Pope uses Communion Rail

[SJP]

A most welcomed event has occurred at the most recent Papal Mass (Corpus Christi in Rome).

Communicants receiving Holy Communion from the Holy Father kneeling:

bp1.blogger.com/_71ZPiLxOVfU/SDasj3wOB6I/AAAAAAAAA4E/JVn9D1sgCNw/s1600-h/CorpusChristiRom08-4.jpg

bp3.blogger.com/_71ZPiLxOVfU/SDaskXwOB7I/AAAAAAAAA4M/nJgH35X1GkI/s1600-h/CorpusChristiRom08-5.jpg

And the Holy Father did not let this opportunity pass without also mentioning and expounding upon kneeling before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in his homily:

We find in this the third constitutive element of Corpus Domini: to kneel in adoration in front of the Lord.

To adore the God of Jesus Christ, who, out of love, became bread to be broken, is the most valid and radical remedy against the idolatries of yesterday as well as today. To kneel in front of the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: whoever bows before Jesus cannot and should not prostrate himself before any earthly power, no matter how strong.

We Christians only kneel before God, before the Most Blessed Sacrament, because we believe and know that the one true God is present, who created the world and loved man so much that for his sake, he gave his only begotten Son (cfr Jn 3,16).

We prostrate ourselves before a God who was the first to bend down to man, like the Good Samaritan, to help him and give him back life, who knelt before us to wash our dirty feet.

To adore the Body of Christ means to believe that he is truly present in that piece of bread, Christ who gives sense to life - to the immense universe as to its littlest creature, to the entire human history as to the briefest of existence.

Adoration is a prayer that prolongs Eucharistic celebration and communion, during which the soul continues to nourish itself: it feeds on love, on truth, on peace. It feeds on hope, because he before whom we bow, does not judge us, does not crush us, but frees and transforms us.

Here is the video link

Wonderful!

 

[PatienceAndLove]

I noticed Pope Benedict celebrated facing the people. Has he celebrated ad orideum (totally screwed up the spelling) yet?

 

[SJP]

I noticed Pope Benedict celebrated facing the people. Has he celebrated ad orideum (totally screwed up the spelling) yet?

Yes, he has:
catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11446

 

[Saint_Gemma]

A most welcomed event has occurred at the most recent Papal Mass (Corpus Christi in Rome).

Communicants receiving Holy Communion from the Holy Father kneeling:

bp1.blogger.com/_71ZPiLxOVfU/SDasj3wOB6I/AAAAAAAAA4E/JVn9D1sgCNw/s1600-h/CorpusChristiRom08-4.jpg

bp3.blogger.com/_71ZPiLxOVfU/SDaskXwOB7I/AAAAAAAAA4M/nJgH35X1GkI/s1600-h/CorpusChristiRom08-5.jpg

And the Holy Father did not let this opportunity pass without also mentioning and expounding upon kneeling before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in his homily:

Here is the video link

Wonderful!

:extrahappy:

 

[aninquiringmind]

How wonderful!! I would love it if a Communion Rail was used at my parish!!!:blushing: It seems as though everyone’s in too much a hurry. Society has developed far too much of a ‘fast food and micro-wave’ mentality!! To me, kneeling to receive the Eucharist, gives it the reverance He deserves!! I am receiving the grace, love and mercy of my Lord ~ not picking up from a drive-thru window!!

 

[PatienceAndLove]

You know…
Most churches have the standalone kneelers hiding some place…
We could still do the two lines thing, but the priest could stand behind the kneelers. That would work.

Wait! That’s what the Pope did!

 

[Fergal]

Ok thats it. I have had enough. I always genuflect before I receive the Sacred Host but never felt personally that it was enough.

I have made a resolution that from this day forward I am going to kneel when receiving the Host with or without Altar rails.

 

[palmas85]

I can only imagine utter terror sweeping through the more progressive of our posters here at the thought of kneeling to receive rather than standing. And on the tongue as well:bigyikes:

Of course there will be some rationalization by them, perhaps the people weren’t really kneeling or perhaps it was a special group that had applied for and received permission from the Holy See for this or maybe the whole thing is a fabrication. Thats it a fabrication by the traditionalists to try to make a point.

Of course there is the homily as well, but maybe that was a fabrication as well.

But I don’t think so. I think the Holy Father knows exactly what he is doing. Maybe the new spring time is finally arriving. It has been a long cold winter.

 

[JuanCarlos]

Ok thats it. I have had enough. I always genuflect before I receive the Sacred Host but never felt personally that it was enough.

I have made a resolution that from this day forward I am going to kneel when receiving the Host with or without Altar rails.

I recently made that decision. It is a hard burden in that it may be “embarresing”, but I liken it to my personal carrying of the Cross on my approach to the Crucifixtion.

 

[Timothysis]

How wonderful!! I would love it if a Communion Rail was used at my parish!!!:blushing: It seems as though everyone’s in too much a hurry. Society has developed far too much of a ‘fast food and micro-wave’ mentality!! To me, kneeling to receive the Eucharist, gives it the reverance He deserves!! I am receiving the grace, love and mercy of my Lord ~ not picking up from a drive-thru window!!

If we could truly comprehend that Jesus Christ, the son of the Ever Living God, was present in the tabernacle, I doubt that any of us would dare walk through the front door.

Standing or kneeling…somehow I don’t think that it makes that much difference to Jesus; it’s the state of your soul that He is concerned about.

 

[Harmony1988]

I know some people that do it and as a child I remember in some churches I had to do it and when I was younger I wasn’t allowed to receive it in the hand, so personally I wouldn’t mind.

 

[Fergal]

I recently made that decision. It is a hard burden in that it may be “embarresing”, but I liken it to my personal carrying of the Cross on my approach to the Crucifixtion.

I can deal with the embarrasing bit but what worries me is that people will see my gesture as a message that I am “holier than thou” or an attempt to make them think that I am better than them.

This, as the Lord knows, is as far from the truth as the east is from the west.

And yes I did kneel today (albeit that it was on one knee) and was the only one to do so. A few genuflect, but the majority stand.

 

[childofmary1143]

Ok thats it. I have had enough. I always genuflect before I receive the Sacred Host but never felt personally that it was enough.

I have made a resolution that from this day forward I am going to kneel when receiving the Host with or without Altar rails.

Good for you Fergal. I have been doing that for almost 20 years now. I could tell you stories about dirty looks I have gotten over those years too!!

 

[hawkeye]

A most welcomed event has occurred at the most recent Papal Mass (Corpus Christi in Rome).

Communicants receiving Holy Communion from the Holy Father kneeling:

Wonderful!

Can anyone tell me who was instrumental in taking them down ?

Communion Rails.

 

[Our_Refuge]

If we could truly comprehend that Jesus Christ, the son of the Ever Living God, was present in the tabernacle, I doubt that any of us would dare walk through the front door.

Standing or kneeling…somehow I don’t think that it makes that much difference to Jesus; it’s the state of your soul that He is concerned about.

Pope Benedict thinks otherwise.

. "To kneel in front of the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: whoever bows before Jesus cannot and should not prostrate himself before any earthly power, no matter how strong.

We Christians only kneel before God, before the Most Blessed Sacrament, because we believe and know that the one true God is present, who created the world and loved man so much that for his sake, he gave his only begotten Son (cfr Jn 3,16).

We prostrate ourselves before a God who was the first to bend down to man, like the Good Samaritan, to help him and give him back life, who knelt before us to wash our dirty feet.

To adore the Body of Christ means to believe that he is truly present in that piece of bread, Christ who gives sense to life - to the immense universe as to its littlest creature, to the entire human history as to the briefest of existence."

 

[TMGallyon85]

The removal of Altar rails was at the hands of liturgists and clergy of the Spirit of vatican II camp that thought erroneously that by removing the rails, they could bring the altar and sactuary closer to the people. Basically the liberals taking the reforms to the extreme. For example would be churches whitewashed of all decor.

 

[Timothysis]

Pope Benedict thinks otherwise.

. "To kneel in front of the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: whoever bows before Jesus cannot and should not prostrate himself before any earthly power, no matter how strong.

We Christians only kneel before God, before the Most Blessed Sacrament, because we believe and know that the one true God is present, who created the world and loved man so much that for his sake, he gave his only begotten Son (cfr Jn 3,16).

We prostrate ourselves before a God who was the first to bend down to man, like the Good Samaritan, to help him and give him back life, who knelt before us to wash our dirty feet.

To adore the Body of Christ means to believe that he is truly present in that piece of bread, Christ who gives sense to life - to the immense universe as to its littlest creature, to the entire human history as to the briefest of existence."

Your quote from Pope Benedict doesn’t apply to the conversation at hand.

We here use the communion rails at mass every day. People do the same thing with the rails as they do when receiving in the hand; they line up, grab an available spot, receive (on the tongue or in the hand), and then go back to their pew.

I find it odd, that people here are more concerned about the pomp and circumstance than in sincerity.

 

[Our_Refuge]

=Timothysis;3726429]Your quote from Pope Benedict doesn’t apply to the conversation at hand.

We here use the communion rails at mass every day. ** People do the same thing with the rails as they do when receiving in the hand;** they line up, grab an available spot, receive (on the tongue or in the hand), and then go back to their pew.

It is not the same. When you use a communion rail you are humbling yourself before God. If “every knee should bend at the name of Jesus” don’t you think we should **kneel **in his presence?

I find it odd, that people here are more concerned about the **pomp and circumstance **than in sincerity

It may be “pomp and circumstance” to you but not to traditional Catholics. Pope Benedict is speaking about** kneeling **before God. He spoke these words at a Mass that had a **communion rail **where **everyone knelt **to receive communion. You need to re-read it

.Pope Benedict
"To kneel in front of the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: whoever bows before Jesus cannot and should not prostrate himself before any earthly power, no matter how strong.

We Christians only kneel before God, before the Most Blessed Sacrament, because we believe and know that the one true God is present, who created the world and loved man so much that for his sake, he gave his only begotten Son (cfr Jn 3,16).

We prostrate ourselves before a God who was the first to bend down to man, like the Good Samaritan, to help him and give him back life, who knelt before us to wash our dirty feet.

To adore the Body of Christ means to believe that he is truly present in that piece of bread, Christ who gives sense to life - to the immense universe as to its littlest creature, to the entire human history as to the briefest of existence."

 

[Jennifer_G]

You know…
Most churches have the standalone kneelers hiding some place…
We could still do the two lines thing, but the priest could stand behind the kneelers. That would work.

Wait! That’s what the Pope did!

Ours is hiding in the garage… I’ve heard there was 31 out of 35 people wanting the Tridentine Mass (that would bring back the altar rails). Maybe I should try and convince 4 more people.

 

[whatevergirl]

This is a step in the right direction, I think…meanwhile, I would be happy if our parish installed kneelers. We kneel, but the congregation stands. Supposedly, this is ‘ok’. Where were these Catholics raised? Everyone knows that there are certain times during mass where kneeling is the appropriate stance, and it is the most reverent.

Having a communion railing…I have never seen such a thing in my life, up close. I think Pope Benedict just does what he knows to be authentic. I think he shows a strength that many didn’t think he had being an older pope.

Thanks for sharing this.