Genuflection during the Triduum

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DexUK

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When entering a Catholic Church, most of us will genuflect towards the altar or the tabernacle either on entry to the main body of the church or on entry to the pew…

My question is, what do people tend to do when the Blessed Sacrament is NOT reserved in the Tabernacle - for instance on Easter Saturday or after the Blessed Sacrament is reposed at the beginning of the Triduum? Do you simply bow to the altar or do you still kneel as usual? Or do you do nothing at all?

My instinct is to bow to the altar rather than genuflect when I know the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved. Am I right or should I be kneeling regardless?
 
In my understanding and practice, you are correct.
One should only genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament, as there God is, and our Lord should be given all appropriate honor.
When not present, either in the tabernacle, or if the tabernacle is not present, the appropriate action is a bow toward the altar, out of respect for the actions taken there both before and after your bow (the consecration of the Eucharist).
 
Sounds about right to me!

Ps. Very good that you’re thinking about why we genuflect, seems like a lot of people just do it out of habit even when Our Lord isn’t present in the Blessed Sacrament

👍
 
Well I do try to get it right.

I’m probably very trying to Our Lord, but he keeps on loving me nonetheless… 🙂
 
DexUK said:
Well I do try to get it right.

I’m probably very trying to Our Lord, but he keeps on loving me nonetheless… 🙂
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Well I wouldn’t presume to speak for Our Lord but I’m sure you please him more by trying (whether you get things right or wrong) than by doing things by rote.
 
Yes, it is proper to bow when the Blessed Sacrament is not present. Though sometimes it can be hard to tell!

For example:
If I am visiting another parish, the first thing I do when I come in is look for the tabernacle so I know in which direction to genuflect when I get to the pew. I’ve always been able to find it somewhere, even if it’s off to the side. At one neighboring parish, I walked in and started looking around. No tabernacle. I went to the pew and just genuflected to the altar, thinking maybe I just couldn’t see it from my perspective because this church had a somewhat odd circular shape and I was in the back corner. Later I looked on their website and saw that this church had a separate chapel where they kept the tabernacle. I had never heard of this before. I had seen the tabernacle placed on one side of the church, but never in another chapel entirely.

Anyway, now I know that when I visit this parish, to just bow to the altar.
 
On the occasions I have visited St Peter’s in Rome, I have to admit that I’m never entirely sure what direction to genuflect in, although I choose to do so towards the high altar on the assumption that somewhere within St Peters the Blessed Sacrament is bound to be reserved.

It is saddening though that I can’t remember seeing anyone else genuflect on entering or at any other place in St Peters. I guess they’re all either very unclear about genuflection or non-Catholic tourists.
 
DexUK said:
On the occasions I have visited St Peter’s in Rome, I have to admit that I’m never entirely sure what direction to genuflect in, although I choose to do so towards the high altar on the assumption that somewhere within St Peters the Blessed Sacrament is bound to be reserved.

It is saddening though that I can’t remember seeing anyone else genuflect on entering or at any other place in St Peters. I guess they’re all either very unclear about genuflection or non-Catholic tourists.
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Genuflecting at the wrong time or in the wrong place is not a sign of being “extra holy.” In the case of St. Peter’s, the Blessed Sacrament is kept in the chapel marked as #72 on this floorplan. It would be correct to genuflect as you pass or enter that chapel, but otherwise a sign of the cross as you enter the basilica and a bow toward the altar as you approach or pass it is what is called for. Randomly genuflecting just because you’re in a church is erroneous.
 
MarkThompson said:
Genuflecting at the wrong time or in the wrong place is not a sign of being “extra holy.” In the case of St. Peter’s, the Blessed Sacrament is kept in the chapel marked as #72 on this floorplan. It would be correct to genuflect as you pass or enter that chapel, but otherwise a sign of the cross as you enter the basilica and a bow toward the altar as you approach or pass it is what is called for. Randomly genuflecting just because you’re in a church is erroneous.
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I’m not exactly sure where I gave the impression that I was trying to appear or come over “extra holy” but sorry if I did.

As for that floor plan, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing. I’ll try to remember it the next time I’m in Rome - which will hopefully be at the same time I visit a seminary there… 🙂
 
anp1215 said:
Yes, it is proper to bow when the Blessed Sacrament is not present. Though sometimes it can be hard to tell!

For example:
If I am visiting another parish, the first thing I do when I come in is look for the tabernacle so I know in which direction to genuflect when I get to the pew. I’ve always been able to find it somewhere, even if it’s off to the side. At one neighboring parish, I walked in and started looking around. No tabernacle. I went to the pew and just genuflected to the altar, thinking maybe I just couldn’t see it from my perspective because this church had a somewhat odd circular shape and I was in the back corner. Later I looked on their website and saw that this church had a separate chapel where they kept the tabernacle. I had never heard of this before. I had seen the tabernacle placed on one side of the church, but never in another chapel entirely.

Anyway, now I know that when I visit this parish, to just bow to the altar.
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My new parish was like that up until this past Christmas, when my priest got a new tabernacle and had it placed front and center. I never knew what to do when I went into the church, as I knew where the chapel was, but in order to genuflect towards the direction of the chapel and tabernacle I would have had to do almost an about-face. So I just genuflected to the altar, as did everyone else. It’s too bad I didn’t know about bowing sooner! (Although I suppose it’s just vanity for me to dwell on it now.)
 
Hubertus said:
My new parish was like that up until this past Christmas, when my priest got a new tabernacle and had it placed front and center. I never knew what to do when I went into the church, as I knew where the chapel was, but in order to genuflect towards the direction of the chapel and tabernacle I would have had to do almost an about-face. So I just genuflected to the altar, as did everyone else. It’s too bad I didn’t know about bowing sooner! (Although I suppose it’s just vanity for me to dwell on it now.)
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Yes, you were just doing as you thought best! I think it does create confusion when the tabernacle is not located within sight of the congregation at all, though I do not flip out with anger about it, I think it prevents confusion when it is located in the sanctuary, or at least in a prominent side chapel. However, I don’t wish to turn this thread into a debate about that (there are a plethora of those already!) But now you know if you should ever visit another parish where you can’t see the tabernacle.
 
Thanks for all the answers.

I did actually know, but I couldn’t remember how I knew so I was just checking to be certain as I don’t like to do things on the basis of assumption. 🙂
 
MarkThompson said:
It would be correct to genuflect as you pass or enter that chapel, but otherwise a sign of the cross as you enter the basilica and a bow toward the altar as you approach or pass it is what is called for. .
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I’m not even sure a genuflection when passing the chapel would be called for. I don’t remember the design, but if its really set off as a separate room then no genuflection is necessary. After all, when a sacristy is adjacent to the sanctuary no one is asked to genuflect when walking by the door that leads to the sanctuary/tabernacle.
 
DexUK said:
When entering a Catholic Church, most of us will genuflect towards the altar or the tabernacle either on entry to the main body of the church or on entry to the pew…

My question is, what do people tend to do when the Blessed Sacrament is NOT reserved in the Tabernacle - for instance on Easter Saturday or after the Blessed Sacrament is reposed at the beginning of the Triduum? Do you simply bow to the altar or do you still kneel as usual? Or do you do nothing at all?

My instinct is to bow to the altar rather than genuflect when I know the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved. Am I right or should I be kneeling regardless?
Click to expand...
You cannot genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament because it isn’t there. Consequently, you should do what you have suggested: make a deep bow to the altar. However, there is an alternative. It will depend on the church. Any time after the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday afternoon a crucifix may be on display for veneration. If it is, you should genuflect to the crucifix, anytime up to the start of the Paschal Vigil.🙂
 
Traditionally, one also genuflects to the exposed cross on Good Friday, during and after the Liturgy.
 
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