Rancé's Preferred Tabernacle

In order to accentuate the Marian dimension of the Blessed Sacrament, Abbot Armand-Jean de Rancé replaced the tabernacle in La Trappe with a statue of Our Lady holding a pyx containing the Eucharist. The abbot wrote an inscription highlighting the honor of Mary bearing God. Some found it shocking, but defenders claimed it was an ancient Cistercian tradition, although no one has been able to confirm that.

See the 2025 edition of Le Brun's Liturgical Travels Through France, 164n1.