Tabernacle societies

The Tabernacle Societies were lay Eucharistic Adorative associations within Roman Catholic parishes, principally in the United States and Australia, forming part of the Archassociation of the Eucharist under the guidance of the Association of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

History

The Association of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and of work for poor churches was founded in Brussels by Anne de Meeûs, the eldest daughter of the Belgian Minister of Finance Count Frederic de Meeûs. The foundation of the sisterhood grew out of an initial call to restore the parish church at Ohain, Belgium. That church's fittings were totally worn out after fifty years of official neglect following the invasion of Belgium by the French Directory in 1792, followed by an unsympathetic government under Napoleon and King William II of the Netherlands. In 1843 Mlle de Meeus, then twenty years of age, at the request of the rector visited the sacristy of the church near their chateau and other churches. She conceived the idea of an association with the object of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by persons willing to undertake to make monthly an hour of adoration, and to give yearly an offering for the benefit of poor churches.

The original foundation was set up in 1844 in workshops belonging to the Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon. The sisterhood rapidly outgrew its location. The Association of Perpetual Adoration and Work for Poor Churches was organized in 1848 under the direction of Rev. Jean Baptiste Boone, S.J., and through the generosity of the foundress' childhood friend, the Baroness d'Hoogvorst (née Countess of Mercy-Argenteau), re-located to the Convent Van Maerlant on the Rue des Sols/Stuiversstraat. By 1851 the Association had the approval of the bishops of Belgium.

Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

A number of Association members formed themselves into a religious congregation, that of the Dames de l'Adoration perpétuelle (Sisters of Perpetual Adoration), Miss de Meeûs becoming the first mother superior. The constitutions were approved by Pius IX in March, 1872.

The ministry of the sisters includes religious instruction, preparation for first Communion, and retreats. Through their principal work, the Association, they strive to promote the Forty Hours Devotion, and grants of vestments to poor churches.

With a decline in vocations the sisters were unable to continue the perpetual adoration, and in 1969 renamed the institute the "Sisters of the Eucharist". In 1989, the nuns decided to sell the Convent Van Maerlant buildings, including the small chapel. As of mid-2007 the foundation was in the final stages of liquidation, there being a mere dozen remaining sisters of an average of around eighty years of age.

Association of Perpetual Adoration and work for Poor Churches

The society quickly spread and in 1853 was erected an archassociation with power to affiliate other similar groups. The mother-house of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration was transferred to Rome, which then became the centre of the association. The decree of Pope Leo XIII of February, 1879 states: “The archassociation...is subordinate to the institute as to its head, and must be subordinate to it in virtue of the constitutions approved by the Holy See."

Members pledged themselves to spend an hour each month in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and to pay yearly dues into a fund for the benefit of poor churches. The contributions were used to purchase materials for vestments which are made by women members of the society and donated to poor churches.

The eleventh Eucharistic Congress was held in Brussels in 1898 in the church in which the society was founded, and on that occasion a glowing tribute was paid to its work. In Belgium alone it had nearly 200,000 members.

Similar groups

Mention should be made of the association as it was maintained in convents of Religious of the Sacred Heart. The United States convents were founded by Rev. Mother Mary Aloysia Hardey, then assistant superior general of the Society, on the occasion of her visit in 1874, in connection with the Sodality of the Children of Mary, and it saw rapid growth in its work for poor churches. Paris is the centre of the Archconfraternity of Perpetual Adoration and work for Tabernacles, founded there in the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas in 1846 and with affiliations in the dioceses of France and Algiers. It was approved by Pius IX in 1856 and made a confraternity in 1858.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Tabernacle Societies — The Association of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and of work for poor churches was founded at Brussels in 1848 by Anne de Meeûs. By 1851 it had the approval of the bishops of Belgium. Within a few years a number of its members formed themselves into a religious congregation, that of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Mdlle de Meeûs becoming the first superior general. In 1853 the society became an archconfraternity for Belgium, but quickly spread to the nearby countries where it met similar needs and received similar privileges, and in 1863 Pius IX granted the mother-society at Brussels the right to affiliate confraternities throughout the world, except in the city of Rome. This last restriction was removed with the mother-house of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration was transferred to Rome, which then became the centre of the association. An archconfraternity with the same name and purpose already existing in Rome, but founded subsequent to that of Brussels, was merged with the latter. The statutes of the archconfraternity were approved by the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, 12 January, 1880, and Leo XIII by a Brief of 21 June, 1881, approved its transfer to Rome and right to affiliate; and by a Brief of 30 July, 1895, granted it the title of Prima Primaria.

The members pledge themselves to spend an hour each month in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and to pay yearly dues into a fund for the benefit of poor churches. The contributions are used to purchase materials for vestments which are made by women members of the society and given to poor churches. A great work is thus done and many churches have been benefited in Belgium, Germany, Austria, England, the United States, and the mission fields. The eleventh Eucharistic Congress was held in Brussels in 1898 in the church in which the society was founded, and on that occasion a glowing tribute was paid to its work. In Belgium alone it has nearly 200,000 members. Special mention should be made of the association as it is maintained in convents of Religious of the Sacred Heart. It was founded in the houses of the United States by Rev. Mother Hardey, then assistant superior general of the Society, on the occasion of her visit in 1874. She established it in connexion with the Sodality of the Children of Mary, and its marvellous growth and work for poor churches are attested by the annual reports issued by each house. Paris is the centre of the Archconfraternity of Perpetual Adoration and work for Tabernacles, founded there in the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas in 1846 and with affiliations in the dioceses of France and Algiers. It was approved by Pius IX in 1856 and made a confraternity in 1858.

BERINGER, Les Indulgences, II (Paris, 1905), 130, 133; RUGGIERI, L'oeuvre de l'Adoration perpetuelle et des eglises pauvres (Brussels, 1881); MARY ALOYSIA HARDEY, religious of the Sacred Heart (New York, 1910).

Bibliography

• Thys (?), Jean; Les Voies de Dieu, Un Jubilé Eucharistique dans l'Église expiatoire du Três Saint Sacrament de Miracle â Bruxelles 1848-1898; Société de Saint Augustin, Desclée, de Brouwer et Cie, 1898