kneelers

[duggy]

I recently was transfered from Texas to Nevada, I have found a Catholic Church very close to my new home, in fact it is just around the corner. It is a Holy Cross Catholic Church, I was so excited about it. I don’t know if this is a problem, but it really bothers me.
They have no kneelers, everyone stands when they should be kneeling. They have no crucifix above the altar, they have a plain cross with a cloth drapped around it, hung in the center of the sanctuary. Everyone that comes early before mass, visits in the sanctuary, it is very hard to pray among all the noise. When receiving communion they don’t bow, or guenuflex. Having come back to the Catholic Church after nearly 35 years. of trying to be a Baptist, I find this disturbing. In Texas our priest insisted on reverance in the way we accepted the host, to how we behaved in the sanctuary prior to mass, to how we dressed. These people here are good people, but they are so casual, in the way they dress and they way they act while in the Lords house. Sunday,
one of the Eucharistic ministers was wearing bib overalls.
One of the reasons I came home to the Catholic church was the Baptist have watered down their faith so much. I personally feel that if we start accepted no kneelers, casual behavior, in order to make it easier, then before you know it, we have done away with many of the things that makes our faith so beautiful and full. There is another Catholic Church in the area, but it is not as close. I don’t know what to do, I have prayed about it, I have contacted the church, they told me they have no kneelers, because when they established themselves, they rented a hall, to hold mass, when they built their church, everyone insisted on keeping the chairs, since they had no kneelers to begin with, they were allowed to do so. They like their causual atmosphere. Any comments are welcome. Thank you, Richard Duggan

 

[Kyenta]

Everyone insisted on keeping the chairs? No kneelers?
I understand your plight because while traveling I have come upon beautiful Catholic Churches with no kneelers. To me that is outragious. So I kneeled on the floor. Very few others did this.

I remember Mother Angelica being asked this very question and she responded, “Well, you have knees!”

If this Church means a lot to you and you consider it your Parish, try and make some noise about getting kneelers and more reverance in the Church. If you are still frustrated, I would go to the Church further away… You have come too far in your journey back home to the Catholic Church to let the modernization of this Church hinder your progress. I agree with you completely.

“The servant of God should always be in good spirits”

 

[Giannawannabe]

I would start looking for another church Richard. There is such wide variety out there. In my area, we have Indult TLM masses, beautiful Orthodox Novus Ordo masses, and highly modernistic parishes with no kneelers and the Tabernacle is nowhere to be seen.

You could fight it out at the parish you’re attending, but it just may make you frustrated and angry. I’ll bet there is a parish near you with kneelers and that is less modernistic in approach.

Good luck!!!

 

[Liberian]

Giannawannabe:

I would start looking for another church Richard. There is such wide variety out there. In my area, we have Indult TLM masses, beautiful Orthodox Novus Ordo masses, and highly modernistic parishes with no kneelers and the Tabernacle is nowhere to be seen.

You could fight it out at the parish you’re attending, but it just may make you frustrated and angry. I’ll bet there is a parish near you with kneelers and that is less modernistic in approach.

Good luck!!!

Richard,

There is also a middle ground between “fighting it out” (by which I mean trying to change the practices of the parish) and leaving. If you think God is calling you to join this parish, you can simply do the required reverences yourself (including receiving Communion on the tongue, if that suits you) and ignore what everybody else is doing.

A possible problem with this solution is that I find that liberals tend to be highly intolerant, so you may find yourself in a fight anyway. But the answer to them is that they can do things their way and they should be tolerant enough to let you do things your way. And I daresay the Bishop would be a lot keener to listen to “I am being persecuted for trying to do things right” than he would be to “These people are doing things wrong.”

I wish you blessings in whatever path you choose.

• Liberian

 

[Ter]

Kyenta:

I understand your plight because while traveling I have come upon beautiful Catholic Churches with no kneelers. To me that is outragious. So I kneeled on the floor. Very few others did this.
“The servant of God should always be in good spirits”

You should be aware that in some European countries the act of reverence is to stand. So where we kneel/sit they stand/sit. I noticed it when I went to France as a student. In Ireland people return to their place after communion & some kneel in prayer & some sit, but where I was in France the people came back & stood in prayer & some sat. I was very impressed by the reverence of those who stood in prayer.

 

[Pariah_Pirana]

duggy:

I recently was transfered from Texas to Nevada, I have found a Catholic Church very close to my new home, in fact it is just around the corner. It is a Holy Cross Catholic Church, I was so excited about it. I don’t know if this is a problem, but it really bothers me.
They have no kneelers, everyone stands when they should be kneeling. They have no crucifix above the altar, they have a plain cross with a cloth drapped around it, hung in the center of the sanctuary. Everyone that comes early before mass, visits in the sanctuary, it is very hard to pray among all the noise. When receiving communion they don’t bow, or guenuflex. Having come back to the Catholic Church after nearly 35 years. of trying to be a Baptist, I find this disturbing. In Texas our priest insisted on reverance in the way we accepted the host, to how we behaved in the sanctuary prior to mass, to how we dressed. These people here are good people, but they are so casual, in the way they dress and they way they act while in the Lords house. Sunday,
one of the Eucharistic ministers was wearing bib overalls.
One of the reasons I came home to the Catholic church was the Baptist have watered down their faith so much. I personally feel that if we start accepted no kneelers, casual behavior, in order to make it easier, then before you know it, we have done away with many of the things that makes our faith so beautiful and full. There is another Catholic Church in the area, but it is not as close. I don’t know what to do, I have prayed about it, I have contacted the church, they told me they have no kneelers, because when they established themselves, they rented a hall, to hold mass, when they built their church, everyone insisted on keeping the chairs, since they had no kneelers to begin with, they were allowed to do so. They like their causual atmosphere. Any comments are welcome. Thank you, Richard Duggan

First, don’t ever get so caught-up in the rules that it angers you and overwhelms the meaning of the Mass. If this means going to another parish or looking at the tops of your shoes when something particularly disturbing it taking place, then do just that.

More specifically however:

• So go ahead and kneel. Take a cushion along if you need to. Focus on yourself and not others.
• Go talk to your priest about the people visiting in the sanctuary. That’s hardcore unacceptable. Ask if you can make/buy a sign on a pedestal that says “please stay out of the sanctuary.” We won this battle in my prish.
• Talk to him about the cross in place of the crucifix with corpus. Offer to raise some money for a correct crucifix. Make it YOUR problem.
• Keep bowing. Again, focus on yourself and not others.

In the end I would go talk to your new pastor – maybe invite him to lunch. Tell him about your concerns AND that you are willing to help. You might be just what he is looking for. Finally, don’t focus on others – focus on yourself and of course, God and His Son Jesus the Christ.

P.S. Don’t fall for the bait that the Tridentine Mass is the solution to all the ills in the Church. It ain’t.

 

[duggy]

Thank you to all who responded, to my little problem. I have prayed about it, I am the new guy in this church, all their members seem very happy in their church, I have contacted the parish pastorial assistant, who, sees no problem, welcomes me into their Catholic family, if I continue to go to this parish I will kneel on the floor, if that becomes uncomfortable, I will bring a pillow. But I will kneel before the Lord. I am going to try the other Catholic Church in the area before I decide. God bless you all, I am learning so much from this web site, and from EWTN Radio.

In Christ,
Richard Duggan