I am confused by what I have read.
At every parish I have ever been to, the faithful return to their pew and sit or kneel after reception of Holy Communion. But it seems that this is wrong?
How else are people supposed to make their act of thanksgiving and pray while they enjoy the Real Presence of Jesus if they must stand?
I don’t know about others, but for private prayer, I must close my eyes to shut out distractions, and standing with my eyes closed is not a good idea.
Perhaps that is why so many parishes ignore the rule? Because the parishioners cannot stand and pray their post-reception of Holy Communion prayers at the same time?
On another note, I am curious to know WHY the rule is that the faithful must remain standing. If anyone knows the answer to that question, I would be grateful to hear it.
I tried to explain before but it seems I did not succeed. I shall give it one more go.
Approaching the Eucharist is not supposed to be simply the locomotion necessary to get a collection of bodies from the pews to the Communion station and back. It is supposed to constitute a procession of the whole assembly in proper order…the presider and any concelebrants, the deacon(s), the extraordinary ministers and the ministers of the altar and of the Word, and then the assembly.
Even though only a segment of the assembly is in movement at any given moment, the gesture of standing is an expression of the unicity of the liturgical assembly and precisely not that individuals are about their own private devotions or “doing their own thing.” The common posture is supposed to be held until the last member of the assembly has received Communion.
The main time I experience this circumstance (where I am simply standing and not myself distributing the Eucharist) is when I am on monastic retreat. As a concelebrant, I take the host and the chalice but since I am never needed to assist with Communion, I then return to my choir stall and proceed to stand until the congregation has communicated. The Abbot then indicates when all are to sit, by himself sitting. I have no problem praying while standing, personally. The choral configuration of the stalls (the monks face each other) was something to accustom myself to in my long long ago youth but one simply doesn’t stare at one’s counterpart directly across from you; one can pray with one’s head either lower or higher than looking at eye level. I would never close my eyes, for a number of reasons. Now the issue is physically standing but, fortunately, the choir stall can be leaned upon.
Anyway, all of that is about the ideal and the value the rubric expresses.
The reality is that, of course, one will have varying circumstances. Some people can’t stand – either at all or at least for so long a period. Before I myself retired, I had priests who would concelebrate with me but were too feeble to distribute the Eucharist, so they went to their place and immediately sat (presuming they weren’t actually confined to a wheelchair)…as they properly should have…and Extraordinary Ministers replaced him/them.
The problem over this posture arose in that there were those who became too exuberant in wanting this rubric observed. Some rubrics have more liturgical significance than others – as any theologian or liturgist should be able to articulate. As the Cardinal Prefect said about this one, it is there for general guidance. All else being equal, the liturgical assembly should be standing until the moment of sacred silence begins. One should not, however, be placing people under physical compulsion. In some places, people were actually harangued…which violates other values which should be kept to in the liturgical assembly.
The rule should not be “ignored.” That would be an inappropriate response. On the other hand, it should not be enforced in a brutal or insistent manner either. If people choose not to comply with the rubric…then they don’t comply with the rubric. It isn’t – and shouldn’t be – made out to be a liturgical crime. They simply are not in compliance with what is the normative gesture. In most places where I was, the majority kept the posture and some sat and some knelt. I never said anything to anyone about not following the rubric. The thought would not even occur to me.
