Secrets of the Monstrance

Secrets of the Monstrance

The word monstrance is a noun meaning a sacred vessel that holds and exposes the Eucharistic Host. It is a 1560's Catholic word with roots in the Latin word, monstrare "to show" or monstrate: "a showing, a demonstration, proof". The word, ‘exposition’ is the name for the first part of Eucharistic Adoration when the priest or deacon places the Host in a lunette and slides the Host and lunette in place before a transparent glass panel.

When we hear the word monstrance we might think of those definitions: to show, to expose, to be transparent yet there are many surprising hidden gems of theology within the tradition of the monstrance in Catholic worship and devotion. These theological and symbolic parts of a monstrance are not meant to be secret. Many of us are simply unaware. 

The Sunburst Shape

The original shape and design of the early monstrances date back to the middle ages and originated in Europe. These designs typically followed the pattern of reliquaries and they resembled little metal towers. 

Eventually, the tower design gave way to a sunburst design. Some believe that the sun design began in South America as a way to ‘baptize’ the pagan idea of the sun god. By using this style of monstrance for Eucharistic Adoration, the missionaries were implicitly saying, ‘Instead of the god of the sun, Jesus, the Son of God is the only God worthy of worship’. 

There is a strong biblical precedent for the one true God supplanting the god of the sun. In the book of Exodus we have the story of the 10 plagues. The pharaoh of Egypt was ready to cede to Moses’ demands when the ninth plague darkness hit the land. This plague of darkness demonstrated the sovereignty of God over Ra, the sun god, the chief of the gods of Egypt.

The Church fathers had their own pagan sun god to contend with in their efforts to baptize the gentiles and they skillfully used the pagan belief system to amplify the worship of Jesus. During the first few centuries of the Church, the Roman god of the sun, Sol Invictus, was associated with December 25. Saint John Chrysostom explained the rationale, ‘Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... But the pagans call it the Birthday of the Unconquered’. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, we may say He is the Sun of Justice’. 

During his transfiguration on Mount Tabor, Jesus showed his solar-like, luminous power to the three apostles, Peter, James and John.. According to Matthew 17:2, “... he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light”. Jesus later says in the Gospel of John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world”. 

Given this biblical and traditional association of Jesus supplanting the sun as the source of Supernatural Light it is wholly appropriate that the sunburst design be implemented in the monstrance which contains and exposes the Real Presence of our Lord. 

The Crescent Moon

What’s more fascinating is the incorporation of Mary as the moon in the monstrance. The early church fathers referred to Mary as the moon and Jesus as the sun. Like Mary who always reflected the glory of her Son and stood in the background, the design of a monstrance has a small moon-shaped feature, called a lunette or luna, that is overshown by and encapsulated by the sunburst and rays coming out of the circular vessel. The word lunette dates back to the late 16th century from French, diminutive of lune ‘moon’, from Latin luna.  "little moon"—luna being Latin for "moon" and -ette being a diminutive suffix. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that Our Lady is like the moon, because her glory is reflected glory. 

This lunette is seen through the glass panel and partially eclipses the Sacred Host. It is also a reminder of the cosmic imagery of the Woman of the Apocalypse clothed with the sun. In the book of Revelation 12:1, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”.

Like Jesus supplanting the sun gods, Mary also exposes the heresy of the false gods. In the image of Our Lady of Guadelupe, the crescent moon under her feet signifies the Aztec's foremost deity, the feathered or stone serpent-god, Quetzalcoatl, whom the Aztecs worshiped as the god of night. By standing on the moon, she shows that she is more powerful than the god of darkness whom she vanquishes.

The Eclipse of Two Hearts

So in the solar, sunburst design of the monstrance, we have a type of eclipse. The moon or lunette partially obscures the sun-shaped container for the Host. Unlike an actual partial eclipse, the crescent shape of the lunette is inverted. It is shaped like a smile at the bottom of the circle rather than a frown which is the way the moon is portrayed on the Tilma of Jaun Diego. This means that it represents a total eclipse of the sun.

This is consistent with the theology of the sacred hearts. Like the overlap in an eclipse, the two hearts of Jesus and Mary beat as one. Jesus is the only person whose human DNA came from only one other person, his mother.

When scientists have had the opportunity to examine the fleshy tissue and blood from various eucharistic miracles, they have discovered that it is living human heart tissue and the blood is consistent with freshly pumped blood from a wounded heart (see Miracle of Lanciano). 

In some ways the monstrance as a whole resembles mother Mary holding Jesus. Like the wise men who came to adore Him, we still seek Him in the arms of his mother. She is called the Tower of David, Tower of ivory, House of gold, Ark of the covenant, Gate of heaven and  Morning star. Before the priest handles the monstrance containing the Real Presence, he is vested with a humeral veil. This cloak has long sleeves so that he may use the sleeves to shield the monstrance from contacting his hands. Like the Virgin, the Ark of the New Covenant, the monstrance when containing Jesus is  ‘untouchable to men’. Like Mary, who is pure ‘gold’ inside and out, the monstrance is a vessel made of  precious metal, most often made of silver-gilt or other precious metal, and highly decorated. 

Time and Eternity

The moon and the sun together also remind us of night and day, the cycle of time and promise of eternity. The tradition of perpetual adoration picks up this theme which began with the biblical promise that Jesus made, ‘I will be with you always. I will be with you until the end of time’ (Mt 28:20). We remember those words when we adore Christ in the monstrance surrounded by a symbol of a moon and a sun. 

When in adoration, our total focus is on our Lord Jesus, truly present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity but it's appropriate to also notice the rich meaning of the secondary symbolic language hidden with the monstance that contains Him. That language speaks to us of his human nobility and his royal divinity. It speaks to us of his cosmic love and eternal light as the Son of God and the Son of Mary.