Kneeling for Communion?

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Marie5890

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I know that here the the USA we have the option to receive Our Eucharistic Lord either in the hand or on the tongue.

But my question goes to do we also have the option of kneeling as oppose to standing? Or can the pastor of each parish decide whether or not to permit kneeling?

TIA
 
From the US GIRM
160. The Priest then takes the paten or ciborium and approaches the communicants, who usually come up in procession.
It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. **The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling (**Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Instruction, Redemptionis Sacramentum, March 25, 2004, no. 91).
 
Some years back I was at a mass where the priest insisted that a kneeling communican stand; so he did. He then tilted his head back to receive on the tongue. Since he was a bit over six foot and the priest wasn’t much above five foot the priest then did an interesting dance trying to reach his tongue. 😉
 
Once in my life I had Communion whilst kneeling, it was in a church in Poland and everybody received that way.
 
You can receive our Lord while kneeling. A pastor has no right to deny Him to you kneeling. Kneeling was done for centuries after all it is Almighty God in front of you. It is a humble and reverent way to receive our God. Just don’t think that because you do this you’re holier than other people.
 
If you decide to kneel, just make sure you can get up again without needing the priest to give you a hand. I’ve seen it happen! :eek:
 
Back in the day when all churches had communion rails, it was easy to receive Holy Communion kneeling.

Without communion rails, it is a different story. When you are young, it isn’t very hard to kneel without one and get yourself back up.

When you are over a certain age, it becomes difficult and you are not so sure about your ability to get back up without assistance.
 
When there’s no altar railing it’s very difficult to kneel and often disruptive. The preference in various Diocese for not kneeling is not because they don’t believe it’s reverent, but because people can fall. Some pastors allow a genuflection, if done quickly and not in a way that trips others up.
Considering the Apostles were likely reclining at table…I suppose each to his own. But around here no one kneels. Until AFTER communion.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Some years back I was at a mass where the priest insisted that a kneeling communican stand; so he did. He then tilted his head back to receive on the tongue. Since he was a bit over six foot and the priest wasn’t much above five foot the priest then did an interesting dance trying to reach his tongue. 😉
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So the communicant was trying to teach the priest a lesson? 😦
 
In our cathedral here in Vancouver, the altar rail is still in place and the norm is to receive Our Lord kneeling at the altar rail. There are 4 daily masses Monday through Saturday and 7 masses on a Sunday - all very well attended - and at all you have either the option of going up through the center aisle to receive standing or to go up along either side to kneel at the rail and receive kneeling. I would guess over 50% receive kneeling at all masses. EMHCs are also kept to a minimum as the priests in residence make an effort to come out for communion at all masses to help distribute even if they have already said one or more masses that day. There are a number of other parishes in the archdiocese where kneeling is an option - actually at a few it is universal (I am talking about Novus Ordo masses). Vancouver has been blessed with very solid, traditionally minded archbishops for decades. It is a bastion of orthodoxy and liturgical reverence in Canada. We are also thriving with loads of vocations (all trained by the Benedictine monks up in Mission, BC), packed parishes…
 
Just saying.

I do not know why people stand to receive our Lord. Because it is an expression of praise? All heavenly hosts kneel in adoration before the Body of Christ, the bread of angels and we, pilgrims here on earth stand. It would be considerable if the person has a condition that prevents him/her or an elderly person.
 
it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing.
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  • Redemptoris Sacramentum [91]
Historically, I suspect that a kneeling posture made it easier for communicants to receive on the tongue. As people were discouraged from frequent communion - masses with no one but the priest receiving were by no means unheard of - time and space constraints weren’t really an issue. I’m not sure that it’s necessarily more reverent since, historically, standing was the norm for the consecration (pews being a relatively recent innovation). :hmmm:
 
GoGoDiego said:
Just saying.

I do not know why people stand to receive our Lord. Because it is an expression of praise? All heavenly hosts kneel in adoration before the Body of Christ, the bread of angels and we, pilgrims here on earth stand. It would be considerable if the person has a condition that prevents him/her or an elderly person.
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People stand because the conference of bishops have decided that the posture for reception of Holy Communion is to stand and the Apostolic See has recognized that posture and the authority of the bishops. People stand because they have respect for the authority of the conference of bishops to set that posture.
 
zab said:
People stand because the conference of bishops have decided that the posture for reception of Holy Communion is to stand and the Apostolic See has recognized that posture and the authority of the bishops. People stand because they have respect for the authority of the conference of bishops to set that posture.
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The Church has made it quite clear that even though a Conference opts to call for standing we are still free to kneel since it is the universal posture for receiving Communion.
 
InThePew said:
  • , historically, standing was the norm for the consecration (pews being a relatively recent innovation). :hmmm:
Actually, it wasn’t. Historically people knelt for the Consecration ( and actually from the beginning of Mass until the Gloria as well).

They stood for the Epistle and Gospel, and then knelt again for the Conscecration.

They stood once more for the Pater Noster, knelt yet again after the Agnus Dei and only stood up to go to Holy Communion.

They knelt again after Communion (assuming they had fasted and been to Confession recently).

And then stood for the dismissal, but knelt briefly for the final blessing.

Where did you get the idea that they stood, the rubrics of the Mass have been well documented for centuries.
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Phemie said:
The Church has made it quite clear that even though a Conference opts to call for standing we are still free to kneel since it is the universal posture for receiving Communion.
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Yes, what you said is true, but it has nothing to do with the question that was raised regarding why people stand. “I don’t know why people stand…” The Church also made it clear that no one was to refer to those who kneeled to receive Holy Communion as being disobedient. But that does not give free reign to criticize those who stand.
 
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