Editing Monstrance (section)

== Use and design ==
[[File:HoldingMonstrance.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance carried in a procession by a priest wearing a [[humeral veil]]]]
[[Image:Two Monstrance.JPG|thumb|right|Two monstrances, showing the contrast between the modern simplified design on the right with its more ornate predecessor on the left]]
In the service of [[benediction]], (the priest blesses the people with the Eucharist displayed in the monstrance). This blessing differs from the priest's blessing, as it is seen to be the blessing by Christ rather than that of the individual priest. The exposition of the monstrance during Benediction is traditionally accompanied by chanting or singing of the hymn ''[[Tantum Ergo]]''.

Monstrances are usually elaborate in design; most are carried by the priest. Others may be much larger fixed constructions, typically for displaying the host in a special side chapel, often called the "Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament". For portable designs, the preferred form is a [[sunburst]]<ref>''Instructio Clement'', 5.</ref> on a stand, usually topped by a cross.

Before the [[Council of Trent]], the most common design was the tower.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Kilroy-Ewbank|first=Lauren|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1056201987|title=Holy organ or unholy idol? : the Sacred Heart in the art, religion, and politics of New Spain|date=2018|isbn=978-90-04-38496-5|location=Leiden|pages=208|oclc=1056201987}}</ref>  The sun design would come to dominate the shape of modern monstrances after it became clear that the ostensorium could be better adapted to the object of drawing all eyes to the Sacred Host itself by making the transparent portion of the vessel just of the size required, and surrounded, like the sun, with rays. Monstrances of this shape, dating from the fifteenth century, are also not uncommon, and for several hundred years past this has been by far the commonest form in practical use.

Medieval monstrances were more varied in form than contemporary ones. Those used for relics, and occasionally for the host, typically had a crystal cylinder in a golden stand, and those usually used for hosts had a crystal window in a flat-faced golden construction, which could stand on its base. The monstrance was most often made of [[silver-gilt]] or other precious metal, and highly decorated. In the center of the sunburst, the monstrance normally has a small round glass the size of a host, through which the [[Blessed Sacrament]] can be seen. Behind this glass is a holder made of gilded metal, called a [[Lunette (liturgy)|lunette]] or lunula, which holds the host securely in place. When not in the monstrance, the host in its lunula is placed in a special standing container, called a standing ''[[pyx]]'', in the Tabernacle. Before the current design, earlier "little shrines" or reliquaries of various shapes and sizes were used.