13. THE TABERNACLE OF THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST
It is proper that some instruction be given here on the subject of the tabernacle, since a provincial decree has made it obligatory to put the tabernacle on the high altar.{2}
In more important churches, where possible, it should be made of sheet silver or sheet bronze, which should be gilded, or of precious marble.
The tabernacle, elegantly worked and well joined, sculptured with images of the mysteries of the Passion of Christ, and decorated in some parts with gilding, as an expert will see fit, will have a reverent and pious ornamentation.
(g) AEM, 1121.
(h) Castiglioni-Marcora, quoting Giussani, p. 110 (see Fig. 12.1).
Inside it will be totally lined with panels of poplar or another kind of wood, so that the Holy Eucharist will be protected, thanks to this lining, from the humidity of metal or marble.
Where the tabernacle cannot be made in this way, it will be constructed not with panels of walnut or another wood that produces humidity, but with carefully worked panels of poplar or the like, and decorated as above with sculptured and gilded religious images.
The size of the tabernacle will be in keeping with the dignity, size and type of the church on the high altar of which it is to be placed. It will be octagonal or round in form, as will seem most fitting, from the point of view of decorum and piety, to the form of the church.
On the top of the tabernacle there will be the image of Christ gloriously resurrected or who exhibits His sacred wounds. Or if, on the altar of some small church the tabernacle occupies the space which once was left there for the cross, then the image of the cross, with the holy effigy of the crucified Christ, will be set at the top of the tabernacle in place of the other sacred image, either permanently fixed or removable occasionally for processions.{3}
Moreover the tabernacle, set on the altar with a stable decorated base, or set on strong altar gradines, properly executed, or statues of angels or some other support decorated with religious ornaments, will be firmly fixed in place and solid. It will moreover be furnished with a key.{4}
It will be at least one cubit and sixteen ounces distant from the front of the altar table, so that the corporal can be completely spread out and the pyx, when necessary, can be easily placed on the altar. Even so it should not be so far from the front of the altar that the priest would need a wooden step to reach the most Holy Eucharist, unless the site and the structure of the tabernacle require other expedients.
In the more important churches, above all in those in which the choir is behind the altar, and in which, in proportion to their structure, the high altar is very wide, it can be further back from the altar front, since the Holy Eucharist can be easily and decorously removed from the tabernacle on the side of the choir. In this case there will be a second small door, in the prescribed form on the side of the choir.
Beneath the tabernacle there must be no closet, or any place for keeping books or other church furnishings.
In those cases where the structure of the altar does not permit the tabernacle to be completely placed and supported on the altar, it will rest, either completely or in part, on a base or other solid support set on the back of the altar, in such a way that the complete circuit of the altar, however small the space left between the altar and the wall may be, will not be hindered.
Inside, the tabernacle will be lined in every part and decorated with red silk, if the church is of Ambrosian, or white if of Roman rite.
In the front the tabernacle will have a small door large enough so that the other small tabernacle enclosed within can be easily put in and taken out. Moreover it will open so that it can lie flat against the front [of the tabernacle] so as not to obstruct the hand or arm of the priest when he removes the Holy Eucharist.
This small door will be decorated with the image of Christ, crucified, or resurrected, or displaying the wound on His breast, or some other pious effigy.
NOTES
Chapter XIII, pp.
- The placement of a pyx or container for the Eucharist has varied from place to place and from time to time. Frequently, however, the pyx was in the shape of a tower or a dove that was suspended near or over the altar, as attested to by Durandus.
… and also the tabernacle …. Some churches have over the altar an ark or tabernacle in which the body of the Lord and relics are preserved. (II, 5)(a)
The portable cases in which the consecrated host is kept is sometimes of wood, sometimes of white ivory, sometimes of silver, gold, or crystal. (III, 25)(b)
During Borromeo’s time the practice of reserving the Eucharist on the main altar come into vogue, thereby eliminating two earlier traditions, that of the suspended dove and that of a niche constructed in the wall on the Gospel side of the altar. Borromeo allowed that, once the tabernacle was placed on the altar, these former niche-tabernacles or custodiae were to be removed or, once their specific indications had been entirely destroyed, were to be used for relics or for the oil of the sick, if their construction was according to the prescribed form (see Fig. 13.1).
Presumably one of the earliest prescriptions to bring the Eucharistic tabernacle to the main altar was by Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, whose Constitutiones had a tremendous influence on Borromeo. It is repeatedly obvious that Borromeo was not an innovator but rather a compiler of established customs and recommended new practices in the light of reform measures. The Caeremoniale Episcoporum (Ceremonial of Bishops), although a comparatively new book of directives in Borromeo’s time, was an
(a) After Trent it was forbidden to keep relics in the same tabernacle as the Eucharist. “Dentro il tabernacolo non si tengano, nè si governino Reliquie, ne Ogli santi, ne calici, ne vasi, ne alcun’altra cosa, se non il vaso, dentro il quale è il santissimo Sacramento….” AEM, 1963.
(b) Antiquae custodiae in pariete sanctissimi Sacramenti penitus amoveantur; vel signo omnino deleto, in alios usus adhibeantur; ut Reliquiarum, aut olei infirmorum, ad praescriptam formam aptatae. AEM, 1186.
official reference to which he sought to conform the practices of his archdiocese. It, in turn, authorized practices that had long been customary, and by Borromeo’s incorporation of these customs into decrees they became law.
Borromeo did not allow for an exception in this chapter, although there was one: that the Eucharist was not to be reserved on an altar where pontifical ceremonies were performed, and that cathedrals and churches of this classification were to reserve another chapel for this purpose, a custom which is still in use today.(c)
- For obvious reasons the cult of the Eucharist was one of the major concerns of the Counter Reformation. The Tridentine Council emphasized the theological and sacramental properties of the Eucharist, but in reference to its reservation merely stated that it was to be kept in a sacred place: Consuetudo asservandi in sacrario sanctam Eucharistiam adeo antiqua est.(d) The assigning of the sacred place was dependent upon the Bishop.
As early as 1564, Borromeo had been in correspondence with Ormaneto in Milan regarding the placement of the new tabernacle that Pius IV had presented to the Milan diocese.(e) While deciding upon its location, he wrote that he had looked at and studied a plan of the floor arrangement of the chancel sent by Ormaneto, and that a greater sense of dignity could probably be achieved if the archbishop’s throne were to be placed in the center of the choir, similar to the position it had in the ancient churches of Rome.
Borromeo realized the difficulty of visual communication, because the size of the tabernacle was such that it would obstruct the line of vision between the celebrant and the people, or the celebrant and those in the choir – depending upon whether the priest faced the people or had his back to them. Borromeo agreed with Ormaneto’s suggestion to raise the tabernacle on four columns, lifting it above the mensa so that visual contact would ultimately be achieved between the celebrant and the majority of the people.(f)
(c) “… valde opportunem est, ut illud non collocetur in majori, vel in alio altari, in quo Episcopus, vel alius solemniter est Missam, seu Vesperas celebraturus; sed in alio sacello, vel loco ornatissimo, cum omni decentia, et reverentia ponatur.” Caeremoniale Episcoporum, I, xii, 8.
(d) Trent, 77.
(e) The tabernacle came from the workshop of the brothers Aurelio, Gerolamo, and Lodovico Lombarda del Solaro in Rome, c 1560.
(f) Circa lo accomodare il Tabernacolo del Santissimo Sacramento, visto et considerato bene il disegno del choro che m’havete mandato, mi occorre di dirvi che a me piacieria per maggiore maestà che la sedia dell’Arcivescovo stesse nel mezzo, al modo delle Antiche Chiese di Roma, ma ci ho questa difficoltà che, ponendosi il Tabernacolo su l’Altare et celebrandosi dalla parte dell’Arcivescovo, come par che convenga, il popolo non potrebbe vedere con parte del choro, et per contrario se si celebrasse da quel lato che è scoperto al popolo, si torria la vista all’Arcivescovo con maggior parte de’Canonici, oltre che non si celebreria dalla sua banda, che, come ho detto, par piú conveniente.
Ma a questi inconvenienti si remediaria con alzare il tabernacolo nel mezzo dell’altare su quattro colonnette ben fatte come voi stesso scrivete, si che la vista passasse per sotto senza impedimento et in questo modo starebbe anco a maggior prospettiva del popolo.
Andavo ancor pensando che ponendosi il tabernacolo su l’altare, non vi si potranno cosí le genti accostare stando serrato il choro, dove nel luogo che hora sta, girano d’intorno, et presa la perdonanza se ne vanno da un lato o dall’altro liberamente” Archivio in Curia, Carteggio Uff., III, 95.
- The custom of mounting a removable processional cross on top of the tabernacle was described by Durandus: “… the cross also is to be placed on the altar so that the cross- bearers may thence raise it, in which section they commemorate how Simon the Cyrenian took the cross from the shoulders of Christ and bore it” (I, iii, 31).
In the second book of the norms, the requisites for the cross are given in detail, and in particular the cross attached to the tabernacle: “the cross which is located upon principal altars or upon the tabernacle is to be of quadrangular shape, the lower part fitting into a tube so that it may be slipped out if the cross is used in procession” This direction refers to the practice of the entrance procession during the Introit of the Mass, at which time the cross-bearer, after the procession, placed it on the altar.(g)
- About four years after Borromeo’s letter to Ormaneto (see note 2), a partial solution for the arrangement of the Duomo tabernacle was reached. The tabernacle was to be raised, and rather than adopting the four columns suggested by Ormaneto, Tibaldi projected using two cherubim, symbols associated with the Old Testament ark and temple (Fig. 13.2). Later, in 1581, Tibaldi would modify this plan and use four kneeling and adoring angels with the tabernacle, housing them in a small temple of their own (Fig. 13.3). The plan for the project is given here in its entirety.
1581 lunedi, 2 gennaio
Capitoli li quali si hano a osservare nel fabricare il tabernacolo del ss. Sacramento, il qual va posto sopra lo altare magior de la chiesa magior de Milano.
Prima li va giunto al detto altare, dalla parte anteriore, doi pedestali, fano per ciascuno circa onze 51 in vivo, alto onze 21, computato bassa e cimasa, con sette uno dado, che compagnarà la bradela del altare con il tondo che sarà tra pedestale e pedestale, facendo la cimasa e basa in detto pedestale, gitato di metallo, et il corpo di detto pedestale di ramo con sotto l’anima di legno de noce, grose onze 4 de assoni; però la cimasa di sopra sia tutta di uno peso, sopra il qual andarà possato uno dado, et li scalini sotto li detti pedastali sarà dela medemi pietra che sarà la detta bradela, a spesa de la fabrica; et tra li detti doi pedestali li andarà sotto trei scalini, altro onze 4 ½ l’uno, largo onze 18 l’uno, sopra li quali sarano l’anima di legno et coperto di ramo. Et piú sopra il detto dado li andarà otto colonne, alto onze 61, computato base et capiteli, qual colone con basi et capiteli sarano di geto di metallo et le colone scanalate; il tutto conforme a le saghome et disegni, che li sarà datto dal architetto di detta fabrica.
Et piú sopra dette colone andarà architravo, fregio et cornice dil medemo ordine; l’architravo et fregio serà di gito di metallo; il architravo alto onze 4, il fregio alto onze 6, la cornice onze 5.
(g) “Crucis porro, quae vel super altari majori, vel super tabernaculo sanctissimas Eucharistide collocabitur, forma pene quadrangula erit; cujus tamen pars inferior paululum obonga in tubulum desinet, ut, cum ad usum processionum aliarumque ecclesiasticarum actionum opus erit, a suo possit fulcimento commode eximi. AEM, 1553-54,
Et piú sopra detta cornice li sarà la cupola con vari compartimenti.
Et parimente sopra detta cornice le andarà otto angeli di metallo, li quali tengono li misteri de la passione in mano, gettato, alto onze 16.
Et piú sopra detta cupula li andarà uno pedestalo con basa et cimasa di sotto, sopra il qual sarà la imagine del Signor resuscitato di metallo, alto onze 24.
Et piú li ornamenti di architravo, fregio, cornice et cupula andarà il simile, como è detto, in la parte di dentro.
Et piú tutte le sopradette cose andaranno adorate et argentate con il foco, et che non vi sia manco di 4 foglie, sí del oro come di argento, uno sopra l’altra, facendo varie intaglie et compartimenti sí nel fregio di detto cornice et altri lochi di detta opera, conforme al disegno che li sarà data da detto architetto; il simile la doratura et argentatura sia meso sopra detta opera, conforme al ordine et disegno che li sarà datto dal detto architetto.(h)
Professor Maria Luisa G. Perer drew the writer’s attention to the novelty of sheltering the tabernacle within a tempietto. She proposed the theory that the angelic supports of the Duomo tabernacle were indeed the result of a practical exigency, but also an iconographic testimony of the tabernacle within a temple, i.e., a type of “Holy of Holies” architectural rendering. Tibaldi’s solution predates the practice that becomes stylistic in Rome as well, culminating in Bernini’s 1673 altar of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at St. Peter’s. Wittkower described the Bernini tabernacle as “in order to express the mystery enshrined in the tabernacle, he first toyed with the idea of letting hover in the air, poised lightly on the supporting hands of the four large angels who also carry candlesticks. In the next stage, the tabernacle was to be surrounded by three or four angels on each side who combine expressions and gestures of devotion with their task as carriers of candlesticks. Finally, he decided to free the angels of all practical duties and make them reflect, in their abandonment to their emotions, the delight and wonder at the eucharistic miracle contained in the tabernacle.”(i)
The evolution from Tibaldi’s systemization to that of Bernini remains an interesting avenue for exploration (see figs. 13.4, 13.5).