The Seven Monstrances
In Catholic Eucharistic devotion, a consecrated host is sometimes displayed, either during a liturgical service of benediction, or in a special chapel where people gather for silent prayer and adoration to Christ present in the host. In these settings, the host is exposed in a monstrance (a word etymologically related to “demonstrate”), a vessel considered to be sacred since it contains the veritable Body of Christ, present in the host. Now, I know this is the kind of thing that makes not only most Protestants but even some liberal Catholics grind their teeth — “wafer worship” is how one Episcopal priest described Eucharistic adoration to me — but I think to dismiss veneration of the consecrated host as mere idolatry is to make the same mistake as the iconoclasts did in the eighth century. Sacramental or mystical spirituality is grounded in the conviction and belief that the entire universe is shot through with the grandeur and presence of God. Thus, to venerate Christ present in the Eucharistic host is simply to acknowledge the particularity of the Divine presence which we know to be truly universally present, for “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).
