…how tabernacles came about?
Such is the Church’s love for Jesus Christ that, after the Bridegroom ascended to Heaven, she was not content to encounter Him again only during Holy Mass, but wished to adore Him every day, wherever it was celebrated. Tabernacles arose in order to satisfy this desire. The God whom the heavens could not contain would also dwell on earth.
Alongside this primary reason, there were other serious motives – among them, the groans of the agonizing. The Council of Nicaea (325) prescribed that the dying should not be deprived of the Eucharistic viaticum. But how could this spiritual comfort be brought to them if the consecrated Hosts were not reserved?
A more concrete answer to this question can be found in the Apostolic Constitutions. In them, deacons were instructed to deposit the holy particles in what the Latins called a secretarium or sacrarium – hence the term sacrament house or tabernacle – which was locked and guarded by sacred ministers.
This custom continued until the 9th century. Variations then arose regarding the style and location of the tabernacle. In certain temples, it was placed behind the altar, with the name of propitiatory; in other churches, it was the sacristy that had the honour of housing the King of Heaven. Especially in the great Gothic or Renaissance cathedrals, tabernacles were adorned with colourful murals and statuary. From the 16th century onwards, it became visible on high altars. And there is also the custom of keeping it in a side chapel.
The Divine Master’s love for His disciples is so unfathomable that He desires to be present not only in the Holy Mass or in the tabernacles of the whole world, but also in the tabernacles of the souls of the faithful. ◊
…who were the first Westerners to enter the Forbidden City?
China: a kingdom of dreams, surrounded by walls so imposing that they remained practically insurmountable until the end of the 16th century. However, there is no place on earth, however inhospitable, where the sweet timbre of Christ’s voice cannot resound.
For the then-called Middle Kingdom, the Word of God used an instrument to manifest Himself: Fr. Matteo Ricci, a missionary of the Society of Jesus.
His desire was to convert the entire nation, but to do so he needed to reach the head. Emperor Wanli lived in the Forbidden City, the residence of the “son of heaven.” Combining the cunning of the serpent with the innocence of the dove, the Jesuit priest offered the monarch sixteen gifts, among them a clavichord, so that music could penetrate where words could not reach; a clock, to arouse curiosity; and a painting of Our Lord, so that the “son of heaven” might know the Son of God.
The gifts caused great astonishment at court. And, to satisfy the demands of the Orientals, missionaries were called to the Forbidden City, where the first Westerners finally entered in 1601. The Jesuits, responding to the scientific and musical aspirations of the Chinese, simultaneously taught them the superior wisdom of the Faith by echoing the Gospel precept: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). And there are no walls or prohibitions that can thwart this command… ◊
