The origins of the custom of burning a lamp before the tabernacle are in Jewish worship, where a lamp called ner tamid or “eternal flame” burns before the ark in every synagogue. The ark
contains the sacred scrolls of the Torah. The flame represents the menorah in the Temple, and therefore is never extinguished. In fact, the word “tabernacle” itself is derived from Hebrew, as taber is the Hebrew word for “tent,” and hearkens back to the forty years of wandering in the desert. The pilgrim people were sustained in hope by an awareness that God was not only in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, but had quite literally “pitched his tent with them” in the shelter for the Ark of the Covenant. Some artisans have used this theme of “ark” or “tent” to design a tabernacle for the Blessed Sacrament.
In Christian practice, Anglicans and Catholics use a sanctuary lamp to point toward the presence of the reserved sacrament, and Lutherans use it as a sign of God’s presence in the house of worship, but not necessarily as a clue that the Eucharist is reserved. Why, even in an age of electric light, is the sanctuary lamp an oil light or candle? Perhaps not only to point to Christ, the light of the world, but also to point to sacrifice. For the light to exist, there must be sacrifice. The oil or wax is transformed into light, just as those who pray here, or who will receive viaticum from here, are called to transformation in Christ. —Rev. James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.
El 20 de abril de 1906 los ojos de una imagen de la Dolorosa comenzaron a parpadear durante
un lapso de 15 minutos en el colegio jesuita San Gabriel, en Quito, Ecuador. En 1995 en Cochabamba, Bolivia, donde una imagen del Divino rostro lagrimó sangre y después, una imagen de la Inmaculada hizo lo mismo. En el transcurso del siglo veinte, muchísimas imágenes de Cristo, María e incluso, el Espíritu Santo, lloraron lágrimas de agua, sangre u óleo, emitieron aroma de rosa o mostraron alguna manifestación paranormal. La ciencia logró explicar algunos de estos fenómenos, pero en muchos casos no fue posible. Normalmente, la jerarquía eclesiástica prefiere no hacer declaraciones oficiales al respecto, por lo menos, no antes de mucho escrutinio. El apóstol san Juan recomienda examinar cada espíritu (1 Juan 4:1-3) y esto es lo que la Iglesia hace con estas manifestaciones sobrenaturales. Con investigaciones científicas, sociales y espirituales se examinan cuidadosamente estas manifestaciones a fin de asegurar que provienen de Dios y no del diablo u otros orígenes. En fin, la mejor prueba de la veracidad de estos fenómenos es la conversión de los fieles. —Fray Gilberto Cavazos-Glz, OFM, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.