This series does not undertake to explain the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; that is perhaps for another time, although the Catechism is an excellent place to begin your own research (para. 1373 is a good starting point). Our starting point will be in the reservation of the Eucharist.

It is known that the early hermits reserved the Eucharist in their places, especially in Palestine and Egypt. It is practice that is reported as early as the middle of the third century. The reason for the reservation was to enable the hermits to give themselves Holy Communion. Not only did they have the Eucharist in the places where they lived, but they carried it on their persons when they moved from one place to another. This practice was sanctioned by the custom of the fermentum where a particle of the Eucharistic bread was transported from the bishop of one diocese to the bishop of another diocese. We have evidence of this practice as far back as 120 AD. The receiving bishop would then consume the species at his next solemn Mass as a token of unity between the churches. It was called a fermentum because the Eucharist symbolized the leaven of unity which permeates and transforms Christians, so that they become one with Christ. This practice also seems to have extended to include bishops and their priests.

As monasticism changed from solitary to community life, the monks received something of the same privilege of carrying the Eucharist with them. They would have it on their persons when working in the fields or going on a voyage. The host was either placed in a small receptacle (chrismal) or in a little bag (perula) hung around the neck under their clothes. Irish and British manuscripts make frequent mention of the practice. It was not only to have the hosts ready for Communion but also to insure safety against robbers and protection against the hazards of travel. The life of St. Comgall (died 601) tells how on one occasion he was attacked while working in a field. On seeing the chrismal around his neck, the attackers did not dare touch him for fear of some retaliation since they surmised (as the narrator says) that Comgall was carrying his God.

As early as the Council of Nicea (325) we know that the Eucharist began to be reserved in the churches of monasteries and convents. Again, the immediate reason for this reservation was for the sick and the dying, and also for the ceremony of the fermentum. But naturally its sacred character was recognized and the place of reservation was set off from ordinary usage of the worshiping assembly.

From the beginning of community life, reserving the Blessed Sacrament became an integral part of the church structure of a monastery. A bewildering variety of names was used to identify the place of reservation. Pastoforium, diakonikon, secretarium, prothesis are the most common. The initial practice was that the Eucharist was kept in a special room, just off the sanctuary but separated from the church where Mass was offered.

The practice of reserving the Eucharist in religious houses was so universal that there is no evidence to the contrary even before the year 1000. In fact, numerous regulations are extant which provided for protection of the sacred elements, as the wording went, “from profanation by mice and impious men.” The species were to be kept under lock and key and sometimes in a receptacle raised high enough to be out of easy reach of profaning hands.

When did the practice of reservation change from a “special room” apart from the sanctuary to reservation within the sanctuary? That is not a simple question. There is a poem from 802 AD telling of a pyx containing the Eucharist reserved on the high altar of the abbey church at Lindisfarne in England. There are also sources that describe the Eucharist being kept within a monastic church close to the altar. But there are contemporaneous sources that indicate the practice of the “special room” was far more prevalent. But perhaps a change was underway.

It is interesting to note that one of the first unmistakable references to reserving the Blessed Sacrament is found in a Life of St. Basil (who died in 379). Basil is said to have divided the Eucharistic Bread into three parts when he celebrated Mass in the monastery. One part he consumed, the second part he gave to the monks, and the third he placed in a golden dove suspended over the altar. Was this the first proto-tabernacle?

Image credit: G. Corrigan, CANVA, CC-BY-NC