A quaint practice

[Roselander]

Way back in B.C. (Before the Council) my parish used to have May devotions consisting of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and group recitation of the Rosary. The congregation would kneel during most of the Rosary, but then they would stand up for one decade (sort of like the 7th inning stretch). Does anyone else remember doing this?

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

About a month ago at our Rosary for peace, which is once a week in our parish. And we have a May Crowning, too.

 

[kage_ar]

Both Parishes in town have group recitation of the Rosary before one of the Sunday Masses, one also does a mid-week evening Rosary. Most everyone kneels for the entire thing

 

[NMJenny]

I’ve been to rosaries during a wake where the practice was to kneel for the first decade, stand for the second, then kneel again, etc. Someone theorized that it was because there might be a group of non-Catholics present who weren’t used to long periods of kneeling–but I thought that was a pretty silly argument, any non-Catholics would probably just be sitting quietly anyway, not kneeling.

But where there has been a rosary recitation before Mass, I’ve never seen anyone stand, everyone kneels for all the prayers…

 

[chicago]

…where the practice was to kneel for the first decade, stand for the second, then kneel again, etc.

Wow, other people do this besides the old ladies at my parish? (They do it this way for the OLPH novena prayers.) Most of us just thought it was some oddity. Now I’m REALLY interested in understanding the reasons of background for it.

 

[otjm]

Wow, other people do this besides the old ladies at my parish? (They do it this way for the OLPH novena prayers.) Most of us just thought it was some oddity. Now I’m REALLY interested in understanding the reasons of background for it.

I would suspect that no one truly knows the source of it; but a guess would be that the knees of some people can only take so much. It really doesn’t matter; the Rosary is not part of the official liturgy of the Church, and however they say it, and within reasonable posture, is just dandy. That they are saying it is way more important than how.

 

[NMJenny]

I had wondered, Chicago, if this was strictly an old, old practice that had come down to us (New Mexico goes way back, you know). But if it’s also done where you live, then that obviously isn’t the case.

It will probably turn out to be one of those practices that stays buried in the mists of time…

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

My home town parish had (and still has) a rosary every weekday at 4:30 PM. They kneel or sit for the whole rosary. All the parishes in that area have May Crownings every year, but where I live now, some people have never heard of one, nor do they have a statue to crown.

 

[chicago]

I guess that the only way to find out is for us to start asking some of the people who do it why they do it and how it came to be taught to them to do this. It sure would be intriguing to understand the origins of the practice. Otherwise, it will just become legend. “When I was young, there were these elderly types who would alternately stand and kneel for some strange reason.” Maybe they don’t know why, either. But someone had to teach that to them.