Canon XX - Council of Nicea I

[AlexPetrosPio]

Canon XX of the First Council of Nicea states:

On Lord’s days and at Pentecost all must pray standing and not kneeling.

(source)
such that on Sundays and the fifty days between Easter an Pentecost, there is no kneeling during Liturgy.

I know that this is a traditional practice and not a Traditional doctrine, but I cannot help but wonder: when did the practice of kneeling during the Liturgy during this appointed time happen in the West? What were the reasonings?

Disclaimer: this is not to start a fight between the Catholics and Orthodox! I do not want to witness a similar argumentation of the Filioque or others.

I first heard about this canon on an Orthodox Ancient Faith Radio podcast and read about it again in The Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Kallistos, though I never heard about it as a Latin rite Catholic, so I had to look it up for myself.

 

[RyanBlack]

I don’t know the exact timeframe, but in the West, kneeling came to be seen more as a sign of adoration, and lost its penitential character. In the East, kneeling retained its penitential character, so in the East, we still do not kneel on Sundays, as we see penance as being inconsistent with celebrating the Resurrection.

 

[Zekariya]

I don’t know the exact timeframe, but in the West, kneeling came to be seen more as a sign of adoration, and lost its penitential character. In the East, kneeling retained its penitential character, so in the East, we still do not kneel on Sundays, as we see penance as being inconsistent with celebrating the Resurrection.

This.

 

[David_Zampino]

It is also important to realize that the Canons of the Councils, especially the early ones, were disciplinary in nature rather than dogmatic. We must adhere to the dogmatic statements; many, if not most of the disciplinary canons were time and place specific.

 

[Glacies]

The Catholic Encyclopedia has an elaborate article on the subject which explains that kneeling during the Consecration became habitual during the Middle Ages, and likewise genuflection around the later Middle Ages. It is also told that the New Testament mentions kneeling various times in connection with prayer, such as St. Luke 22:41; St. Mark 1:40 and 10:17; Acts 7:59, 9:40, 20:36 and 21:5.

The practice of kneeling during the Consecration was introduced during the Middle Ages, and is in relation with the Elevation which originated in the same period.

The practice of genuflecting has no claim to antiquity of origin. It appears to have been introduced and gradually to have spread in the West during the later Middle Ages, and scarcely to have been generally looked upon as obligatory before the end of the fifteenth century. The older Roman Missals make no mention of it.