I got in trouble for kneeling to receive Communion

[Jesus_N_Cherie]

There are several who kneel to receive Holy Communion and our priest is totally in favor of it so it’s no problem but when a visiting newby priest was there for a special occasion one lady was refused Communion by him and stayed right where she was. Our Deacon finally came over and corrected him.
I personally cannot kneel (and get back up) but I do take a small detour to the end of the pew and genuflect before receiving on the tongue. If I am sick at all I receive in the hand so as not to contaminate the priests fingers which sometimes touches my tongue. I also do not partake of His Precious Blood if I feel I’m contagious. I’m 64 and have Fibromyalgia. If the Communion rail was back I think I could do that. Our priest would love to have the rail in our brand new church, but he has said that he might be sent to the bad priests home if he did. Maybe with the Pope doing what he has done at the Youth Day, he’ll be able to do it. He’s a traditional priest who is learning the Latin Mass. He already has our altar servers using the paten under the communicants chins. I’m not sure what they do when the person is receiving in the hand. It seems that with different Bishops we see different practices and that’s a bit unsettling. I have seen our Cloistered Carmelite nuns receiving in the hand thru their little door but first kissing the Host before consumming. I’m a lay Carmelite. I asked my Spiritual adviser about it. He’s a semi cloistered Trappist (priest monk and dear friend) in that he hears confessions, says Masses for the public and they run a small store in the middle of a lot of acreage of land they own and farm or lease now, but doesn’t leave the monastery. He said that it was an act of love, so acceptable to kiss the Host. We’re going thru a very confusing time after an even more confusing time so I think that both ways of receiving our Lord can be reverent but too often I see that it is not. It seems to be automatic and casual. My kids were educated during a very wishy washy time, tho I tried to add to their lessons and I’m lucky to have 1 conservative daughter and 1 not quite as conservative but active in the faith. My oldest became mormon and was a very devout one when she died. She really needed the rules of the old church I think. Our 2 sons have rejected the faith or at least the practice of it. My husband is a questioning cradle catholic. I’m a convert of 37 years. I also wear a head covering at daily Mass and at Adoration Hours but I don’t want to be “showy” at Sunday Mass. I watched the end of a program on EWTN by Fr. Pacwa, I think, and he was explaining the customs of the times of Jesus about head coverings and hair length. He did not seem to think it was important now. It just puts me in a more reverent mood to cover my head with a light, scarf. Either way I know that I’m in the presence of the God of the Universe. I don’t think we can truly be reverent enough. The voice in the burning bush told Moses to remove his shoes as he was on Holy ground. We are too,at Mass, but I’ve not seen anyone do that. Should I try it?
In Christs’ love, M.A.

I know a couple of men who remove their shoes. I think it is awesome.

 

[rjs1]

Once again, I hear you telling Rome that She is wrong. On what grounds this time? Because a lay person was uncomfortable with it? Please. Pantheists are uncomfortable with the whole Catholic Religion. Should we stop being Catholic to appease them?

Exactly!

Thanks to the Holy Father for using his public masses as an opportunity of showing the world what receiving the Body of Christ is really all about.

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

Hi,

The instruction says that no one can be denied, but it does say they are to be instructed as to the reasons for the norm.

GIRM 160. The priest then takes the paten or ciborium and goes to the communicants, who, as a rule, approach in a procession.

The faithful are not permitted to take the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them from one to another. The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.

One is uniformity of posture (as well as the tripping, and difficulty for some), which I can definitely understand for the youth minister at a function.

Fr McNamara on Zenit

An English reader asked about the Communion procession: “Where the practice has been introduced of the faithful queuing to receive holy Communion standing, do individuals have a right to receive the Host kneeling down or is the priest entitled to insist that they stand? If the faithful are permitted to receive in a kneeling position, is each individual who wishes to do so entitled to kneel at the altar rail, or must he do so in the queue as his turn arrives?”

There are two question involved. The short answer to the question if the individual may choose to receive kneeling is yes. He may do so and may not be refused Communion for adopting this posture. There might be occasions when charity requires that a Catholic sacrifice his personal devotion for the good of others, and so receive standing, but in general it is no great problem.

The present liturgy sees the faithful as coming to receive Communion in processional form (not quite a queue). And so the proper thing to do would be to await one’s turn if that is the only way foreseen for the distribution of Communion.

However, a pastor may freely offer the faithful the possibility of using the Communion rail once they have arrived at the entrance to the presbytery, if he so desires.

Many people who kneel feel that they are more reverent than those who participate in a solemn Communion procession. Only God knows the heart, but I feel disrupting a procession is certainly not more reverent than participating. Kneeling is ok, if there are provisions, but it does not seem the best choice if everyone else is processing.

Lux

 

[grandfather]

It is self righteous if you assume that those receive in the hand standing is not giving due reverence…and you want to show yourself kneeling.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=30544

A friend of mine is a transitional deacon. He will be ordained a priest next year. He told me he is astonished by the way some people receive. They reach out their hand and grab the Host and pop it in their mouths like a potao chip and turn away. They are oblivious to what they are doing in the moment of receiving God. Body language reveals a lot. It is not self righteous to assume these people are not showing reverence. They are clueless.

I asked another friend who is in the choir and in a position to observe the communicants from behind the priest if it looked to him, judging by body language and facial expressions if the people receiving were worshipping God. This friend is not a conservative or traditional Catholic by any means. He said, “they are not worshipping anything”. This was not a self righteous opinion. We were not talking about one way being better than another, or his preferences. He saw what he saw.

 

[IrishBrigade]

Kneeling is ok, if there are provisions, but it does not seem the best choice if everyone else is processing.

…agreed…however the point by the OP refers to the arrogance of the Youth Minister in attempting to dictate protocol that is so easily controverted…my suggestion would be a profound bow, which, if one wishes to show due reverence, suffices nicely, and as a side benefit, does not disrupt the procession in the least…nobody can possibly have a problem with that…

 

[maryj]

“if there are provisions” I see stated that the Holy Father has a kneeler in front of him for the faithful to kneel on. Was there a kneeler?

 

[Phemie]

Hi,

The instruction says that no one can be denied, but it does say they are to be instructed as to the reasons for the norm.

One is uniformity of posture (as well as the tripping, and difficulty for some), which I can definitely understand for the youth minister at a function.

Fr McNamara on Zenit

Many people who kneel feel that they are more reverent than those who participate in a solemn Communion procession. Only God knows the heart, but I feel disrupting a procession is certainly not more reverent than participating. Kneeling is ok, if there are provisions, but it does not seem the best choice if everyone else is processing.

Lux

We have a few parishioners who kneel to receive and the only person I’ve ever heard complain about it is the woman who convinced a previous pastor that we should maintain the same posture for the entire Eucharistic Prayer and that that posture should be standing.

Off-topic: As a congregation we’ve not knelt for the EP in 6 or 7 years, although a few, including the ones who receive kneeling still do. Remember that in Canada we still follow the 1975 GIRM which only mandates kneeling at Consecraton and where ‘a good reason’ for not kneeling then is having been instructed not to do so. The bishop obviously agrees since those who still kneel and complained were told that as long as the pastor had given instruction to do so it was OK.

 

[Phemie]

“if there are provisions” I see stated that the Holy Father has a kneeler in front of him for the faithful to kneel on. Was there a kneeler?

You don’t need a kneeler to kneel for Communion. We have a 75 year old man who kneels & receives on the tongue all the time without a kneeler or an altar rail.

 

[Eric_Olsen]

Which church in vegas was that?
Was it the shrine which is a couple of blocks off the main strip?

Take courage.
I travel on business frequently and attend daily Mass wherever I am and whenever possible. Among the experiences like yours I’ve had are:

• being given the “We don’t do that here” speech at a parish in Florida;
• having a priest at a church in Las Vegas tell me (in a voice that could be heard throughout the nave) “If you ever do that again I will not give you Communion”;
• having a priest in California simply step aside and summon the next person in line to receive.

I try to offer up the momentary human embarassment in reparation for my sins, but it doesn’t change anything. I know Who He is and I know who I am, so I’ll continue to receive Him kneeling.

 

[maryj]

You don’t need a kneeler to kneel for Communion. We have a 75 year old man who kneels & receives on the tongue all the time without a kneeler or an altar rail.

Never stated you need a kneeler to kneel, I asked if there was a kneeler. So again was there provisions provided for kneeling, such as a kneeler?

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

Also, the Holy Father, as the celebrant of papal Masses, has stated that he wishes the communicants to receive in the kneeling posture. He has also stated that there is nothing wrong with the standing posture. The universal norm is standing or kneeling as the Bishops instruct.

What of the instructions of the celebrant of these other Masses that the communicants receive standing?

Lux

 

[jmdsc]

…my suggestion would be a profound bow…

I have no problem with kneeling while receiving (though I do believe that I would be literally run-over by other parishoners if I tried it).

What I do have a problem with is people who “bow profoundly” to the back of the person ahead of them in the que - exactly to whom are they bowing? Does it take more time to bow when you actually get to the front of the line? Are you really in that big of a hurry?

Seems to me that kneeling for receiving would completely solve this bad habit! Bring back the communion rail!

 

[Phemie]

I have no problem with kneeling while receiving (though I do believe that I would be literally run-over by other parishoners if I tried it).

What I do have a problem with is people who “bow profoundly” to the back of the person ahead of them in the que - exactly to whom are they bowing? Does it take more time to bow when you actually get to the front of the line? Are you really in that big of a hurry?

Seems to me that kneeling for receiving would completely solve this bad habit! Bring back the communion rail!

But, but, but, bowing before you get to the head of the line is what we are being instructed to do. It’s not that we’re in a hurry, it’s that the proverbial ‘they’ feel that if everyone bows when they are in front of the line it will impede the ‘flow’ of the procession.

 

[jmdsc]

But, but, but, bowing before you get to the head of the line is what we are being instructed to do. It’s not that we’re in a hurry, it’s that the proverbial ‘they’ feel that if everyone bows when they are in front of the line it will impede the ‘flow’ of the procession.

Who is ‘they’ and how do I get a meeting with them?

 

[Phemie]

Who is ‘they’ and how do I get a meeting with them?

Truth be told, RS & the 2002 GIRM have not been implemented in our diocese so we have no instruction to bow, yet. But, when there was still talk of implementing the GIRM (before the Canadian bishops decided that that would not happen until we had the translation of the Roman Missal) the instruction that we got, in writing, was to bow as the person in front of us was receiving. By ‘we’ I mean the parish staff who saw the document. I remember at the time exclaiming “So we’ll be bowing to someone’s back?!?” Didn’t have to worry about it since the implementation of the GIRM never came to pass.

 

[Servulus]

Which church in vegas was that?
Was it the shrine which is a couple of blocks off the main strip?

No, I haven’t been to the shrine yet. This was a Sunday Mass at the Cathedral.

 

[DixiesFinest]

For the past year or so, I have been kneeling to receive Communion. I have not been told not to, although it takes some of the EMHC’s by surprise sometimes.

Anyway, this week the high-schoolers in the youth group are doing “Service Week” where we volunteer in the local community. We have College kids chaperone, as well as parent volunteers. I am one of the college chaperones.

We were at Mass today, and like usual, I knelt to receive Communion. As I was walking back to my seat, the youth minister asked to see me. He said that I was not allowed to kneel and that “we don’t do that here.” I stated that the documents say the one cannot be denied Communion because of kneeling, and he said that is not true. (By the way, GIRM 160 DOES in fact say that.) He made it seem like I was “breaking the rules.” He explained that he wasn’t criticizing me, he said that it simply was not allowed and didn’t want a scene to occur. I can somewhat understand the part about the scene.

Now, I realize that the norm is standing. But the GIRM does in fact say that I cannot be denied Communion because I am kneeling. What should I do about this?

Dear “youth minister.”

Get off your high horse. Kneeling is historic. Kneeling is reverent. Get over yourself and your hippie “i know better than a couple thousand years of Church history” belief.

Sincerely,

Catholicism.

 

[AMDGtoo]

the instruction that we got, in writing, was to bow as the person in front of us was receiving.

That’s the same instruction we got, and my parish is in the United States! In my parish, the priest even gave us weeks of instruction on the different posture changes as well. (Of course he omitted the fact that we could still kneel if it was our devotion and the part about “making a point to spend a moment in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.”)

 

[agapewolf]

A friend of mine is a transitional deacon. He will be ordained a priest next year. He told me he is astonished by the way some people receive. They reach out their hand and grab the Host and pop it in their mouths like a potao chip and turn away. They are oblivious to what they are doing in the moment of receiving God. Body language reveals a lot. It is not self righteous to assume these people are not showing reverence. They are clueless.

I asked another friend who is in the choir and in a position to observe the communicants from behind the priest if it looked to him, judging by body language and facial expressions if the people receiving were worshipping God. This friend is not a conservative or traditional Catholic by any means. He said, “they are not worshipping anything”. This was not a self righteous opinion. We were not talking about one way being better than another, or his preferences. He saw what he saw.

I agree, I used to be an EMHC…I am now a music director and see 2 lines receive all the time. I know there is irreverance. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist…but the person I was talking to about this in this thread wrote that it is good for people to see him kneel so they can see some giving due reverence, as if those receiving in the hand or standing do not.

This is wrong.

It

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I should note that the youth minister is my employer.

So your employer has asked you to receive communion according to the norms in the United States:

1. The faithful are not permitted to take the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them from one to another. The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.

That seems pretty simple to me.

Thoughts that run through my mind at this point include something about the need for humility in following what our bishops have asked of us…something about setting an example for the youth you work with (as in “I’ll obey” versus “I’m doing it my own way”)…something about how if you have so little respect for your boss perhaps you should find another job.

If you are at a papal Mass and receive from the Pope, then do it his way. That would also be humble obedience.