Have You Ever Seen a Catholic Church without Kneelers?

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Julia_Mae

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I wonder about St. Rosalia, the Stella Maris parish in Sister Bay where we worshipped Our Lord last summer.
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Something unusual happened the day we visited that parish. After genuflecting, we slipped into a row and leaned forward to lower the kneelers. There were no kneelers to lower.
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My husband and I wondered for a moment if we had made a mistake. Was this really a Catholic parish? I looked at the inside of the church. Yes, there was Our Lady. It must be Catholic.
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It was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. And we were in a Catholic church, but we wouldn’t be kneeling at the moment of Consecration – the very moment that the Corpus Christi would come to us in the Eucharist.
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I was once in a church without kneelers, too, though I wasn’t there for Mass. I was wondering if these are two isolated incidents, or if others have seem this.

But I also think I read here, that kneeling is not actually required in the Liturgy. I was surprised and now can’t find the post.

Does anyone have a link to something in the GIRM or the Canons that shows kneeling is a required,presuming one can kneel? Or something that states that it isn’t?

We talk a lot about what the celebrant is required to do, but where are the requirements for the faithful?
 
Kneelers are required. I have never seen a parish without them, thank God!
 
In the parish that must not be named, kneelers were just installed over this past weekend. Needless to say, I am ecstatic. :extrahappy: :extrahappy: :extrahappy:

They were without kneelers for something like ten years. :o 😦
 
Just came back from St. Peter’s, Rome, and no kneelers. No chairs either. Well there were but better get there early.

I believe this was the way things were through the Middle Ages. I’m guessing that kneelers and pews made an apparence in the 17th century or later.
 
If I was in a Catholic Church without kneelers I would be thrilled. I cannot kneel and get tired of the glares, icy stares, and explaining I can’t kneel. It works both ways. Sounds like I should look at a different branch of Catholicism.
 
I’ve seen a few. The first one caused me grave confusion.
 
Irishgal49 said:
If I was in a Catholic Church without kneelers I would be thrilled. I cannot kneel and get tired of the glares, icy stares, and explaining I can’t kneel. It works both ways. Sounds like I should look at a different branch of Catholicism.
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I’m sorry to hear that. We have quite a few folks at my parish who can’t kneel for one reason or another. Nobody gives it a second thought.
 
Irishgal49 said:
If I was in a Catholic Church without kneelers I would be thrilled. I cannot kneel and get tired of the glares, icy stares, and explaining I can’t kneel. It works both ways. Sounds like I should look at a different branch of Catholicism.
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Even without the kneelers, you would still have to kneel on the floor. I have bad knees and a bad back, so I definitely prefer to have the kneelers.
 
jmcrae said:
Even without the kneelers, you would still have to kneel on the floor. I have bad knees and a bad back, so I definitely prefer to have the kneelers.
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No I am talking about the churches where you stand, I can stand for hours, just can’t kneel and I guarantee I am NOT kneeling on the floor.
 
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St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Phnom Penh, where I attend when I’m in that city. No pews. No kneelers. You sit in a chair and kneel on the floor. In the height of summer there’s always the temptation to just protate oneself on the cool, marble floor. 🙂

Luna
 
YoungTradCath said:
Kneelers are required. I have never seen a parish without them, thank God!
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I don’t think kneelers are actually required, though feel free to correct me on this. 🙂 Kneeling is a part of the rubrics for the faithful I believe, but that doesn’t necessitate having kneelers in a church. 🤷

I have been to one or two churches without kneelers… but, interestingly enough, only in Europe, not in the US. And some of them had chairs with seats a little lower, and High backs so that they can be turned around and used as kneelers for those who wish to. It waas actually really neat to see!
 
thewanderer said:
I don’t think kneelers are actually required, though feel free to correct me on this. 🙂 Kneeling is a part of the rubrics for the faithful I believe, but that doesn’t necessitate having kneelers in a church. 🤷
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Kneeling is required; kneelers are not.
 
It´s so important to kneel at consecration time, for me anyway, that with or without kneelers I kneel… in third world countries, specially in small towns you find a lot of churches without them because of the costs involved. So, you north Americans should count your blessings!😉
 
thewanderer said:
I don’t think kneelers are actually required, though feel free to correct me on this. 🙂 Kneeling is a part of the rubrics for the faithful I believe, but that doesn’t necessitate having kneelers in a church. 🤷

I have been to one or two churches without kneelers… but, interestingly enough, only in Europe, not in the US. And some of them had chairs with seats a little lower, and High backs so that they can be turned around and used as kneelers for those who wish to. It waas actually really neat to see!
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I believe somewhere a question was submitted to the Congregation for Divine Worship about the necessity of kneelers, and they said something like they should be installed, but that even if they are not present, the faithful are to kneel regardless, yes.
 
St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice had no kneelers; it felt like I was kneeling on daggers.
 
I went to daily Mass in a chapel around here once, and it didn’t have kneelers. We just knelt on the floor.

The actual church did have kneelers.
 
Yes I have, in Florida when my parents had a place in a retirement community. The local Catholic Church took out the kneelers because of the more advanced age of the congregation to discourage them from kneeling. There were a handful of young families in the parish community, but they were the exception.
 
I personally know of several Parish and a Convent Church all without kneelers in my area. 🤷
 
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