Have you accidentally genuflected when entering a building other than church?

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Talk about being judgemental!

A person in this thread brought up genuflecting in places OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT OF MASS AND/OR ADORATION.
That is what I have problems with.
That is what my priest friends and I were talking about- ROTE BEHAVIORS.

In many cases, I have come across people who do things who have no clue why they do them. They do what they see or what the remember. Or what they think they should.

If a person is mistakenly/accidently genuflecting often, in places where it is out of context, you’d think it would happen to priests all the time.

Again, not judgeing anyone just adding a different perspective. Am I not allowed?
 
When I first came back to the Catholic Church i would genuflect at the Easter ecumenical service there was just a plain cross, no one said anything but now realise I was the only of the handful of Catholics attending that did this so got thinking and realised probably best not to since I was a guest at another church.
 
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I’m with the 85 percent who marked never. If the poll was who forgot to genuflect while entering the pew in the last few years I’d mark sometimes. I just started regular Church attendance again a year and a half ago so I’m still working on the automatic genuflecting.
 
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CilladeRoma said:
A person in this thread brought up genuflecting in places OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT OF MASS AND/OR ADORATION.
That is what I have problems with.
That is what my priest friends and I were talking about- ROTE BEHAVIORS.
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I guess my objection to your post was your assumption that those who have made this mistake do not understand the meaning of the gesture. Of course they do. Or at least, one cannot automatically assume that they don’t from the information provided.

I think the real problem is that we go through our lives so distracted, so unaware that we end up on auto-pilot.
CilladeRoma said:
In many cases, I have come across people who do things who have no clue why they do them. They do what they see or what the remember. Or what they think they should.
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I have also come across this, but it doesn’t mean that every person who has accidentally genuflected while entering a theater is unaware of the meaning of the gesture.
CilladeRoma said:
If a person is mistakenly/accidently genuflecting often, in places where it is out of context, you’d think it would happen to priests all the time.
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Actually, I wouldn’t. Priests don’t genuflect in church under the same circumstances (entering and leaving a pew) as the laity, therefore they wouldn’t have that conditioned response to certain externals.

I’m sure that some people just don’t understand, but I am firmly in the “sometimes” category. It has happened to me, more than once. (Mostly when I was a child attending Catholic school. It hasn’t happened in decades . But even then I knew what genuflection was for.) I know exactly why we genuflect to the tabernacle, which contains Jesus Christ - body, blood, soul and divinity.
CilladeRoma said:
I am sorry that I can’t understand how one can “accidently” genuflect unless one fundamentally misunderstands what the action is for.
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I hope that this thread has helped you to understand how this can happen. If it hasn’t helped you understand, at least you are now aware that there are people - Mass-attending, Jesus-loving, well-catechized, practicing Catholics, engaged in their faith, who have made this slip in a variety of circumstances.
 
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To be honest, I’ve done a lot of things on autopilot. But not genuflecting. I know where the tabernacle is in my church, in a separate chapel, which is typical of monasteries even before the Council. A lot of people do genuflect, not knowing that fact, or being unaware that genuflection is an act of worship. Bow to the altar, genuflect to our Lord.

Perhaps because of this, when I enter an unfamiliar church, I look for the tabernacle to determine which gesture to use.

I’ve been well taught by the monks. Of course when the Blessed Sacrament is on the altar, I do genuflect if I have to enter or leave my pew. And of course I do genuflect when I enter or leave the Blessed Sacrament chapel.

I simply can’t imagine genuflecting anywhere else, except before my wife when begging for forgiveness for something I should have gotten her permission for first 🤣
 
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Better be careful @OraLabora, you might get labeled a judgemental meany. :roll_eyes:😜
 
“do I have to confess genuflecting in a theater” Oh man, that would be the CAF-iest thread ever!
 
While it should be deliberate, that doesn’t exclude it becoming a habit, because while it is a prayer made with the body, it is also a repeated action that one “always” does, and so it seems like it could be both.

Also, apparently, in the olden days, the Catholics were so much in the habit they were known to genuflect when entering a theater row, presumably due to the similarity to pews. This has often been reflected on as a sign of their reverence, they were so faithful, and so respectful, that they wouldn’t enter a pew without doing so, which translated into the similar physical structure triggering the impulse.
 
I’ve never done an accidental genuflection. But I’m constantly “outing” myself as a Catholic every time I pass a church, cemetery, or roadside shrine . . .
 
THIS IS HILARIOUS!

I just made a business call reminding a customer of an unpaid invoice.

I got the guy’s answering system, and it told me to give a “10 second message”.

Flustered and nervous, trying to say my stuff in ten seconds, I finished it with…

“Amen”

🤣

The last few words of my message were in relation to “saving” his service, so maybe that’s how it happened.
 
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And there’s a distinction for during Mass vs outside of Mass. Either way, I still contend the original comment was in error.
 
I’ve never genuflected in a place where it isn’t necessary. I suspect I may have genuflected in a church instinctively even if the Blessed Sacrament was not where I was genuflecting. That’s because in some churches and very often in cathedrals the Blessed Sacrament isn’t in the main body of the building but in a side chapel.
 
I have never accidentally genuflected, but I understand the impulse. When I retired from the Marine Corps I found I was constantly reaching up to take off my hat (or “cover” as we called them) when entering a building. Certainly less noticeable then accidental genuflection! I will still occasionally get the impulse to put on or take off a non-existent cover. Muscle memory and reflex are hard to unlearn.
 
My knees hurt when genuflecting due to atrophy so I instead bow.
 
pulchraesamicamea said:
My knees hurt
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I have arthritis in one knee and one shoulder. I would have no trouble getting down but would have difficulty getting back up. I just bow my head and make the sign of the cross, which is what I see a great number of people doing. I’ve been attending Mass for four years now and never tire of watching the wide variety of ways in which members seem to be able to perform the same thing, from laying virtually prostrate on the floor to barely waving their hand across the chest. 🙂
 
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I’m sorry to hear about your condition! After I got this disability I just adapt around it and perhaps find other ways to revere the Lord. I hope your pain subsides soon- prayers!
 
pulchraesamicamea said:
I’m sorry to hear about your condition!
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Thank you so much for your kind words. My arthritis is more disappointing than debilitating. While it is painful, what I miss most is being able to throw a baseball 300 feet with p(name removed by moderator)oint accuracy. Now I’m lucky if I can toss it across the room underhanded. However, when visiting our oldest son in Calgary earlier this month, he and I played catch with a football, with me using my left arm. I actually always wanted to be left handed and can see how this holds promise, though not as though I were still in my 30’s. lol
 
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I lived in Calgary for 10 years- an amazing city, for sure. My disease is not an autoimmune disease but it does have similar elements. I miss little things like that, even walking up the stairs. Stairs became an impossible obstacle to overcome. I hope that there will be a cure out for us someday.
 
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