The following essay is from the September and November 1939 issues of the Hungarian Catholic periodical “Örökimádás” (“Eternal Adoration”) and was written by Alajos Nagelreiter. “Örökimádás” ran from 1900 until 1944, and the issues can be downloaded in PDF format from the page of the Péter Pázmány Electronic Library.
The Preservation of the Blessed Sacrament
The Most Holy Eucharist, the most precious treasure of our holy Church, has always been preserved with devout reverence and loving care since the earliest times, from the very beginning of the Church. Unceasing care and vigilance have ensured that the Blessed Sacrament is always present and never ran out. This is evidenced by the administration of the Eucharist to the sick and the dying, which, apart from the celebration of the Holy Mass, could take place at any hour of the day or night, at any moment. The Eucharist was administered to the dying as Viaticum . The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, held in 325, already referred to the practice of administering the Blessed Sacrament to the dying as Viaticum as an ancient canonical law. Canon 13 of that council stipulates: “For those who are nearing the end of their lives, the ancient and established law must still be observed; so that if anyone is dying, they must not be deprived in the least of the final and most necessary viaticum…” The Council of Trent, citing the Council of Nicaea, also urges that the Eucharist be brought to the sick, and that, for this purpose, the Eucharist be diligently preserved in churches.
Regarding the practice of bringing the Blessed Sacrament to the dying even at night, which required keeping consecrated particles on hand, Dionysius of Alexandria (+265) recounts an incident in the work of the historian Eusebius about an elderly man who, nearing death, sent a boy, his grandson, to the priest at night. “The boy ran to the priest, it was already night – but the priest was ill… He gave the boy a small portion of the Eucharist with the instruction to dip it in water and give it to the old man. The boy returned with the morsel, dipped it in water, and placed it in the old man’s mouth. The old man took the morsel in small bites and immediately gave up his spirit.”
The preservation of the Eucharist is attested to by the practice mentioned by Tertullian († 245), Saint Cyprian († 254), St. Basil († 379), St. Jerome († 420), and other Church Fathers—namely, that during times of persecution, it was permitted to give the Eucharist to the faithful for Holy Communion so that they could take it home, because in those difficult times the sacred mysteries (e.g., the Sacrifice of the Mass) could only be celebrated more rarely, and the early Christians, amid the bloody dangers that constantly threatened them, were in greatest need of the bread of strength and consolation so that they might not be deprived of this wondrous bread. The early Christians kept the Blessed Sacrament in their homes not only for Holy Communion, but also so that they could pray before it and prostrate themselves before it in their afflictions and hardships. This is what Gorgonia, the sister of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus († 392), did when she was suffering from an illness that no human could cure; she was then immediately healed. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus († 392) himself recounts this miraculous event in one of his sermons.
The hermits, who rarely went to church, both in the East and in the West, also took the Blessed Sacrament with them to their hermitages, as recorded by St. Basil and St. Cyril of Jerusalem († 386). According to Saint Ambrose († 397), whenever the early Christians set out on a long journey, whether by land or by sea, they took the Blessed Sacrament with them, because they believed that there was no better way to ensure their safety and protection. Saint Justin († 167) mentions that deacons carried the Blessed Sacrament to those who were prevented from participating in the in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Saint Irenaeus († 202) writes that the bishops sent this precious treasure to one another as a bond of charity, thereby signifying their mutual unity and love. St. Gregory the Great († 584), along with several other ecclesiastical writers, writes that the Blessed Sacrament was even placed in the tomb and buried together with the deceased. Amphilochius of Cappadocia († 404) also mentions this same custom, which, however, was condemned by the Third Council of Carthage (in 318) and other councils.
From the earliest times, the Greeks used the Liturgia praesanctificatorum during the 40 days of Lent, except on Saturdays and Sundays, when they did receive Holy Communion, but not with hosts consecrated that day, but with those set aside the previous Sunday. The Latin Church also follows the same procedure on Good Friday. Similarly, a particle from the previous Mass was brought before the pope or bishop; when he celebrated Mass, it was placed on the altar, placed into the chalice before Holy Communion, and united with the Most Holy Blood, the blood of the God-man, to thereby signify the unity of the present sacrifice with the previous one.
To sum all this up, the thesis is as clear as day: Indeed, for 20 centuries, the Church has unceasingly preserved and continues to preserve the Eucharist with the utmost care and love, for the glory of God and the good of the faithful.
The place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept
According to historical evidence, the early Christians may have kept and preserved the most sacred Blessed Sacrament in their homes and in the caves of the hermits. Of course, this was with the gracious permission of the Church authorities. What holy reverence, profound devotion, adoration, and sacred joy reigned in the hearts of the faithful and the hermits as they kept, preserved, and adored the Blessed Sacrament in their homes and caves, and received Holy Communion there. Something similar happens even today in the homes of the faithful when there is a sick person in the family to whom the priest brings the Blessed Sacrament. On a table or altar covered with a white cloth, between two burning candles, stands the crucifix, and before it lies the Blessed Sacrament placed on a corporal. The sickroom has been transformed into a home chapel. Family members kneel with holy reverence around the table or altar and, together with the priest and the sick person, adore the Blessed Sacrament with deep faith, holy trust, and love. The sick person eagerly awaits the sublime, holy moment of union with Jesus present under the appearance of bread…
It is historically certain that the early Christians were permitted to keep the Blessed Sacrament in their homes. However, scholars debate whether the Blessed Sacrament was also kept in churches during the first three centuries of Christianity. In any case, Tertullian († 245) spoke in favor of keeping it in churches when he wrote: “The house of our Dove is simple, situated on high ground, open, in open spaces, and facing east. The image of the Holy Spirit loves the sunrise, which is a symbol of Christ.” Since it was the Holy Spirit who, through the miracle of His divine omnipotence, created the most holy humanity of Jesus in the Virgin Mary, and since, according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, it is this same Holy Spirit who consecrates, transforms the bread in the Sacrifice of the Mass, and does so precisely when the priest pronounces the words of consecration ordained by Christ—therefore, it was a custom very dear to the early Christian Church, and a cherished idea, to associate the God the Holy Spirit most intimately with the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the Most Holy Eucharist. Precisely for this reason, as a precious, holy vessel destined to contain the Holy Sacrament, they chose the symbol under which the Holy Spirit appeared at Christ’s baptism in the waters of the Jordan—namely, the dove. Thus, by “the house of the dove,” Tertullian meant the house of the Holy Sacrament, that is, the church.
During the first three centuries, despite the persecutions of Christians, which, however, were not continuous but were interspersed with longer periods of calm and peace, places of prayer and churches were built and thus existed. In their highly authoritative writings, the Church Fathers and ecclesiastical authors of the early Christian era provide abundant and compelling testimony to the existence of places of worship, chapels, and churches.
Most likely, the Blessed Sacrament was first kept in Jerusalem, in the room where the Last Supper took place, where St. John the Apostle or another apostle celebrated Mass on several occasions and the Virgin Mary probably received Holy Communion every day. In Rome, wealthy and influential Christians who had converted from paganism set up large prayer halls in their private homes, where the early Christians gathered to listen to sermons and attend Mass together, to receive Holy Communion together, and where the Blessed Sacrament was certainly kept for the sick and for those who could not be present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There were certainly chapels in the catacombs where the Blessed Sacrament was kept; in their secret niches, the Blessed Sacrament was carefully hidden so that it could be easily taken at any hour of the day to the sick or to the martyrs condemned to torture and death for their holy faith. The Blessed Sacrament was usually carried home to the sick in their families or to the martyrs in prisons wrapped in a white linen cloth.
The Upper Room of the Last Supper, a room in private homes, caves used by hermits, a sacramental chapel in the catacombs, and later, houses of prayer, chapels, and churches — these were the consecrated places where the most precious treasure, the Blessed Sacrament, was kept with the deepest reverence and devout adoration. We should not be at all surprised that the devout, deeply religious early Christians kept the Blessed Sacrament in their private homes. In those early years, secular authorities did not grant the Church legal recognition. They did not allow the Church to build churches or hold public worship services. However, once the persecution of the Church ceased and peace was restored, the practice of keeping the Blessed Sacrament in private homes also came to an end. As early as 480, due to incidents of irreverence , a synod in Toledo excommunicated a believer who did not immediately receive the consecrated host offered to him by the priest right there on the spot: in the church.
Thus, the church has remained the special place for the keeping of the Blessed Sacrament. Canon law has established that, for the time being, only parish and cathedral churches have the right and the duty to preserve the Blessed Sacrament; secondly, the churches of religious orders of both sexes whose members take solemn vows and whose monasteries and convents were established by apostolic authority. The Blessed Sacrament may not be kept in other churches unless there is special papal permission or a time-honored custom… Let us give thanks to God that we still have our churches and that God is so close to us in the form of the Eucharist (a google: „under the appearance of bread”)!