Q. If the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and the church fire alarm goes off, what should those who are present adoring do? Should they stay with the monstrance, leave without it, or take it with them?
A. The answer to this question depends on the circumstances of the situation.
If there is a fire which is posing serious and imminent danger to the adorer and/or to the monstrance, the adorer should not hesitate to leave the church and take the Blessed Sacrament with them. After reaching a safe place, they should contact the fire department first, and then a priest, who would provide them with further instructions. While the lay faithful are not ordinarily permitted to move or carry the Eucharist, in extraordinary circumstances (such as a fire posing a real threat to the church) this would be allowed and even encouraged.
What about a situation in which the fire alarm is going off, but there is no evidence of any fire or any threat to the safety of the adorer? In this case, the adorer should call the priest and/or the fire department to inform them of what is going on. If there is clearly no threat to the safety of the adorer, and they are comfortable remaining in the church until a priest arrives or the alarm is resolved, they could stay and wait.
If there is no imminent danger, but the adorer is not comfortable staying and waiting, they should leave the church without the monstrance but remain nearby – keeping vigilance but out of harm’s way – until they know a priest has arrived or the alarm has been resolved.
This will look different in each individual church, depending on its location, the number and place of exits, etc. What we really want to avoid is simply abandoning the exposed Eucharist without any vigilance over its security, or without informing the priest.
We cannot, of course, foresee every possible circumstance, and unexpected situations like these sometimes require quick judgments. But to reiterate what was stated above, if the situation involves a real imminent threat to the safety of the adorer or to the monstrance, it is permissible for a lay adorer to take the Eucharist with them in order to keep it safe, as long as they immediately contact the priest to inform him of the situation.
This question was answered by Father Jim Morin, vice chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln and professor of Theology at St. Gregory the Great Seminary.
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