No one kneels during consecration. Should I?

[janine7]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

 

[Moscati]

I would go ahead and kneel. I’m sure those elderly people would if they could, and I very much doubt anyone would think ill of you for it.

Especially at daily Mass, I barely pay any attention to anyone else, as its so quiet and intimate. The others probably haven’t even noticed you.

 

[japhy]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.

The few other people there may be discouraged from kneeling because of their age and/or the lack of kneelers. You are not discouraged by either of these, so do not let some other external factor discourage you.

But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.

You could make the profound bow instead of kneeling, but I would only do that if you really feel that your kneeling is negatively impacting the other parishioners. I really doubt it is.

 

[karennascargo3]

We have no kneelers in our church and I always appreciate and respect the 1 and only person in our church who does kneel during the consecration; what a wonderful example! I’m still trying to figure out why many of the newer churches are doing away with kneelers. Financial issues maybe?

Since our little rural church is the only church in our entire area, as a new convert, other than during the consecration, I have absolutely no clue when your even suppose to kneel. They haven’t told us, nor was it taught, in our RICA classes. I only know of during the consecration because of that one dear man who kneels.

 

[willofgods]

Why don’t you talk to your fellow parishioners or the priest? I’m sure if you introduced yourself with a smile and asked them if it bothers them they would tell you right away. Especially if your reason is to please God!

 

[corsair]

I always kneel no matter which church I attend. I have not so far been confronted. I try to carry a copy of the letter from Rome that states that I cannot be refused communion for kneeling.

So far no problems.

 

[marleelynn]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

one of the parishes in my cluster is the same way … no kneelers in either the main church or in the chapel. I don’t go there normally for morning mass so it isn’t often that I have to stand for the consecration.

 

[EasterJoy]

I face the same thing, but the crowd is nearly all beyond the age where they could hope to kneel on a hard floor and still have some assurance of getting up off of it later. I might kneel if I were in the back, so they wouldn’t feel they ought to kneel, but as it is I stand and bow where the rubrics indicate. I certainly wouldn’t have anything against anyone who decided to kneel, though, and I’m sure they wouldn’t, either. I still go back and forth myself, on which is the better to do.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

You are doing what the Church asks in the GIRM.

 

[dusza]

Some years ago I went to a new church for a daily mass and people stood in front of the altar holding hands during the consecration (they went up there for the Our Father and stayed). I was the only one who remained in the pew kneeling. The next time I was joined by someone else. I attend this church regularly now and nobody does the standing routine anymore. Just FYI.

 

[guanophore]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

Yes. I knelt once at such a small Mass and the priest ordered me to stand “for uniformity”! I was surprised, but obedient. Jesus knows I am kneeling in my heart.

 

[lil_john]

No matter if no one else kneels during consecration, if you believe that Jesus Christ is truely substantially present at the consecration, then you should adore your God and kneel.

 

[puzzleannie]

I Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

I kneel when I am able to kneel. I assume anyone who is paying attention to me instead of the action on the altar assumes I cannot kneel. That is what I would assume if I observed anyone else standing or sitting during the consecration, should my attention wander momentarily. Otherwise, I. don’t. care. unless it concerns children for whom I have a catechetical responsibility.

 

[pro_multis]

The SSPX church near where I used to live that did not have pads on the kneelers; they were just regular wood. Some of the older people brought those little pads that people kneel on in their gardens. Seemed to do the trick.

 

[pmcmp]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

During Mass, Jesus is present in the Celebrant, the Word, the Eucharist and the Congregation. Some consider it an act of humility (like Jesus himself) to conform rather than do something different from what is customary. Also in many churches - mostly non US - it is customary to stand during the consecration of the Eucharist (Canon).

 

[kristie_m]

I, also, attend a daily mass where no one kneels. I asked the pastor about it once–if it was okay for me to kneel. He said, “Actually, you’re required to.” Since then I’ve always knelt at the consecration. And I’ve noticed that now a few others do as well. Though we’ve never talked about it, I think seeing me kneeling may have made them feel more comfortable about doing it themselves. What’s more, is I’m seeing more people kneeling now during Sunday mass where there is nothing but linoleum!

 

[liturgydude]

What is the GIRM reference for making a profound bow during the Consecration?

 

[japhy]

What is the GIRM reference for making a profound bow during the Consecration?

“In the dioceses of the United States of America, they should kneel beginning after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer, except when prevented on occasion by reasons of health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason. Those who do not kneel ought to make a profound bow when the priest genuflects after the consecration.” (GIRM 43)

 

[mdgspencer]

Actually, kneeling during the consecration is the law of the Church for those in the Latin rite. I assume that the others there at the mass you attend don’t know this, and that for this reason they are completely innocent of wrongdoing. Of course perhaps age too explains what they are doing.
Someone mentioned in this thread that the priest ordered him personally to stand up during the consecration. In this case I would have obeyed him, because the conflict that would have resulted would have been disruptive for the worship of those there.
However myself and my wife were in a similar situation, when we used to be part of a smaller group of worshippers at a church during weekday mass, and we were the only ones to kneel during the consecration, though the kneelers had been taken out the year before. I felt strange about doing ths. But to me, it is simply a matter of obeying God. A Vatican cardinal once said when it comes to such liturgical irregularities that the conformity that is important is conformity with the Church as a whole, not what happens in a particular parish.
I have a number of stories about the practice of standing during the consecration. I once went to mass at the largest parish in my small city, and found a layman standing in front of the church before mass, ordering everyone to stand during the consecration. He said “we have a tradition” of doing this. However, this tradition had just been invented there. The majority of people there then stood but a sizeable number ignored what he said and knelt. I was upset by this division and was happy that it was not my own parish. Some months later I was at mass at this same parish and the priest announced that people were no longer to stand during the consecrtion, and that they had talked with the bishop, the parish council, etc about this. I presumed that the bishop had ordered them to stop this.

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

 

[zab]

I attend weekday Mass in a small chapel with a hard tile floor. No one (except me) kneels during the consecration. I do so very quietly a couple seconds after I normally would so that anyone new would not feel compelled to when they see that I’m the only one doing so.
(In the main church, there are kneelers. Everyone kneels here during the consecration.)

At the weekday Mass, there are 6-14 people typically in attendance, All but 2 or 3 are elderly who probably would have a tough time kneeling on the hard floor. I have been attending for 6 months and no one says anything. But I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to be more holy than them…its just the natural thing to do during the consecration. I just want to show the utmost love, reverence and gratitude for Jesus during this holiest of moments. My other option would be to make a profound bow at the moment of consecration as the GIRM says.

Is there anyone out there who has faced this dilemma?

Thanks for asking. Sometimes my little grandchildren sit in the same pew with us. There are times when my knees and legs ache so bad that I have to sit down. I worry about my grandchildren not understanding why it is OK for grandma to sit but not them. But their mother does a wonderful job of teaching them and explaining to them why grandma is sitting. It is possible that some of the older people in attendance where you go to daily Mass are concerned about the same thing. So go ahead and kneel. It is the right thing to do. And the older people will not have to worry about whether or not the younger, stronger people will misinterpret their actions.