communion rant

[Voice_Of_Reason]

Thanks for the replies. Our pairsh doesn’t have kneelers so folks as myself who want to kneel generally go to the end of the line and wait for about everyone to pass. The priests at the parish are OK with it. It’s generally a conservative parish by todays standards, but sometimes I scratch my head. Not out of disrespect, but somethings were done that just didn’t make sense…which don’t need to be repeated.

 

[Panis_Angelicas]

faithfulservant:

kurziemom, it’s all about obedience…

Originally, the norm said that Communion could be received either standing or kneeling, and on the tongue or in the hand.

Then, the US bishops proposed this change in the norm for the Church in America:
**
**
**Proposed American Adaptation of IGMR §160

**160. Distribution of Holy Communion

The faithful come forward in procession to receive Holy Communion. **The posture for the reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. **Each communicant bows his or her head before the sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives Holy Communion from the minister. The consecrated Host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand at the discretion of each communicant. When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of reverence is made before receiving both the Body and the Blood of Christ.

To this, the Vatican responded:

"This dicastery agrees in principle

to the insertion [of the standing adaptation]. At the same time, the tenor of not a few letters received from the faithful in various dioceses of [the United States] leads the congregation to urge the conference to introduce a clause that would protect those faithful who will inevitably be led by their own sensibilities to kneel, from imprudent action by priests, deacons or lay ministers in particular, or from being refused Holy Communion for such a reason as happens on occasion".

The US Conference of bishops then submitted the new adaptation.
Before giving the required “recognitio” to this adaptation of the US bishops’ conference, the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments required that

"communicants who choose to kneel are not be denied Communion on these grounds…

the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated species".
This was the Vatican’s intent, even before they granted the recognitio, which gave the norm the force of law.

Continued…

 

[Panis_Angelicas]

After the new adaptations were announced, the Vatican found it necessary to repeatedly clarify what their meaning of that norm in statements such as this:
“…while this Congregation gave the recognitio to the norm desired by the Bishops’ Conference of your country that people stand for Holy Communion, this was done on the condition that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion on these grounds. Indeed, the faithful should not be imposed upon nor accused of disobedience and of acting illicitly when they kneel to receive Holy Communion”.

There seems to be a common thread here.
The Vatican had no intention of making kneeling for Communion illegal, illicit, or wrong in any way.
The US bishops may have desired that, (I don’t pretend to know what they desired) but the Vatican has repeatedly emphatically corrected this notion.

There are some who say that the Vatican must change the norm in order to make kneeling “licit” or acceptable, but that’s not what the Vatican says:
**

**Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Prot. n. 47/03/L

Rome, February 26, 2003

As the authority by virtue of whose recognitio the norm in question has attained the force of law, this Dicastery is competent to specify the manner in which the norm is to be understood for the sake of a proper application.****

 

[faithfulservant]

thank you PA… for the wonderful clarification… nice to know should i ever feel moved to kneel to receive i have back up in case the priest or deacon pulls me aside afterward for “instruction as to the diocesan norms”… the obedience i referred to in my reply to kurziemom had to do with the bow of the head to reverence the Eucharist before receiving…but if you are going to receive kneeling, then it would seem to me that act in itself would show the necessary reverence, and the bow of the head unnecessary