Genuflecting and Getting Mowed Down

[LilyM]

What gets me sometimes is that I like to genuflect before receiving Communion. What better time to pay this respect to Our Lord than when we are just about to receive him? Yet sometimes I get very nearly mowed over even trying to do this! Worse still, one church in the area, out of concern for those who like to genuflect, has sadly stated that they would prefer everyone just to bow

 

[Sir_Knight]

I take my time genuflecting – after all, we are paying homage to All-mighty God. I let my knee touch the floor, bow my head, bless myself, raise my head and stand up – not all at once but in sequential steps.

Being 6 foot and 275 pounds does have it’s advantage sometimes.

 

[Genesis315]

I echo the advice to stay and pray. You should stay and offer some thanksgiving to God after Mass anyway

 

[johnnykins]

1 Kids are kids and always have, and likely always will, move fast unconcerned about others. They need training, of course. But that is part of our burden as adults - to train them properly.

2.Adults sometimes, particularly after daily Mass, may have to get to work, etc. They should certainly be respectful of those who cannot move quickly, etc. By the same token, those who are have the time to offer a post-Mass prayer of thanksgiving need to be considerate of those who need to leave. No one should be bowled-over. But if you are on the aisle and plan to stay you need to make room for those who need to leave, even if that means getting up going into the aisle and then getting back in the pew.

One solution I used to see a lot was for a person to genuflect at the end of the pew rather than in the aisle. Haven’t really seen that in years, but it makes a certain amount of sense when the aisle is jammed.

In short - manners - being polite - is the answer for adults. Proper training in consideration of others (i.e. manners) is the answer for children.

And when rudeness is endemic, try to be polite yourself as it’s got to start somewhere.

 

[Isidore_AK]

It may not help the OP, but I find it helpful for my family and friends if I step forward (toward the altar) and make a long reverent genuflection…and stay there until everyone behind me has had a chance to genuflect and start towards the door- then I rise. It helps to be the immovable object sometimes…

 

[Melissa]

I do the genuflection at the pew end before moving into the aisle. I’ve got arthritis in my knees thanks to a car accident ten years ago, and often need to use the back of the pew to get back up. (I’m rather ungainly in the genuflection at the beginning, but after the kneeling during Mass, my knees are giving me a lot more grief, so the after-Mass is much more difficult than before. If it’s about a really “bad knee day,” I may not genuflect at all, as I’ll be gimping for a couple more days after that if I do.)