Altar Rail Puts Communicants on Right Track

[Shakuhachi]

Perhaps homilies that touch upon, silence in sacred space (that’s no colloquial talk), reverence in attire, and attitude. A kneeling of the heart.

I think reverence is simply lacking in our entire culture (including for each other on this forum).

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Agreed!

People go out to eat at nice restaurants wearing T-shirts and baseball hats on backwards.

Jim

 

[yankeesouth]

I think you will see more altar rails as the ‘spirit’ of Vatican II crowd fades. Also you will have more opportunities to attend a Traditional Latin Mass if you so desire thanks to Pope Benedict XVI.

 

[mbmulkern]

We can always bring back the rails and the priest can stand behind them and turn his back to the audience and give the mass in Latin etc

 

[edwest211]

The altar rails and communion rails are returning after persons unknown removed them in the 1960s. That is the common response from persons involved in Church renovations.

 

[otjm]

The lack of altar rails is not the cause of people not knowing what Communion is; poor or non-existent catechesis from the 70’s through the mid 90’s is. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc is poor analysis still.

And the survey, years old, allegedly showing that people don’t believe in the True Presence was taken apart by Jimmy Akin long ago; a poorly written survey is just that - poorly written. Relying on it proves nothing.

 

[otjm]

The bishops already cracked the whip - they instituted standing. The fact that you don’t like it is not indicative that it is wrong, poor liturgy, or without merit.

 

[Wesrock]

Personally I think there should be unity, but does standing and receiving offend God?

No. What’s at issue here is what’s best for the Church. It’s possible that kneeling may foster a more reverant attitude among the faithful. Or perhaps some might see it as dividing the clergy from the faithful. It depends on the time and place, somewhat. Those who prefer it generally feel it better disposes us on our end to the sacrament.

 

[Augustinian]

Agreed!

People go out to eat at nice restaurants wearing T-shirts and baseball hats on backwards.

Jim

People used to wear jackets and neckties to attend a baseball game 50 years ago. It isn’t a reflection of how informed people are.

 

[Irishmom2]

My parish is probably 60% older people. Daily mass is 90%. On Sundays, the first pew is made up of people with walkers, canes, scooters. They stand and communion is brought to them.

There are too many older people for our parish that would never be able to navigate kneeling for communion.

(To whoever made the “wafer” comment: Does that make them view the Eucharist as a wafer with no meaning? Hardly.)

 

[otjm]

It appears that underlying the issue of returning to Communion rails are two issues, although not addressed directly in this thread.

One is CITH, which tends to elicit reactions negatively, including in other threads, a judgementalism that those who do so are either not as reverent, or do not believe in the True Presence. Given nothing more than idle speculation, such comments and attitudes should be addressed for what they are. Going back to altar rails pretty much makes CITH at best awkward.

The second issue seems to carry some angst towards reception from the Cup; likewise, reception at an altar rail removes the possibility of the issue, thereby eliminating it.

I happen to be a member of a parish for 30 years, +/- and in that 30 year period, in a church built in the half-round, without altar rails, with the Risen Christ on the wall (and 3 crucifixes within the sanctuary during Mass), with the vast majority receiving CITH, and somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 receiving also from the Cup, we have also managed to produce 3 priests, 2 deacons, 2 women professed religious (who wear habits), and one current seminarian in first year theology.

What makes us different than the implications of at least one of the posters (who implies numerous people receiving without believing in the True Presence)?

We have had Perpetual Adoration for about 25 of those years.

It is just plain pure poppycock that you have to have altar rails for people to be reverent, or that altar rails induce belief in the True Presence. Catechesis does that.

There may be some dioceses in the US where there are liturgical abuses. a deacon sitting out distribution of Communion may or may not be one, as there may be legitimate reasons for that. But I sort of suspect that if a survey was done of the 18,287 deacons in the US, that one would find even a small percentage of them “sitting it out” without a valid reason (and the same can be said for priests).

I get the fact that the auxiliary bishop of Kazakhstan is a favorite among Traditionalists, but personally I have a problem with a bishop - auxiliary or otherwise of a foreign country, indirectly coming in and saying publicly that the USCCB doesn’t seem to know what it is doing.

The norm in the US is standing. Kneeling is not outlawed. And proper catechesis is the issue - not altar rails.

 

[otjm]

Yes, the Church needs unity. However, unity does not mean uniformity. If it did, we would not have any
eastern Rites at all.

 

[on_the_hill]

I’m not entirely sure what the Communion rails is for. I like them because they add to the structure and organization and architecture.

I think what used to happen was people would go up and kneel at the rail, side by side, and the priest would walk back and forth distributing the Eucharist to the people who were kneeling. I guess you’d walk up to an open slot, kneel down, wait your turn, then go back to your seat.

How’d that work out? Was it a confusing mass ( ha ha pun) of people moving around? Seems like it would be a lengthy and inefficient way to handle it.

Anyway, I like the way we do it now. Don’t fix what needn’t be fixed.

 

[Brendan]

The norm in the US is standing. Kneeling is not outlawed.

Not quite true, the new GIRM 160 includes kneeling as part of the norm.

Norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling

If the person wishes to kneel, that is normative now, contingent on the wishes of the person.

 

[Augustinian]

How’d that work out? Was it a confusing mass ( ha ha pun) of people moving around? Seems like it would be a lengthy and inefficient way to handle it.

It didn’t work out that bad at all. The other priests came out at the appropriate time and assisted with the distribution. People knew what to do, and of course it was only communion of one kind

 

[EnglishTeacher]

The problem in these discussions is that modern people think it’s a sign of reverence

I don’t believe that anyone thinks that standing is irreverent or that kneeling is automatically more reverant. In either case (I agree with you), the heart matters more than the posture. But I think kneeling is definitely far more conducive to reverence than standing. What we do with our bodies matters. As I mentioned above, I love how kneeling at the altar rail gives you an extra few moments to collect yourself and pray. Somehow it just feels right and natural.

It’s fine, but with a bad knee, it would be a disaster for me.

That’s understandable; there are plenty of people who physically cannot kneel or would have difficulty doing so. They should not feel bad about it. But I would argue that just because some cannot kneel, should not be a reason to prevent kneeling from being the norm.

 

[edwest211]

In my Church and other Catholic Churches, there was standing, kneeling and sitting during the appropriate times during the Mass. I’m sure those with certain physical difficulties couldn’t handle going to Mass at all. Anyway, in my Religion Class, it was clear that when you were in God’s presence, you kneeled. End of story. During a certain adoration in my Church, me and my mother would stop a certain distance from Christ on the cross and move on our knees towards Him. The Real Presence was never questioned.

Altar Rail Returning to Use

Architects, pastors and parishioners find it enhances reverence in church.

www.ncregister.com

 

[EnglishTeacher]

I think what used to happen was people would go up and kneel at the rail, side by side, and the priest would walk back and forth distributing the Eucharist to the people who were kneeling. I guess you’d walk up to an open slot, kneel down, wait your turn, then go back to your seat.

How’d that work out? Was it a confusing mass ( ha ha pun) of people moving around? Seems like it would be a lengthy and inefficient way to handle it.

Not confusing in the least; it is very orderly. The priest or deacon starts at one end and works his way to the other. When he reaches the end, he goes back and starts over. After one person receives and then rises, the next person in line kneels down in his spot. Even visitors to our parish who are not used to it figure it out easily.

Also, not lengthy. It takes no more time than does a regular Communion line. (But even if it did, would that be such a bad thing? Do we need to be in a rush to receive the Lord?)

 

[7_Sorrows]

on_the_hill:

How’d that work out? Was it a confusing mass ( ha ha pun) of people moving around? Seems like it would be a lengthy and inefficient way to handle it.

It didn’t work out that bad at all. The other priests came out at the appropriate time and assisted with the distribution. People knew what to do, and of course it was only communion of one kind

I am a convert from the Episcopal church that usually followed changes in the Catholic
Church. However, thankfully, one thing they did not change was the removal of the altar
rail. For me, it was always a very reverent way of receiving Holy Communion. It was never confusing or disorderly. There were ushers who told you when to proceed to the
altar rail. I was so disappointed when I first began attending Catholic Masses and witnessed everyone lining up. I am used to it now because I have been Catholic for almost 10 years, but I would be all for the return of the communion rail.
For those who can’t kneel, they could stand at the rail and receive. We have about 20-24
people who help out at our Mass to distribute the Body and Blood. In the Episcopal church, we always received the wafer from the priest.

 

[dallas_r]

Ok yeah that was kinda stupid of me to say, but I do think of it as a sign of reverence. As pianistclare said, they were put in place to keep things out of the sanctuary like stray dogs and humans, but now I think they are better used as a sign of reverence. If altar rails do make a big comeback, people who cannot kneel should be exempt from the rule.