The Custody and Worship of the Eucharist

Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament.—Having considered the duties owed to the consecration and communion of the Eucharist, we shall conclude by mentioning those that are owed to the Sacrament in its permanency or to Christ dwelling in the tabernacle.

(a) The Duty of Custody.—The Blessed Sacrament must be reserved in cathedral, abbatial, parochial, and religious churches; and it may be reserved with due permission of the Ordinary in collegiate churches and in certain public oratories; but there must be someone in charge, and it is not allowed to reserve the Eucharist in private homes or to carry it about when travelling. Churches which have the Blessed Sacrament should be open at least a few hours daily to the faithful. It is not lawful to reserve the Sacrament habitually on more than one altar of the church, and that altar should be the one that is most honorable or most suited for worship, and it should be suitably decorated. The tabernacle should be as precious as possible and be carefully guarded, and the Hosts should be reserved inside in a solid pyx or ciborium. Before the tabernacle should burn day and night a sanctuary lamp fed by olive or other oil (Canons 1265-1271).

(b) The Duty of Renewal of the Hosts.—The consecrated species kept for Communion and adoration should be frequently renewed, lest they be corrupted. It would be a serious sin of irreverence to neglect this duty for over one or two months, or even for a shorter time if the danger of corruption is great on account of local conditions, such as dampness (Canon 1272).

(c) The Duty of Worship.—Pastors and others in charge of religious instruction should encourage devotion to the Eucharist, and especially the practice of assistance at Mass even on weekdays and of visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Benediction may be given frequently, and at least once a year there should be held in every parish church the Devotion of the Forty Hours, or at least some more solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for a number of hours (Canons 1273-1275).

— 1. In What Places the Holy Eucharist Must or Can Be Reserved. Canon 1265, §1 prescribes the general conditions of custody, so that, if these are lacking, the obligation ceases or the license is taken away. Therefore it is necessary that a priest have care of it, such as the rector of a church is judged to have by the office itself; and that regularly, at least once in the week, Mass be celebrated in the sacred place. These things being posited:

2. Custody of the Most Holy Eucharist is prescribed in a cathedral church, in the principal church of a quasi-diocese, in any parochial or quasi-parochial church, in a church annexed to a house of exempt religious, whether of men or of women. As quasi-parochial seem able to be had subsidiary churches which in remote parts of a parish are governed by some cooperating vicar or prefect who is accustomed to perform parochial functions in it.

3. It is permitted, with the license of the local Ordinary added, in a collegiate church and in the principal oratory, whether public or semi-public, both of a pious or religious house, and of an ecclesiastical college which is governed by secular clerics or by religious.

4. Elsewhere an apostolic indult is needed. Yet to a church or public oratory the Ordinary can concede this license from a just cause and by way of an act (c. 1265, §§1 and 2).

Observe, therefore, that no faculty is given by the Code for reserving the Eucharist in the principal oratory of a monastery or even of a regular house. But that this may be done licitly, it is necessary that there be either an apostolic indult, or immemorial custom, which Benedict XIV, Constitution Quamvis iusto, said was necessary, or a positive faculty of the local Ordinary, which now, from c. 1266, §1, 2°, he can concede even habitually to every religious or pious house.

5. "It is lawful for no one to keep the Most Holy Eucharist with himself or to carry it with himself on a journey" (c. 1265, §3).

For no one, not even missionaries in a region of infidels. An exception requires such a cause as excuses from a grave prohibition, for example, to provide for the safety of the Most Holy Eucharist in some calamity or persecution. The Holy See is less opposed to reservation in the house of a pastor or priest, if at some time the Most Holy Eucharist cannot be reserved decently in a church (cf. response of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, August 23, 1852, Collect., I, 751).

— In One Oratory. Every contrary privilege having been revoked, the Most Holy Eucharist cannot be reserved except in the church or in the principal oratory of a religious or pious house; nor among nuns within the choir or the enclosures of the monastery (c. 1267).

The authentic declaration of June 2-3, 1918, of the Commission for the Interpretation of the Code being considered, the force of this canon comes to this:

a) Whether by privilege, or by faculty of the local Ordinary, the Most Holy Eucharist can be reserved in the principal oratory of a religious community, pious house, or ecclesiastical college;

b) If, besides the principal oratory, a religious or pious house has an annexed church, which the community does not use for fulfilling its ordinary exercises of piety, that church can also enjoy its own right, if it has any, for example because it is annexed to a house of exempt religious, of reserving the Most Holy Eucharist. For individual religious families, common law, any contrary privilege having been suppressed, has ratified nothing more;

c) But if several distinct families occupy the same material building, to each an oratory with custody of the Most Holy Eucharist can belong, whether from privilege or from the license of the bishop. Thus, without doubt, the community of a seminary and the community of Sisters who perform their work in the seminary are distinct and separate families. On the contrary, novices, because of their separation from the professed, are not for that reason judged to pertain to a formally distinct house ¹. It would have to be said otherwise if they inhabited distinct buildings, although contiguous, even if there was one Superior of each house, like a pastor who is placed over two parishes. But in a college the boarders quite easily constitute a community formally diverse from the religious one, as if the religious are partly assigned to other ministries. Wherefore in the oratory in which the boarders are accustomed to assemble for performing their exercises of piety, the Most Holy Eucharist seems able to be reserved, whether by privilege of the religion or by license of the local Ordinary, the right of preserving the same in the oratory of the religious remaining unharmed. Moreover temporary indults for reserving the Most Holy Eucharist in a second oratory, whether from the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments or from the Sacred Congregation of Religious, according to the quality of the petitioners, are conceded without great difficulty (cf. Per., IX, p. 154).

¹ Yet in Monitore ecclesiastico, 1918, p. 240, note, a more benign response was given.

— Access of the Faithful. "Churches in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved, especially parochial ones, should be open to the faithful daily, for at least some hours" (c. 1266).

This warning is most opportune, whether you consider its argument, since a church is destined for the faithful and custody of the Most Holy Eucharist is permitted for the convenience of adorers, or the habits of sacristans, who with too much haste are accustomed to close many churches. How much better it is, with inner gates arranged near the door, to permit free access to the church throughout the whole day to devout persons, without necessity of special vigilance.

— In One Altar. "The Most Holy Eucharist cannot be kept continuously or habitually except on one altar only of the same church" (c. 1268, §1).

Care must also be taken that the noblest place, and therefore regularly the main altar, be reserved for the Most Holy Sacrament. An exception is permitted, indeed counseled, in cathedral, collegiate, and conventual churches, where choral functions would be impeded by the cult of the Most Holy Eucharist; but even there the rectors of churches must take care that the altar on which the Most Holy Sacrament is reserved be adorned before all others, "so that by its very furnishing it may move the piety and devotion of the faithful more" (c. 1268).

— Concerning the Tabernacle. "The Most Holy Eucharist must be reserved in an immovable tabernacle, placed in the middle part of the altar."

"The tabernacle should be skillfully constructed, solidly closed on every side, decently adorned according to the norm of the liturgical laws, and empty of every other thing" (c. 1269, §§1 and 2).

Therefore the tabernacle in itself cannot be at the side in a wall, nor in a little tower, even a most elegant one, near the altar, yet with the right of immemorial custom preserved. Nor is a portable or movable tabernacle admitted in itself. It must be so empty that not even the holy oils can be reserved in the tabernacle, lest any confusion of cult be feared. But the liturgical laws wish that inwardly it be clothed with a silk cloth, unless however it is gilded, and that it be blessed (Sacred Congregation of Rites, June 20, 1899 ad IV, Decr. auth., n. 4035). Besides, it must be covered with a canopy of either white color or a color suited to the office, the black color excluded, for which violet is used. Nor is the law dispensed because the tabernacle is made of silver, gold, or another precious material (Sacred Congregation of Rites, August 7, 1880, Decr. auth., n. 3520). Yet sometimes the very form of the tabernacle, and examples had in the City itself, for example in the Vatican Basilica, do not permit use of a canopy. At least then, if there is supply, let the canopy be supplied by a large little cloth hanging from above, a baldachin, by which the altar is protected: this, writes Palmieri, t. 4, n. 906, can hold the place of a canopy. Above the tabernacle, besides the image of Christ crucified, nothing, not even relics of the holy cross, can be placed as upon a base.

— Exceptions to the General Law. 1. The Ordinary, by way of an act and from a just cause, can concede license of reserving the Most Holy in a church or public oratory where by common law it cannot be reserved.

Yet very useful would be a broader general faculty, not circumscribed by public oratory, given to the Ordinary, so that, for example, during the days of spiritual exercises, he could permit custody of the Most Holy Eucharist in the house where they are being given. But generally this will be a pious house, in which habitual reservation also can be had from the license of the local Ordinary.

2. Nocturnal reservation, because of a grave cause approved by the local Ordinary, in a safer and decent place, upon a corporal, with a lamp lit, is not reproved (c. 1269, §3).

3. The law of the unity of the altar is not violated by the fact that on certain days, for example feast days, for a few hours the Most Holy Eucharist is also reserved at another altar, so that Holy Communion can be distributed more conveniently.

— The Manner of Reserving. 1. Any little vessel containing the Most Holy Eucharist is to be placed upon a blessed corporal or pall ¹. 2. The pyx must be well closed with its own lid and covered with a white veil. And it is to be purified whenever the sacred species are renewed; nor are recent species to be mixed with older ones. 3. The little lunette is to be made in such a way that it can easily be purified, and so that the gilded circle itself, not however the glass plates, touches the sacred species (Sacred Congregation of Rites, December 4, 1871, but it is lacking in Decr. auth.). 4. Before the tabernacle "at least one lamp should shine continuously day and night, to be fed with olive oil or beeswax; but where olive oil cannot be had, it is permitted to the prudence of the local Ordinary that it be changed for other oils, as far as can be done, vegetable oils" (c. 1271).

To neglect that light for 24 hours, or for some whole nights, is judged mortal.

Not once only has the Sacred Congregation of Rites forbidden illumination from "gas" or "electricity" above the altar or within the tabernacle; it prohibited stearine candles themselves (bougies), but wished that candles "be all of wax, as many as are used above the table of the altar or in any way overhanging it" (Sacred Congregation of Rites, general decree, April 3, 1821, Decr. auth., n. 2613). Yet during the recent war, the Supreme Pontiff permitted the very use of electric light for the lamp and Mass to the judgment of bishops. And the use of electric light around altars is spreading in the City itself. Wherefore attention will have to be paid to recent responses, if any new ones are made.

5. "The key of the tabernacle... must be guarded most diligently, the conscience of the priest who has care of the church or oratory being gravely burdened" (c. 1269, §4).

Therefore the Code no longer prescribes what the Sacred Congregation of Rites attempted to urge more strictly, that the key be kept by the priest himself, but the most diligent custody of it is committed to his care.

¹ Yet in administering Holy Communion, the pall cannot be placed upon the altar in place of the corporal (Sacred Congregation of Rites, February 17, 1847).

— Concerning Exposition of the Most Holy Eucharist. Exposition is distinguished as private, which is done with the pyx: and this can be done for any cause, without the license of the Ordinary; and public, or with the monstrance. This "can be done on the feast day of Corpus Christi and within the octave in all churches during the solemnities of Masses and at Vespers; but at other times only from a just and grave cause, especially a public one, and with the license of the local Ordinary, even if the church belongs to an exempt religion" (c. 1274, §1).

And at the same time we are warned in §2 that the minister of exposition or reposition is a priest or deacon; but of Benediction, only a priest; yet in the case in which, furnished with due license of the Ordinary or pastor, a deacon has carried Viaticum to a sick person, Benediction with the pyx can be imparted by the deacon himself.

The rubric forbids that the pyx which is exposed be drawn outside the tabernacle. Therefore in churches where the sacred pyx is proposed on a certain throne, we shall call the exposition private and at the same time irregular.

The Sacred Congregation of Rites, March 14, 1861 (Decr. auth., n. 3104), denied that the custom of exposing the Most Holy Sacrament without the license of the bishop could be preserved. Yet tacit consent suffices, such as can support accustomed expositions.

And Wernz, III, 553, note 235, thinks it probable that exposition for a regular community alone can be done from the license of its own exempt Prelate.

Observe also that public exposition can be permitted by the local Ordinary even for a non-public cause. But a public cause in general is spiritual utility, greater devotion of the people, for example, lest they spend the whole day or a great part of a feast day in profane things; but in particular, the solemnity of a feast, especially the feast of the Most Holy Body of Christ; difficult causes of peace and of public necessity or utility.

Both in public and in private exposition, according to the usage of places, at least six wax candles must burn on the altar. In the Clementine Instruction at least 20 are required.

During public exposition, there can be on the altar no relics or images of saints, except of adoring angels; but the cross, according to the custom of places, can remain or be removed. Nor can statues or images of saints be placed before the altar of exposition.

— Concerning Mass with Exposition. Except on the feast day of Corpus Christi and within the octave, at the altar where the Most Holy Sacrament is exposed no Mass in itself can be said, without necessity or grave cause or special indult. Sacred Congregation of Rites, April 17, 1919, A. A. S., XI (1919), p. 246, by which the earlier decrees are confirmed. Yet Gardellini in Instr. Clem., §12, n. 6, and the Sacred Congregation of Rites itself, May 22, 1883, apud N. R. Th., XV, 138, warn that contrary custom should not be removed if it is immemorial, or if the faithful would be affected with grief because of its suppression.

— "The supplication of the Forty Hours is to be held yearly in all parochial churches and others in which the Most Holy Sacrament is habitually reserved, on days established with the consent of the local Ordinary, with as great a solemnity as can be done"; in places where grave inconvenience and perhaps the very reverence owed to so great a sacrament stand in the way, "let the local Ordinary take care that at least for some continuous hours, on fixed days, the Most Holy Sacrament be exposed by a more solemn rite" (c. 1275).

Thus in Belgium the so-called "perpetual adoration" takes the place of the exercise of the Forty Hours.

— It is not lawful, for the sake of veneration only, to carry the Most Holy Eucharist to the sick who cannot receive it. Cf. Lugo, Resp. mor., 1, 11, 3; and Roman Ritual, De commun. infirmorum, n. 5. This is understood of carrying from the church through the streets. Cf. Ballerini-Palmieri, IV, 895. But it seems that the pious desire of a sick person can be satisfied who, prohibited from Communion, lying ill in a house in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved, desires at least to adore Christ in the Sacrament.

— Finally, piety toward the Most Holy Eucharist, frequent assistance at Mass, and visitation of the Most Holy Sacrament are greatly commended by c. 1273.

— 1. Custody is prescribed, the general conditions being observed of a priest having care and of at least weekly Mass, in a cathedral church, or the principal church of a quasi-diocese, in a parish or quasi-parish, in a church annexed to a house of exempt religious, whether of men or of women.

It is permitted, by license of the local Ordinary, in a collegiate church and in an oratory, whether public or semi-public, both of a pious or religious house and of an ecclesiastical college which is governed by clerics or religious.

The Ordinary himself can concede custody by way of an act in a church or public oratory.

Elsewhere an apostolic indult is needed, which is also required so that in a religious or pious house it be reserved not only in a church, if it has the right, and in a distinct principal oratory, but also in another oratory, unless several distinct families in the same house have their own proper oratory. But it is lawful for no one to retain the Eucharist with himself or to carry it with himself on a journey. Churches, especially parochial ones, in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved should be open daily to the faithful for some hours.

2. The Eucharist can be reserved habitually in only one altar of the same church, and in an immovable tabernacle skillfully made and empty of every other thing. Yet nocturnal reservation, because of a grave cause approved by the Ordinary, in a safer and decent place, upon a corporal, with a light lit, is not prohibited.

3. The manner prescribed by the rubrics is to be observed: under every vessel containing the Eucharist a blessed corporal or pall must be placed; a lamp must shine continuously before the altar, to be fed with olive oil or beeswax, or at least with oils, especially vegetable ones, which the local Ordinary has permitted.

The key of the tabernacle is to be guarded carefully.

4. Private exposition of the Most Holy, or with the pyx, can be done for any cause, with the license of the rector; public exposition, or with the monstrance, besides the feast of Corpus Christi and within its octave, requires the license of the local Ordinary, to be given from a grave cause, especially a public one.

With the same days excepted, without necessity, grave cause, or indult, in itself it is not lawful to celebrate Mass at the altar of exposition or to distribute Holy Communion from it.

Everywhere exposition of the Forty Hours or a similar kind of public adoration is to be procured.

The minister of exposition is also a deacon; of Benediction, only a priest. Yet a deacon who has carried Communion to a sick person can impart ritual Benediction with the pyx.

All manner of piety toward the Most Holy Eucharist is to be commended, for example by frequent assistance at Mass and visitation of the Most Holy Sacrament.

Let the most holy and most divine Sacrament be praised forever.

Among the faculties of Form I, which are customarily communicated to our priests by the Bishops, the 24th (p. LXXII.) reads: "Of carrying the Most Holy Sacrament secretly to the sick without light, and of retaining it without the same for the same sick, in a decent place nevertheless, if there is danger of sacrilege from heretics or infidels."

Lest in the use of this faculty abuses creep in or even persevere, the things which follow are to be well noted by priests.

1302. - 1° The faculty is given for the case in which "there is danger of sacrilege from heretics or infidels." This danger must be said to be present scarcely not everywhere among us. Nevertheless in this region also there are certain wholly Catholic places in the country, in which, when the sick person is not far distant from the churches, that danger is in no way to be feared; in which case the Eucharist will have to be carried in the manner prescribed by the Church. The Encyclical Letter of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, given on 25 Feb. 1859 to our Bishops, not obscurely suggests this; in it, among other things, these things are read: "The Sacred Congregation further willed that the individual Prelates be urged, as by the tenor of the present letters they are urged, to keep the common discipline of the Church in this matter, as far as circumstances of time and places, and also the account of introduced customs, allow."²

2° "While they carry the Most Holy, let them avoid vain and useless conversations; rather let them give themselves to pious contemplation or prayers."³ In agreement with this admonition of the Plenary Council, pastors will repeatedly teach the people what is to be prepared in the house of the sick person, and that, while they are companions to the priest carrying the Eucharist to the sick person, they abstain from every useless conversation. "But on a journey," says Kenrick,⁴ "which requires several days" (which nevertheless today is more rarely necessary than formerly), "and where some persons met on the way occur, one cannot abstain from conversation; although speech is to be had sparingly and cautiously and with the utility of the hearers. For he sins gravely who, carrying so great a Sacrament, mingles idle conversations."

3° "The carrying of the Most Holy Sacrament is restricted to urgent causes only, and to the actual exercise of the priestly ministry."¹ But what is an urgent cause will have to be judged from the circumstances of place, time, and others.² Meanwhile it is certain that it is not lawful for a priest to carry the Most Holy Sacrament with himself from morning until evening for the sole cause that perhaps he could come upon some sick person.³

4° "A strict obligation is imposed on priests always in these cases of carrying the Holy Host upon the breast."⁴ "Never, unless in extreme necessity, should they touch either the Host itself or the sacred vessel in which it is preserved, unless they are vested at least in a stole. When they draw the Most Holy from the tabernacle in the church, let them always be vested in surplice and stole. Ministering the Sacred Eucharist to the sick, let them most diligently observe the prescriptions of the Roman Ritual, insofar as the circumstances of things permit."⁵

5° What was said above n. 1299. q. 4° and 7° concerning a priest carrying the Eucharist while riding or running will be lawful for Missionaries carrying it privately and secretly from a lighter cause.⁶

1303. - In rural churches, near which no priest resides, it is not lawful to reserve the Holy Eucharist, and it is to be consumed by the priest before he departs. Resolve the same concerning a single priest residing near a church, but departing beyond eight days (after which namely the sacred species are to be renewed), or not residing so near it that in case of fire he could remove the Most Holy Sacrament from it in time, or prevent other irreverences.⁷

393. Reservation and exposition of the sacrament. - Let the following canons be noted:

1° Consecrated particles, in that number which can suffice for the communion of the sick and of other faithful, are to be preserved perpetually in a pyx of solid and decent material, and this clean and well closed with its cover, covered with a white silk veil and, insofar as the matter allows, ornamented (can. 1270 and Rit., tit. 4, c. 1, n. 5). The pyx or ciborium ought not to be consecrated but blessed; this also holds of the monstrance or at least of the lunula of exposition.

The consecrated hosts, whether for the communion of the faithful or for the exposition of the most holy Sacrament, should be fresh and frequently renewed, the older ones having been duly consumed, so that there is no danger of corruption, with the instructions observed which the Ordinary of the place has given concerning this matter (can. 1272). The hosts are better renewed every eight days or at least every fifteen days; only every month would not be licit unless the circumstances indicated that there was no danger of corruption. New consecrated hosts are never to be mixed with the old, but the old must first be distributed or received by the priest in Mass (cf. Rit., tit. 4, c. 1, n. 7).

2° The most holy Eucharist must be reserved in an immovable tabernacle placed upon an altar in the middle (can. 1269, § 1); it cannot be guarded continuously or habitually except at one altar only of the same church (can. 1268, § 1). It cannot be guarded except in a church or in an oratory, but not among nuns within the choir or enclosures of the monastery (can. 1265 and 1267). The tabernacle should be skillfully constructed, solidly closed on all sides, decently ornamented according to the norm of the liturgical laws, empty of every other thing, and guarded so carefully that the danger of any sacrilegious profanation is prevented (can. 1269, § 2). Therefore in it there should not be vessels of the sacred oils nor relics. Nor is it lawful to place before or above it images of saints, or relics, even of the holy cross (S. C. R., March 12, 1836). Nevertheless the holy cross is licitly placed upon it according to custom for celebrating Mass.

The Sacrament is always to be placed upon a corporal or in a pall. Before the tabernacle in which it is reserved, at least one lamp should shine day and night, to be fed by olive oil, or beeswax; but where olive oil cannot be had, it is permitted to the prudence of the Ordinary of the place that it be exchanged for other oils, as far as possible vegetable ones (can. 1271). This is prescribed under grave obligation, so that it is a grave sin to neglect it for a notable time, at least if it is done for one day or for several nights. Cf. Rit., tit. 4, c. 1, n. 5-6.

But a) when a grave cause approved by the Ordinary of the place suggests it, it is not forbidden that the most holy Eucharist be reserved during nighttime outside the altar, yet upon a corporal, in a safer and decent place, with the prescription of the lighted lamp nevertheless observed (can. 1269, § 3).

b) Nevertheless the key of the tabernacle in which the sacrament is reserved must be guarded most diligently, the conscience of the priest who has care of the church or oratory being gravely burdened (ibid. § 4); nevertheless it does not always seem to be required that it be guarded immediately by the priest himself, and by no intermediary. Nonetheless, by general rule, it is "strictly prescribed to him that the key of the tabernacle never be left upon the altar table or in the lock of the little door, not even at the time when in the morning the divine offices at the altar of the Sacrament and the distribution of holy Communion are performed, especially if this altar is not in view. But when these have been completed, let the key either be kept at home by the rector of the church or be carried continually by him, the danger of loss being removed, or let it be placed in the sacristy, and indeed in a safe and secret place, to be closed by another key, which other key the rector is to guard as above" (Instr. S. C. Sacr., May 26, 1938).

3° In churches or oratories to which it has been granted to reserve the most holy Eucharist, private exposition, or exposition with the pyx, can take place from any just cause without the license of the Ordinary; but public exposition, or exposition with the monstrance, on the feast day of Corpus Christi and within the octave can take place in all churches during the solemnities of Masses and at Vespers; but at other times only from a just and grave cause, especially public, and with the license of the Ordinary of the place, although the church belongs to an exempt religious institute (can. 1274, § 1).

In private exposition the ciborium covered with its veil is to be left in the open tabernacle; public exposition is made with the monstrance on a throne; in certain places by custom on less solemn days it is made in the ciborium. In every exposition at least six wax candles are to be lit.

Before the most holy Sacrament veiled or exposed in the pyx, within or outside the tabernacle, it is not licit to celebrate either a sung or a read Mass; for Mass before the most holy Sacrament solemnly exposed, the license of the Ordinary is required (S. C. R., July 27, 1927).

I say. §1. The Most Holy Eucharist, provided there is someone who has care of it and a priest regularly celebrates Mass at least once a week in the sacred place:

1st. Must be kept in a cathedral church, in the principal church of an Abbey or Prelature nullius, of an Apostolic Vicariate and Prefecture, in any parochial or quasi-parochial church, and in a church annexed to the house of exempt religious, whether of men or of women;

2nd. Can be kept, with the permission of the Ordinary of the place, in a collegiate church and in the principal oratory, whether public or semi-public, both of a pious or religious house and of an ecclesiastical college which is governed by secular clerics or by religious.

§2. In order that it can be kept in other churches or oratories, an apostolic indult is necessary; the local Ordinary can grant this permission only to a church or public oratory, from a just cause and by way of act.

§3. It is lawful for no one to retain the Most Holy Eucharist with himself or to carry it with himself on a journey (Can. 1265).

§1. The Most Holy Eucharist must be preserved in an immovable tabernacle placed in the middle part of the altar.

§2. Let the tabernacle be skillfully constructed, solidly closed on every side, decently adorned according to the norm of liturgical laws, empty of every other thing, and so sedulously guarded that the danger of any sacrilegious profanation may be warded off.

§3. With some grave cause advising it, approved by the Ordinary of the place, it is not forbidden for the Most Holy Eucharist to be reserved at night-time outside the altar, yet upon a corporal, in a safer and decent place, with the prescription of can. 1271 being observed.

§4. The key of the tabernacle in which the Most Holy Sacrament is reserved must be guarded most diligently, with the conscience of the priest who has care of the church or oratory being gravely burdened (Can. 1269).¹

¹ Cf. Addenda, p. 1141, n. 104.

Question 1. Must the ciborium be silver and consecrated?

Resp. By common law indeed it is not established that it must be silver; nevertheless it would seem to be equated with the chalice and paten, which must be of gold or silver or at least of tin, if the church is very poor. But it cannot be of bronze, nor of wood or glass, etc. Besides, if sacred vessels are not of gold, they must always be gilded within. But as regards consecration, this certainly is not required for the ciborium; rather, blessing suffices, for in the Roman Ritual the blessing of the pyx is noted among those things which do not need an anointing of chrism. - Cf. St. Alphonsus, nn. 370 and 383.

Question 2. Does one sin gravely who neglects to keep a light before the Most Holy Sacrament?

Resp. Affirmatively, if the time is notable.

Before the tabernacle in which the Most Holy Sacrament is reserved, at least one lamp is to shine continually day and night (Can. 1271).

The law itself is indeed grave, and violated in a notable space of time it induces liability of grave fault; but an entire day is reputed by many authors to be a notable time.

Question 3. Is olive oil required for nourishing the lamp of the church?

Resp. The lamp, according to canon 1271, is to be nourished with olive oil or beeswax; but where olive oil cannot be had, it is permitted to the prudence of the local Ordinary that it be changed to other oils, vegetable ones as far as can be done.

"As regards electric light, the summary of the Decrees is this: Electric light is forbidden, not only together with candles of wax upon altars (4097), but also in place of candles or lamps which are prescribed before the Most Holy Sacrament or the Relics of the Saints. For other places of the church and other cases, electric illumination is permitted according to the prudent judgment of the Ordinary, provided that in all things the gravity which the sanctity of the place and the dignity of the Sacred Liturgy demand is preserved. (3859, 4206, and 4210 ad 1.) Nor is it lawful, at the time of private or public exposition, to illuminate the interior part of the ciborium with electric lamps placed in that interior part itself, so that the Most Holy Eucharist may be better seen by the faithful." - S. C. R. 24 Jun. 1914.

Note here that this lamp, according to most authors, with whom the practice of many churches accords, must not be placed in a lateral part, but in the middle before the altar at which the Eucharist is reserved. This same thing seems to be required by the Rubric of the Roman Ritual and by some decrees of the S. R. C., without, however, their being able by force of the words to induce absolute certainty in this matter. - Cf. Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 267. - Gardellini, n. 3525. - Acta S. Sedis, vol. I, p. 38. - De Herdt, vol. 3, n. 182.

Question 4. What is to be said about the obligation of using the conopaeum?

Resp. It is certain 1st. that it is prescribed by the Roman Ritual, and that this prescription is to be observed; for when the doubt was proposed: "Whether the Tabernacle must be covered with a conopaeum, as the Ritual bears," the S. R. C. of 21 July 1855 responded: "Affirmatively." - It is certain 2nd. that a contrary custom already existing in the Diocese of Santiago of Chile was reproved by the same S. R. C. on 28 Apr. 1866, which responded similarly on 1 Jul. 1904. - Nevertheless, they who among us do not use the conopaeum do not seem to be condemned of sin, so long as the Bishops are silent and the contrary practice is so universal. - Note, however, that the conopaeum can be woven of silk, wool, cotton, or hemp, and although it is more praiseworthy that its color be varied for the various offices and feasts, nevertheless the white color can always be retained. Cf. De Herdt, vol. 3, n. 180. - O'Kane, n. 160. - Lehmkuhl, n. 132, III, note 7.

Question 5. What must be done with fragments of hosts, if any are found?

Resp. 1st. If a priest finds fragments of his present sacrifice, he must consume them, even after the ablutions, whether they are small or large, because they belong to the same sacrifice. But this must be observed not only immediately after Mass, but also if the priest is in the sacristy, still, however, clothed in the sacred vestments. But if the priest has already put off the sacred vestments, he must place the fragments back in the tabernacle, if one is present, or reserve them for another priest who will celebrate the same morning. If neither can be done, let him consume them himself. But if the remains were consecrated in another Mass, they are not to be consumed after the ablutions, but must be placed back in a decent place. The reason is that the Rubric of the Missal permits a priest who is not fasting to consume only those remains which belong to the same sacrifice. Yet if this cannot be done and a grave danger of irreverence is present, then let the priest consume them. Cf. St. Alphonsus, n. 251. - Benedict XIV, de Sacrif. Missae. Rubric of the Missal, tit. 7, n. 2.

Resp. 2nd. But if a layman finds fragments, let him admonish a priest as soon as possible if any is nearby, or call him if he can be found. But the priest, reverently collecting the fragment, is to place it back in the ciborium or in a decent and safe place, if the tabernacle is lacking, so that it can be consumed in the next Mass. But if a priest cannot be had, let the fragment be collected reverently by the layman himself in clean paper or a clean linen cloth, by means of a little needle, and be placed within a corporal or in a decent vessel until the priest comes.

Question 6. What must be done if a host certainly or doubtfully consecrated is found on the altar or elsewhere?

Resp. If the host is believed to be certainly consecrated and otherwise seems clean and recently consecrated, it is to be placed back with the others in the ciborium. It can also be consumed by the celebrant before the ablutions. But if it is not clean, or if it has been drawn from a place not clean, or is not recently consecrated, it is not to be mixed with the others; but the celebrant will be able to consume it before the ablution. But if he experiences too great repugnance, let him place the host apart in the tabernacle in a clean vessel until it is corrupted, and, once corrupted, let it be cast into the sacrarium. But if it is doubtfully consecrated, it is to be consumed by the priest in Mass after the ablution and before the purification; but if it provokes too great nausea for him, it is to be placed back in the tabernacle, apart, until it has been corrupted, as has just been said. - Cf. the Rubric of the Missal, tit. 7, de defectibus.

Question 7. What must be done if a sick person has rejected the sacred species?

Resp. If they appear, they must be diligently collected in a clean vessel, carried to the church, and preserved in a safe and well-closed place until they are altogether corrupted, so that they can be thrown into the sacrarium without irreverence. But if they cannot be discerned, as being altogether mixed with filth, the mouth of the sick person must indeed be wiped; but whatever has been rejected is to be collected with tow; then, after the tow has been burned, the ashes are to be thrown into the sacrarium. - Cf. Reuter, n. 169. - Gousset, n. 232.

Question 8. Whether and how often must the consecrated particles be renewed?

Resp. Let consecrated Hosts ... both be fresh and be renewed frequently, so that there may be no danger of corruption, with the instructions of the Ordinary being observed. Cf. Can. 1272. This renewal is to be done at least once a week according to the Ceremonial of Bishops. "This rule," say the Baltimore Fathers, "which the Sacred Congregation of Rites has not only confirmed more often, but truly has declared to oblige strictly and rigorously, we seriously inculcate to all priests as to be observed faithfully." Moreover, they add after the Roman Ritual: "Where a priest has consecrated new hosts, let him distribute or consume the old ones first, and by no means keep them in the tabernacle. Let him take care besides that the particles to be consecrated are fresh." - Cf. Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 268. - O'Kane, nn. 620 and 621.¹

¹ Cf. Addenda, p. 1088, n. 11.

Question 9. How must the ciborium be purified in renewing the particles?

Resp. The renewal of the ciborium is to be done in the Mass itself, in the following manner: the celebrant, after consuming the Most Precious Blood, will consume the old hosts, even if they are many; but he can consume 20 or 30 hosts thus. Rarely, however, will it happen that there are more, because there should not be consecrated except as much as seems sufficient. But if at some time a much greater quantity of hosts would have to be consumed, the priest can consume them separately in several Masses, or even several priests celebrating successively can consume them. But the smaller particles found in the ciborium he will cast into the chalice, and, with wine poured over them, will consume them, and he will deposit the new hosts in a wholly empty ciborium. He can also pour wine into the ciborium in order to collect the smallest particles. The wine, however, must not be drunk from the ciborium, but poured back into the chalice. Cf. Lacroix, nn. 501 and following. - O'Kane, n. 622.

If the priest through inadvertence had first consumed the ablution, he could still purify the ciborium and consume the remains, because for the consumption it is morally reputed one. Cf. Lacroix, n. 502. - Elbel, n. 77. - Tamburini, de Communione, chap. 2, n. 34.

On account of the danger of contagion which in hospitals of lepers comes from consuming the purification of the sacred pyx, the S. C. R. on 19 Feb. 1909 granted a special manner for these places. "Let there be prepared upon the altar a small vessel with water and tow or cotton, into which small vessel the purification of the pyx, to be performed in the usual manner, is to be put, and that, as soon as it can be done, is to be cast into the sacrarium." Thus the Sacred Congregation responded to the Superior General of the C. SS. Redemptoris.