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Don_Ruggero
Guest
No, actually. It isn’t.
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otjm
Guest
That can be determined by the bishop. Although it has been tradition to kneel, remaining standing makes sense as one stands, then affter responses (Agnus Dei, Lord I am not worthy), one proceeds to Communion.
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Maximilian75
Guest
what makes you say that?
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omgriley
Guest
I think alter rails make sense all around. They reinforce a sense of reverence, they help to humble the communicant, they also prevent the bumper cars scenario where people are coming from all sides of the church attempting to form a single file. I think they’d also be great at getting rid of EMHCs. Just the logistics of it would make it so they would no longer be needed.
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phil19034
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I like altar rails in Churches even if they are not used for Communion.Spyridon:
I think alter rails make sense all around. They reinforce a sense of reverence, they are help to humble the communicant, they also prevent the bumper cars scenario where people are coming from all sides of the church attempting to form a single file. I think they’d also be great at getting rid of EMHCs. Just the logistics of it would make it so they would no longer be needed.
At our Cathedral, it’s nice to walk up to the Altar Rail and kneel to pray during adoration, after confession, or just visiting the church for prayer.
I think they are a great addition to any parish, even if they are not used for communion.
God Bless
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Don_Ruggero
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The fact that I have been a priest who, when young, experienced the norm to be the use of a rail – across the decades to today when the norm is that communicants are standing.
Plus the fact that I served for many years as Master of Ceremonies to our Bishops and oversaw liturgies of varying sizes – with their various challenges.
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Maximilian75
Guest
Agree to disagree, then. God bless you!
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Don_Ruggero
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Extraordinary Ministers have been among the greatest gifts that I have seen in the years of my priesthood. I have looked for ways to expand them – NEVER to “get rid of them.”
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
They are extraordinary because they lack the ontological character of Order. They are not extraordinary because they are to be rarely used. Indeed, in many places where I am Presider, the extraordinary ministers FAR outnumber the, often sole, ordinary minister.
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yankeesouth
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Sometimes they even outnumber the amount of people attending Mass lol.
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Irishmom2
Guest
When I made my First Holy Communion there was a rail. There was a lot of maneuvering, waiting for the people at the rail to leave, and waiting for people that were slower to leave and then kneeling. Then, not everyone is able to move quickly after kneeling. So really, not much easier. It is easier, if that is what you are speaking of, to walk up to the front of church, bow (or even genuflect,) receive and return to your seat.
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Spyridon
Guest
Ah, I did not know that Don. I had assumed they were extraordinary the same way the EF Mass is extraordinary.
Now I know they are extraordinary in a qualitative manner, not quantitative.
Now I know they are extraordinary in a qualitative manner, not quantitative.
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yankeesouth
Guest
More altar rails! We need many many more altar rails!
From the NCRegister: Altar Rail Puts Communicants on Right Track Priests and parishioners explain the value of kneeling when receiving Communion. Joseph Pronechen In many parishes, a once-standard sanctuary staple is making a comeback: the altar rail. “Having an altar rail has really brou
wdtprs.com
Same article but with Fr. Z’s excellent commentary.
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Irishmom2
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Diminish communion in the hand? It is allowed. If you don’t want to receive that way, that is allowed as well.
Why do you you have a problem with the way someone else receives communion when it is perfectly fine?
Why do you you have a problem with the way someone else receives communion when it is perfectly fine?
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Augustinian
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What do you see as the main benefit of the EM’s? Logistical benefits? Or not really that so much, but the fact the the EM ministry gets the faithful more involved in the liturgy?
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catholicme
Guest
I would just say that those who wish to kneel for communion are welcome to, even without the presence of a communion rail. A parish in my diocese added a communion rail a few years back, and I have found it problematic from the standpoint that you can ONLY receive communion by kneeling there. When I attend Mass there, there are many elderly who remain in the pews or appear to be kneeling with extreme difficulty. The number of elderly left in the pews would mean that even if EMs or the priest came around to offer the Eucharist to them, it would take substantially longer. I just think we shouldn’t be in the business of creating more obstacles for people to receive Christ. If people wish to walk up in line and kneel when they reach the priest/EM, by all means, no one is stopping them. I just don’t think the communion rail is something that needs to be re-instated.
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Phemie
Guest
Yeah, I’m pretty sure the old man with the peg leg in my parish wasn’t forced to kneel to receive back in the old days. I’ve seen no problem with people receiving from the chalice at the local Anglican parish. Every time someone mentions altar rails it seems like we have this litany of reasons why they couldn’t possibly work.
It was easier to go to Communion back in the day than it is now when you have to figure out what the routine is for the particular parish you are in. Back then you moved to the rail when you felt ready to receive and nobody made a fuss because you opted to receive at the end when everyone else in the pew had gone at the beginning. It certainly wasn’t regimented the way it is now. People moved forward in no particular order, took their place at the rail when someone vacated a space close to where they were standing.
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lilypadrees
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The way I was raised, the priest is the only one who is to touch the Host. We are to kneel and receive on the tongue. Of course, many now don’t have the altar rails in their parishes. The last time I actually received at an altar rail, I had to go downtown to do it. My parish and so many others have the parishioners standing with most receiving in the hand. I still prefer to receive on the tongue.
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omgriley
Guest
At the Trad parish that I attend, we have an alter rail and the celebrant alone administers the Eucharist to the entire congregation (about 50 in all). The problem is that these Eucharistic Ministers are said to be extraordinary, yet there isn’t anything extraordinary about them. They’re at nearly every OF mass. There is simply no need to have an average of 4 EMHCs (which is about what I see in my diocese), not including the priest, for a congregation of less than 50.
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Phemie
Guest
Every church in my diocese removed the altar rails after Vatican II. I think in the past 50 years I could count on ten fingers the number of churches with altar rails that I’ve been to (and I’ve lived and attended Mass in 8 different provinces) and amid those would be a few Anglican churches. I won’t include in that the 5 in Europe that are major tourist destinations.
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