Can I sit before my turn for communion?

[lukefan]

What is the rule regarding sitting before receiving communion? All my life, when the priest and lay ministers left the altar the congregation sat, then when it was your turn you got up, received communion, and knelt until the tabernacle was closed by the priest. Now I am one of very few that sit prior to communion. In other parishes it’s about 50-50. When I sit at my parish I’m usuall bumping my head up against somebody who continues to kneel.

I was wondering if this a change or if our parish has just decided this is something they want to do. I’m one of those people who doesn’t think that the congregation should change the rules. I’m also one of those “people” who only holds hands with my immediate family during the Our Father. I don’t feel comfortable holding hands with other people who are sometimes complete strangers.

 

[Jenny_Z]

As far as I know, you’re supposed to kneel the whole time… that’s Jesus up there!

Our parish is the same way. I’m one of the ones that gets bumped when the person in front of me sits back

I’m with you on holding hands… I always pray with my hands clasped in front of me, so no one will even try.

 

[NewUlm1976_2000]

What is the rule regarding sitting before receiving communion? All my life, when the priest and lay ministers left the altar the congregation sat, then when it was your turn you got up, received communion, and knelt until the tabernacle was closed by the priest. Now I am one of very few that sit prior to communion. In other parishes it’s about 50-50. When I sit at my parish I’m usuall bumping my head up against somebody who continues to kneel.

I was wondering if this a change or if our parish has just decided this is something they want to do. I’m one of those people who doesn’t think that the congregation should change the rules. I’m also one of those “people” who only holds hands with my immediate family during the Our Father. I don’t feel comfortable holding hands with other people who are sometimes complete strangers.

It probably depends on the diocese and even local traditions. Usually it is kneeling unless you have a physical problem that does not allow kneeling (old age etc…) or you are in a mass location without kneelers (e.g. gym, meeting room, etc…).

 

[mystified]

In my former parish (Diocese of Orange) we were told to sit before, and that after was voluntary. I noticed that most sat afterward. I continued to get my head bumped until the tabernacle was closed.

 

[John_Lilburne]

I think everyone should stand the whole time that Communion is being distributed. Here are some extracts from the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :

“42. … A common posture, to be observed by all participants, is a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community gathered for the Sacred Liturgy: it both expresses and fosters the intention and spiritual attitude of the participants.”

The priest is standing. Those receiving Communion are standing. So if everyone is to have a common posture, it is standing.

“43. The faithful should stand … from the invitation, Orate, fratres (Pray, brethren), before the prayer over the offerings until the end of Mass, except at the places indicated below.
They should, however, sit … and, as circumstances allow, they may sit or kneel while the period of sacred silence after Communion is observed.”

It is not a period of sacred silence when people are talking, for example when the priest is saying to people “The Body of Christ”.

“86. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful. If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.
Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease.”

All standing and singing during a procession seems normal.

 

[puzzleannie]

What is the rule regarding sitting before receiving communion? All my life, when the priest and lay ministers left the altar the congregation sat, then when it was your turn you got up, received communion, and knelt until the tabernacle was closed by the priest. s.

the kneeling after the Agnus Dei for the fraction was an indult permitted in the US where it had become the custom. The actual discipline is kneeling throughout the Eucharistic prayer, from the end of the Sanctus to the great Amen. after the Agnus Dei you may sit, stand or kneel as you prefer or as directed by the priest. same with after communion. No one can prevent you from kneeling if you prefer. It is also only customary in some places in the US to approach communion in orderly rows beginning at the front. The system varies from place to place. In Mexico everyone approaches at once and forms lines, and there are plenty of people who remain in the pews and don’t receive for whatever reason.

 

[Brendan]

The Holy See has ruled on the issue. After one personally recieves Holy Communion, you may sit or kneel as you desire

Cardinal Francis George of Chigago, then chairman of the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy (BCL), to submit a dubium (question) to the Holy See’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) on May 26, 2003:

Dubium: In many places, the faithful are accustomed to kneeling or sitting in personal prayer upon returning to their places after having individually received Holy Communion during Mass. Is it the intention of the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, to forbid this practice?

Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the CDW, responded to the question on June 5, 2003 (Prot. N. 855/03/L):

Responsum: Negative, et ad mensum [No, for this reason]. The mens [reasoning] is that the prescription of the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, no. 43, is intended, on the one hand, to ensure within broad limits a certain uniformity of posture within the congregation for the various parts of the celebration of Holy Mass, and on the other, to not regulate posture rigidly in such a way that those who wish to kneel or sit would no longer be free.

This response was then published in the USCCB’s July 2003Liturgical newsletter, so all bishops should be aware of it.

The ‘common position’ meantioned in GIRM 42 is designed to be very broad, and includes both sitting and kneeling.

 

[Miserissima]

When we went to weekday Mass in Catholic school in the 80’s, we knelt through it all. But even during the same time frame, when I went to Sunday Mass, it was about 50-50 sitters and kneelers.

 

[SMHW]

The Holy See has ruled on the issue. After one personally recieves Holy Communion, you may sit or kneel as you desire
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The ‘common position’ meantioned in GIRM 42 is designed to be very broad, and includes both sitting and kneeling.

After communion the individual has the option to deviate from a proscribed position. But I don’t believe the individual gets the same choice prior to receiving communion. That is what the OP was asking about. Before going up to receive communion the individual should be standing (or kneeling or sitting if the local bishop so directs.)