionaries of healing and good news.

The Ascension reminds us that while our hearts are lifted to the heavenly places where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, we are nonetheless mandated, commissioned, and sent to continue the saving mission of Jesus in a broken and waiting world.

Matthew ends his Gospel by reporting these words of Jesus:

“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus—who is the eternal “I AM”—is with us always. Always. Always. Including in those moments when we might feel that God is absent or silent.

In contemporary Western post‑modern culture, some adopt what might be called a practical atheism, living as though God were irrelevant to life here and now. With genuine respect for those who hold such views for pragmatic or experiential reasons, it must still be said that the fullness of human meaning, identity, and purpose ultimately finds its home in a trusting faith in a loving and personal God. More than that, Christians believe that God seeks us, finds us, and meets us in Jesus Christ. As St Irenaeus famously taught, “the glory of God is the human person fully alive”—and our coming fully alive takes place in the light and truth of God.

Even if our churches seem to be weakening in parts of Europe, it may be that we are being led back, so to speak, to Galilee: to the places of first encounter, original faith, and missionary impulse, rather than relying on the spiritual prestige or security of former centres of influence.

Along the way, we may have to contend with doubt—but doubt need not prevent worship, for as Matthew tells us:

“When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.” (Mt 28:17)

Our call is to be open to the fullness of life given by the Holy Spirit. From that life and light, we are invited to become bearers of hope – candles in the darkness - for others. This is our commission, rooted in the sacrament of Baptism, nourished by the teaching of the Word of God, and sustained by the mutual care that must be the hallmark of a living, and not a dying, Church.

We are sent to bless the world not in three separate names but in one Name—the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And this Name is Love (cf. 1 John 4:8).

 

Some extras:

Collect of the Word for this Sunday (Church of Ireland)

Eternal and gracious God, we believe your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to have ascended with triumph into your kingdom in heaven; may we also in heart and mind
ascend to where he is, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen

Post-Communion prayer (Church of Ireland)

God our Father, you have raised our humanity in Christ and feed us with the bread of heaven.  Mercifully grant that, nourished with such spiritual blessings, we may set our hearts in the heavenly places; where he now lives and reigns for ever.

Post-Communion prayer (Roman Catholic missal of 1970)

Father, in this Eucharist we tough on the divine life you give to the world. Help us to follow Christ with love to eternal life where he is Lord for ever and ever.

Private prayer after Holy Communion

(from The Family Missal and Prayer Book of the Church of the Holy Spirit, Ballyroan, Co. Dublin, 1976)

Lord Jesus, King of glory, you ascended in victory to the Father; but you do not leave us orphans.  I treasure your promise “Know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. Stay with us, Lord.  Lord Jesus, send the one you promised, the gift of the Father, the Holy Spirit, that your Church may spread your saving gospel to the ends of the earth.

 

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament

Adoracja z Niepokalanowa

This day 109 years ago an important event took place in the midst of World War 1.  It is said that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima in southern Portugal.

It is not required of Catholics to believe in apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and other saints.  However, many do and at some point most have been touched along the way by memories, pilgrimages and readings.  The image of the ‘Lourdes Grotto’ has marked the Irish countryside from inner city park corners to a field near where I live.

In 1917 three young children say they witnessed a series of apparitions in which Our Lady imparted various warnings and important spiritual messages. The context was set by the time when a vicious world war enveloped Europe and more would be presaged.

At the centre of these apparitions and other similar ones across the world (at least those that have been approved as worthy of belief by the church) is the message of prayer, penance, conversion, reparation and trust in God.  Many miracles and life-transforming experiences have been reported. I have no reason to doubt the sincerity and validity of these witnesses. Nobody is required to believe or go there but it can help.

Crucially, in one of the messages Our Lady told the children:

“Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”

The next time we face a difficult or annoying chore or unexpected email or visit we might consider this advice:

“O Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation of the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

The little things matter along with the big. And even today, as Ireland has come closer than ever to an all out assault on human life in the womb we may join our prayers especially from before 8.30pm when the vote will be taken on the second state of the ‘Reproductive Rights (Amendment) Bill 2026’.

Where does the Eucharist enter in at Fatima?

Even before the 1917 apparitions, the children reported a vision of an ‘Angel of Peace’ who visited them on three  occasions the previous year. 

On one occasion, the three children saw the angel prostrate before a host and chalice that hung in the air. Worshiping the Eucharist, the angel prayed:

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. And, through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of sinners.”

While some question the theological basis of this prayer I think that it offers a very simple and practical formula for all of us – lay and ordained – to lift our minds and hearts to God especially but not exclusively in the presence of the reserved Blessed Sacrament.

Just as Mary said yes to God in the incarnation she continues to lead us to Jesus present in the sacrament of the Eucharist so that we may become broken bread for a troubled world.

Just two additional facts to be mindful of today:

1. There is an interesting connection between the name Fatima and the world of Islam.  Muslims honour Mary as the virginal mother of the prophet Jesus.  Mary is a bridge to bring the children of Abraham together. (see ‘Nothing ever happens out of heaven except with a finesse of all details).
2. “The Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is on May 13 because it is the day St. Peter Julian Eymard, that great saint of the Eucharist, founded the Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament and told his novices to pray: ‘Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’” [see here]