Kneeling during Consecration at Easter

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Andres88

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Easter is no penitential time, but kneeling is not necessarily a penitential act. It might actually be wrapped in a worshiping attitude. However, I’ve heard from some priests that we are not to kneel during Consecration at Easter because “Christ has resurrected” and “we have resurrected with Him.” To me, this doesn’t add up well, so I still kneel at Consecration, even at Easter.

I believe that the motive behind this kind of thought has to do a lot with the penitential view of the act of kneeling. And it might as well has to do something with how “you can’t fast on Sundays.” The specific moment of the Consecration, however, seems to me still deserving of kneeling before the presence of Jesus Christ at the altar, no matter the liturgical time. But that’s my personal approach.

I was wondering:
-Do you kneel during Consecration at Easter?
-Is there an official Church stance on this?
 
Andres88 said:
I was wondering:
-Do you kneel during Consecration at Easter?
-Is there an official Church stance on this?
Click to expand...
The universal rule is to kneel at Consecration (universal GIRM) There is no provision to not kneel at Easter or during the Easter season.
 
I have never heard of this. Every parish I’ve ever belonged to has always done kneeling during the consecration, including at Easter. This sounds like some personal innovation or tinkering of the liturgy done by certain priests.
 
First I’ve heard of that. We kneel just like always.

Wonder if it’s one of the modern innovations that some make up, like the no holy water in the fonts during Lent?
 
Canon 20 (Nicaea)

Forasmuch as there are certain persons who kneel on the Lord’s Day and in the days of Pentecost, therefore, to the intent that all things may be uniformly observed everywhere (in every parish), it seems good to the holy Synod that prayer be made to God standing.
 
Andres88 said:
Easter is no penitential time, but kneeling is not necessarily a penitential act. It might actually be wrapped in a worshiping attitude. However, I’ve heard from some priests that we are not to kneel during Consecration at Easter because “Christ has resurrected” and “we have resurrected with Him.” To me, this doesn’t add up well, so I still kneel at Consecration, even at Easter.

I believe that the motive behind this kind of thought has to do a lot with the penitential view of the act of kneeling. And it might as well has to do something with how “you can’t fast on Sundays.” The specific moment of the Consecration, however, seems to me still deserving of kneeling before the presence of Jesus Christ at the altar, no matter the liturgical time. But that’s my personal approach.

I was wondering:
-Do you kneel during Consecration at Easter?
-Is there an official Church stance on this?
Click to expand...
One properly does not kneel during the Litany of the Saints at an Ordination during the Easter Season for precisely the reason your priest articulates.

The norm does not apply, however, to the consecration of the Eucharist unless another provision to the rubrics prevail – in which case it is for that reason/those reasons that one does not kneel for the consecration.
 
We always kneel at the consecration. Kneeling in awe and reverence and love.
 
Andres88 said:
Easter is no penitential time, but kneeling is not necessarily a penitential act. It might actually be wrapped in a worshiping attitude. However, I’ve heard from some priests that we are not to kneel during Consecration at Easter because “Christ has resurrected” and “we have resurrected with Him.” To me, this doesn’t add up well, so I still kneel at Consecration, even at Easter.

I believe that the motive behind this kind of thought has to do a lot with the penitential view of the act of kneeling. And it might as well has to do something with how “you can’t fast on Sundays.” The specific moment of the Consecration, however, seems to me still deserving of kneeling before the presence of Jesus Christ at the altar, no matter the liturgical time. But that’s my personal approach.

I was wondering:
-Do you kneel during Consecration at Easter?
-Is there an official Church stance on this?
Click to expand...
The idea you are talking about that “some priests” espouse is completely a liturgical innovation which has no valid basis in the Church’s liturgy.

We might as well say that one doesn’t have to attend Sunday Mass because it is “penitential” to get up in the morning.

Additionally, there is no rule against doing penance on Sundays in the first place - though most people choose to forgo their Lenten penances on Sundays of Lent, it is perfectly licit and virtuous to continue those penances.
 
Expatreprocedit said:
Canon 20 (Nicaea)

Forasmuch as there are certain persons who kneel on the Lord’s Day and in the days of Pentecost, therefore, to the intent that all things may be uniformly observed everywhere (in every parish), it seems good to the holy Synod that prayer be made to God standing.
Click to expand...
Yes, and this is still binding for Eastern Catholics… but the Church has the power of binding and loosing. Over the centuries, for the Latin Church, kneeling in a liturgical context came to symbolize adoration rather than penance; thus, for Latin Catholics, kneeling is appropriate even on Easter Sunday.
 
In my Byzantine parish, we don’t kneel from Pascha to Pentecost.

This is not just for sanctification, but for personal prayers as well.
 
In my Byzantine parish, we don’t kneel on Sundays, and not at all during the Easter season.

I’ve been in a couple of Latin Rite parishes that don’t kneel at all, but I’ve never heard of this done only during Ester.
 
babochka said:
In my Byzantine parish, we don’t kneel on Sundays, and not at all during the Easter season.

I’ve been in a couple of Latin Rite parishes that don’t kneel at all, but I’ve never heard of this done only during Ester.
Click to expand...
I know many Byzantine parishes that don’t kneel on Sundays. We have for as far back as I can remember. It does make me wonder why!
 
DeniseNY said:
I know many Byzantine parishes that don’t kneel on Sundays. We have for as far back as I can remember. It does make me wonder why!
Click to expand...
When I was a kid we would kneel. I don’t remember when we stopped. I do remember that we used to remove the pews from the church from Easter to Pentecost - and no kneeling.
 
I used to attend this parish “back in the day.” When a new pastor arrived he had about 80% of the pews removed, then all of the remaining ones about six months later. People got VERY angry and rightfully so.

I just ignored all the emotion and kept kneeling. The pastor approached me about it and I stopped him dead in his tracks – it simply wasn’t open to discussion as far as I was concerned and that was that. Sadly, the controversy (which I just ignored) continued on until he was eventually moved.

This issue of kneeling, the use of sanctus bells, genuflecting, etc. have become strongly symbolic for many factions in many different parishes.
 
I have never seen this in a Latin rite church unless it didn’t have kneelers.
 
Andres88 said:
Easter is no penitential time, but kneeling is not necessarily a penitential act. It might actually be wrapped in a worshiping attitude. However, I’ve heard from some priests that we are not to kneel during Consecration at Easter because “Christ has resurrected” and “we have resurrected with Him.” To me, this doesn’t add up well, so I still kneel at Consecration, even at Easter.

I believe that the motive behind this kind of thought has to do a lot with the penitential view of the act of kneeling. And it might as well has to do something with how “you can’t fast on Sundays.” The specific moment of the Consecration, however, seems to me still deserving of kneeling before the presence of Jesus Christ at the altar, no matter the liturgical time. But that’s my personal approach.

I was wondering:
-Do you kneel during Consecration at Easter?
-Is there an official Church stance on this?
Click to expand...
I am Byzantine Catholic and we do not kneel in our Sunday Divine Liturgy, rather at three times during the Anaphora we do a reverence with sign of the cross and touching the floor with our hand if we can: once at the consecration of the Body of Christ, and once at the consecration of the Blood of Christ, and once at the end of the Anaphora.
 
PacificNorthwes said:
I have never seen this in a Latin rite church unless it didn’t have kneelers.
Click to expand...
Funny thing is, it was a Latin rite church. It didn’t have kneelers, but even so, in Ordinary/Lent/Advent time people kneel.
Maybe the fact that the priest presiding Mass is from the Neocathecumenal Way has something to do with it?
 
twf said:
Yes, and this is still binding for Eastern Catholics… but the Church has the power of binding and loosing. Over the centuries, for the Latin Church, kneeling in a liturgical context came to symbolize adoration rather than penance; thus, for Latin Catholics, kneeling is appropriate even on Easter Sunday.
Click to expand...
Well it seems to me that the whole Church exercised its power to bind and loose at Nicaea, but that is a different topic.

As for myself, when I was in the western church, I never felt right kneeling at Pascha.
 
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