Kneeling / sitting after communion

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regression said:
Hello, what is the proper time to sit down after communion? I have always kneeled until the Hosts are put back in the Tabernacle and the priest / deacon has finished purifying all the vessels on the altar and sits down. However, a new priest at our parish will gesture for everyone to sit while he is still purifying the vessels, after the Hosts are put in the Tabernacle.
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No prescribed posture. It is up to you.

What happened after you Communion?

You received the Body and the Blood of the Lord, and now they are within you. So what are you going to do?

(Those days when I was a lector, and while carrying the lectionary, my liturgist said, I am the only one who does not have to bow to the altar, as I have the word of God with me. Sound logical too.)

This is a mystery and probably why GIRM does not give specific instruction on the posture.

This is a time when a communicant experiences tangibly the presence of God within him/her. He/she may be overwhelmed or even petrified or in awe how the Lord could allow this and make it happen; and how holy is your situation now.

It is a time to absorb all that, to drink the truth of God incarnate, in awe and gratitude to the Lord who gives His own life for us. This is the time when that really comes to pass.

Some people just bask it its holiness, some murmur word of gratefulness, some are just speechless, some weep, some pray. You decide on your own posture.

It is a time of receiving and experiencing; and what our response will be.

Of course, if there is specific instruction on what the posture will be, then it is clearer on what to do.
 
I just joined the Choir, they either stand or sit. An EMHC from the choir goes downstairs, gets our Eucharist and comes back upstairs to allow us to celebrate Communion.
 
i can barely genuflect, much less kneel

and kneel on a hard floor? not happening; unless a tow truck is nearby to pull me back up 🙂
 
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This is true,I didn t remember until you said it…The sound… !
Good memories from US… It was a wonderful parish
 
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I kneel so I can pray the Anima Christi and a few other post-communion prayers. Most of the people at Mass sit after the Blessed Sacrament is put back in the tabernacle. I however wait until all sacred vessels have left the altar and the priest has sat down.
 
Reuben_J said:
This is a mystery and probably why GIRM does not give specific instruction on the posture.
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For almost 30 years the GIRM posture from the Mysterium Fidei to the end of Mass was standing but nobody paid any attention to it and most people knelt when they returned from Communion.

Nothing changed in the 2002 GIRM but suddenly someone noticed that we were meant to be standing at that point and then things got weird.
 
Yes, when it is being done for so long, it tends to become a norm for the people without realizing why.

Similarly, in some places, the congregation would bow to the altar with the priest after the entrance procession.

Some celebrants would tell, to remind people on the right thing to do but most would not bother on this.

The missal does not give specific instruction on the posture after Communion. Kneeling probably is the natural thing to do for those who pray or reflect after receiving Communion. Then eventually it becomes a practice.

The introduction of the GIRM is a good things to standardise most things in the mass and it’s like a wake up call.
 
Standing probably is too ackward for people and when someone don’t observe it, others tend to follow.
 
My local parish (which is technically my territorial parish but I go to the EF in another town) has screens on either side of he altar. Big screens too. But after communion was done and while the priest was cleaning up but before he went back to sit down, the screens asked everyone to sit to commune with each other in prayer. So you either have to sit or look like a jerk. Needless to say, I don’t go to that parish much.
 
It is a sign of uniform posture. It is also what the GIRM, at least a few years ago, stated; that resulted in a dubium (formal question) being submitted to Rome by then Cardinal George of Chicago. Cardinal Arinze answered that Rome did not intend to be rigid; one could stand, sit or kneel after receiving.

Another way to look at the matter: We all stand; then we start the procession to reception of Communion, and return to our seats.

Another example of a procession is at the Chrism Mass, when all the priests process in ahead of the bishop; all remain standing through the start of the Mass. They don’t process in and then kneel down, or some kneel down, some stand…

I don’t have a dog in this fight. If Cardinal Arinze says it is okay to sit, then that should be sufficient to anyone wanting to know. Tradition with a small “t” said that you kneel after receiving, until the tabernacle door was closed. God is far less concerned with our posture than our heart. And so is Rome.

On the local level… eh, maybe a little less balance in concern.
 
In the Ordinariate the norm is to remain kneeling as kneeling is the posture adopted for the corporate prayer of thanksgiving directly after communion and for the post communion prayer and blessing. (At the Offetory, if there is a hymn, it’s usual to stand; if there’s no hymn the congregation sit. Personally, I have never quite got to grips with sitting and singing as at the Offetory in the OF but that’s probably more to do with my past life as a chorister.)
 
My two cents on kneeling v. standing after Communion.

When I receive Jesus in Communion, I try to zone out everyone else. That is the time when Christ and the communicant should be in intimate conversation. I’ll ignore everyone else. That might sound mean but if Jesus and my Dad were standing next to each other, I’ll go and kneel down in front of God-made-man before shaking my biological dad. It’s respect. Thus, I’m not going to stand just to satisfy “uniformity”. Uniformity can happen after I give a personal thanksgiving to God. And my personal thanksgiving will be on my knees in a position of worship since I just received “I Am Who Am”.
 
AngelusDomini said:
In the Ordinariate the norm is to remain kneeling as kneeling is the posture adopted for the corporate prayer of thanksgiving directly after communion and for the post communion prayer and blessing. (At the Offetory, if there is a hymn, it’s usual to stand; if there’s no hymn the congregation sit. Personally, I have never quite got to grips with sitting and singing as at the Offetory in the OF but that’s probably more to do with my past life as a chorister.)
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Probably that’s why kneeling (after Communion) is popular too in the Roman mass. They want to be alone with the Lord, and kneeling would be the natural posture when you are with the Lord or when the Lord is in communion with you.

If everybody is kneeling or some sitting after receiving Communion, then standing would probably make you stand out in the crowd (pun unintended).
 
From phil19034:
“The Church at Villanova University did the same thing, though the rest of the archdiocese kneels.
Before every mass, they make an announcement for everyone to remain standing after the Lamb of God & during and after communion “as a sign of unity.”
Every time I ask why it’s a “sign of unity,” no one has any idea. …”.

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):
“42. … A common bodily posture, to be observed by all those taking part, is a sign of unity of the members of the Christian community gathered together for the Sacred Liturgy, for it expresses the intentions and spiritual attitude of the participants and also fosters them.”

From Ceremonial of Bishops (in the chapter on the Stational Mass of the Diocesan Bishop):

“166 When the bishop returns to the chair after the communion, he puts on the skullcap and, if need be, washes his hands. All are seated and a period of prayerful silence may follow, or a song of praise or a psalm may new sung.”

From the GIRM:
“42. … A common bodily posture, to be observed by all those taking part, is a sign of unity of the members of the Christian community gathered together for the Sacred Liturgy, for it expresses the intentions and spiritual attitude of the participants and also fosters them.”

“43. … The faithful should sit, …. and, if appropriate, during the period of silence after Communion. …

It is for the Conference of Bishops, in accordance with the norm of law, to adapt the gestures and bodily postures described in the Order of Mass to the culture and reasonable traditions of peoples. ….

… Where it is the practice for the people to remain kneeling after the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) until the end of the Eucharist Prayer and before Communion when the Priest says Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God), it is laudable that this practice be retained. ….

For the sake of uniformity in gestures and bodily postures during one and the same celebration, the faithful should follow the instructions which the Deacon, a lay minister, or the Priest gives, according to what is laid down in the Missal.”

In Australia the GIRM has been amended: “During the period of sacred silence after Communion, they may either sit or kneel.” (Roman Missal, page 38).

GIRM at http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-wor...uction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-2.cfm (The Roman Missal, Third Edition for use in the Dioceses of the United States of America was confirmed by decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on March 26, 2010 (Prot. n. 1464/06/L). Proper adaptations for the United States were confirmed on July 24, 2010 (Prot. n. 577/10/L).)

“and, if appropriate, they may sit or kneel during the period of sacred silence after Communion.”
 
Reuben_J said:
Standing probably is too ackward for people and when someone don’t observe it, others tend to follow.
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Definitely for me; when I have to stand for a long time, my back has a tendency to lock up. Standing in a long communion line really becomes something to offer up. Fortunately, at our parish we kneel after receiving communion.

D
 
I have a similar issue. You offer it up. Then the pain becomes sufficiently bad that it becomes the most pressing problem, distracting you from your time with Jesus. There are occasions when the only viable option is to sit or kneel.
 
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