I would rather pray sitting than kneeling

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TemplarKnight1

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Hello…

Just wondering…Don’t know if I am being scrupulous here or what not.

I admire those people who can pray and kneel for long periods of time… However, I am one of those people who find it really uncomfortable to kneel for long periods of time… especially during longer devotions like group rosaries in the church. However, I am aware that kneeling is a sign of reverence as well. I don’t like to kneel (if I don’t have to) not because I don’t want to be humble but because of the physical discomfort it causes me especially for longer periods of time.

However, come to think of it… does the act of enduring the pain / discomfort of kneeling while praying also qualify as an act of offering / sacrifice to God? This is not at all incompatible to the “endure without complaint” and “cross carrying” lifestyle that is required of us Catholics…

And at home when I pray, at night before I go to bed or when I say the Divine Mercy devotion I do it mostly sitting down…

I was wondering… is this okay to do? I feel that when I am sitting down, I am able to concentrate and meditate more (especially when saying the rosary) rather than concentrating on the discomfort / pain of kneeling. Thus, when I pray kneeling there is a greater chance of the prayers being just lip service because most of my mind is thinking about the discomfort of kneeling whereas I find it much easier meditate and enter a contemplative mindset when praying while sitting.

Does it really make that much of a difference?
 
I cannot kneel much at all. My left knee is very painful, and my right ankle is almost completely fused. My back hurts from compensating. During the day, I’m better walking than sitting, and standing instead of sitting. Kneeling would be so painful that it would distract me from praying and devoting myself. So I don’t. For me, it’s better to sit than to kneel. There’s no sense in kneeling if you can’t stay focused because of the pain. In addition, if your joints are so painful from kneeling (or doing anything else), unless you want to incur more injury, I would just not do it.
 
I used to kneel with the best of them. Then, a knee surgery and two lumbar spine surgeries entered in. At some point now, while kneeling, the sciatic nerve is acts up and it feels like a knife stabbing my left calf. I have to straighten the leg then. So now, at adoration, I can offer one Rosary kneeling, but the rest of my prayer is sitting.

Would our prayers be any less effective if we were lying in a hospital bed? The Lord judges the heart rather than the posture.
 
I can’t kneel for more than a few minutes before my back becomes painfully distracting, as in I-can’t-think-of-anything-but-the-knife-stabbing-me-in-the-spine distracting. Therefore, for me it’s more beneficial to sit and pray for extended periods than it is to kneel and pray.

Luna
 
There are times I can kneel comfortably for long periods of prayer. There are times it is uncomfortable. There are times I endure the discomfort and offer it as a sacrifice, a very small sacrifice when I compare it to the pain Our Lord endured, but still a sacrifice. There are times that instead of enduring the discomfort I sit so I am not distracted by the discomfort…

Of course, at Mass, I am obedient to the instructions. In groups I submit to the posture of the group’s leader. Alone, I do what feels appropriate to the prayer, circumstances, my attitude, etc…

You know… sometimes my prayer is to overcome some temptation to sin and to me it’s obvious that discomfort in kneeling is an opportunity to submit the will of the flesh to the will of the spirit… Or praying my penance or contrition for venial sins, the kneeling seems more appropriate… And personally, I feel disrespectful if I don’t start and end adoration kneeling…

But, outside of organized community prayer, it’s all up to you and God and how He wants you to relate or what you want to relate to Him… At least, that’s my perspective…
 
They took the kneelers out of our church when they recarpeted. I don’t think it matters whether your sitting, kneeling or laying as long as your praying.
 
I think that kneeling is a sign of reverence and if you can kneel during the Eucharist, you probably should. However, if you are in pain, then sitting will allow you to concentrate on the prayer and sacrifice instead of the pain. Any other type of devotion, I think it’s just fine if you sit. If you really want to, you could genuflect and then sit.
 
TemplarKnight1 said:
Hello…

Just wondering…Don’t know if I am being scrupulous here or what not.

I admire those people who can pray and kneel for long periods of time… However, I am one of those people who find it really uncomfortable to kneel for long periods of time… especially during longer devotions like group rosaries in the church. However, I am aware that kneeling is a sign of reverence as well. I don’t like to kneel (if I don’t have to) not because I don’t want to be humble but because of the physical discomfort it causes me especially for longer periods of time.

However, come to think of it… does the act of enduring the pain / discomfort of kneeling while praying also qualify as an act of offering / sacrifice to God? This is not at all incompatible to the “endure without complaint” and “cross carrying” lifestyle that is required of us Catholics…

And at home when I pray, at night before I go to bed or when I say the Divine Mercy devotion I do it mostly sitting down…

I was wondering… is this okay to do? I feel that when I am sitting down, I am able to concentrate and meditate more (especially when saying the rosary) rather than concentrating on the discomfort / pain of kneeling. Thus, when I pray kneeling there is a greater chance of the prayers being just lip service because most of my mind is thinking about the discomfort of kneeling whereas I find it much easier meditate and enter a contemplative mindset when praying while sitting.

Does it really make that much of a difference?
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I used to kneel in church at the expected times, but arthritis has made that not possible. I just sit at the edge of my seat.

At home I always pray sitting up, whether sitting up in bed or in the living room. All the books I have read on prayer over the years usually say to sit in a comfortable position. (Of course not all cushiony or you may fall asleep!) And that is usually for a longer period of prayer, like half an hour.

Kneeling in pain would a distraction, I would think, to your prayer. It is good to focus on the Lord and what you are saying to Him, and be still to listen as well.
 
I’ll be sitting with you. Arthritis in both knees–kneeling is painful after 10 minutes, but I do the 10 minutes, or however long, till I’m uncomfortable. Sometimes, it takes all I’ve got to genuflect, but I do genuflect.
 
Kneeling is penance and penance is fine, but if one can’t do it then one shouldn’t. The great spiritual directors such as St. Teresa of Avila advised sitting for private prayer, especially for meditation and contemplation. She said that we cannot be free to let God speak to us if we are physically uncomfortable.
 
Pray as you can, not as you can’t! What matters is that you pray!!! 😃
 
Della said:
Kneeling is penance and penance is fine, but if one can’t do it then one shouldn’t. The great spiritual directors such as St. Teresa of Avila advised sitting for private prayer, especially for meditation and contemplation. She said that we cannot be free to let God speak to us if we are physically uncomfortable.
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I usually pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Do you think my contemplation in front of the Blessed Sacrament should be done sitting, given what St. Teresa of Avila says? Now I don’t know what is best for me to do.
 
ready said:
I usually pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Do you think my contemplation in front of the Blessed Sacrament should be done sitting, given what St. Teresa of Avila says? Now I don’t know what is best for me to do.
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See post #12! 😃
 
ready said:
I usually pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Do you think my contemplation in front of the Blessed Sacrament should be done sitting, given what St. Teresa of Avila says? Now I don’t know what is best for me to do.
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Yes, absolutely. You don’t have to kneel the whole time during exposition any more than you do during Mass. Sitting is just as reverential when we are contemplating as when kneeling. God is with us all the time and is more interested in the contents of our hearts than our bodily position. Kneeling is a penitential posture–it’s not necessary for comtemplation. You may kneel if you wish, but it’s not mandatory. 🙂
 
Dear Oneofthewoman and Della,

For contemplation I will let myself sit, seeing St. Teresa of Avila recommends it, but for my vocal prayer I will kneel instead because the Blessed Virgin Mary recommended Ven. Mary of Agreda to pray her Office and her prayers in the kneeling posture. I can handle kneeling without a problem (I like to kneel) and I don’t mind sitting either. I feel more reverential when I am on my knees before the Blessed Sacrament exposed because I am in a posture of submission, but I understand that a person sitting down before Jesus can have just as much reverence in his/her heart as the person kneeling. When Jesus is exposed I feel I am supposed to be kneeling for as long as possible … it will take some getting used to doing my contemplation while sitting. I sat at tonight’s adoration in contemplation … just before leaving the chapel I knelt for a little while. Peace!
 
Keep in mind the Fifth Commandment: God doesn`t want us to physically damage ourselves.
 
Prayer is not the posture, but the interior disposition. One could be kneeling and not at all reverant and recollected. And as far as appearances are concerned, that is The Lord’s domain since one can ‘appear’ most anything at all within limits, simply through ‘appearing to’.
If one prefers to sit, then sit. If one prefers to kneel, then kneel. A person for various reasons may not be able to use kneeling as a penance, but there are plenty of ways other than kneeling once CAN do penance and not in an obvious manner.
It is very true to pray as you can and not as you can not.
 
ready said:
Dear Oneofthewoman and Della,

For contemplation I will let myself sit, seeing St. Teresa of Avila recommends it, but for my vocal prayer I will kneel instead because the Blessed Virgin Mary recommended Ven. Mary of Agreda to pray her Office and her prayers in the kneeling posture. I can handle kneeling without a problem (I like to kneel) and I don’t mind sitting either. I feel more reverential when I am on my knees before the Blessed Sacrament exposed because I am in a posture of submission, but I understand that a person sitting down before Jesus can have just as much reverence in his/her heart as the person kneeling. When Jesus is exposed I feel I am supposed to be kneeling for as long as possible … it will take some getting used to doing my contemplation while sitting. I sat at tonight’s adoration in contemplation … just before leaving the chapel I knelt for a little while. Peace!
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And you are free to do are you wish, of course. But you don’t want to be driven to do anything by your feelings or by what a Ven./Bl./St. was directed to do. What they believed they should do through private messages/locutions, etc. doesn’t necessarily apply to us. We are to imitate the saints in their holiness and recollection, not necessarily in they way they dressed, their posture, their eating habits, etc. Each one of us is different and so needs to do such things as is best for us. You may want to seek out a reliable spiritual director for this and other issues so you don’t become either scrupulous or lax. Without guidance we may be too easy or too hard on ourselves . Blessings on you and yours. 🙂
 
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