Private Prayer After Communion

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GIRM, paragraph 88 states,* “When the distribution of Communionis finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation*.”

Is this happening anywhere? In our parish, we usually get 10-15 seconds after Father sits down before he stands to deliver the weekly announcements. With the standing through communion now, there is no quiet time anymore to thank God for the precious gift of Jesus in the Eucharist. 😦
 
My recommendation is that you sit up front and then you will have a lot of time after receiving the Holy Eucharist to be in prayer. Our priest has told us we may stand, sit or kneel after receiving…and since he is very orthodox, I believe you could do the same at your parish. No one should stop you from kneeling after receiving if that is your choice.

God Bless -
 
I appreciate your ideas. We were told that the congregation is supposed to be standing and singing while everyone receives communion. Is it different depending on the diocese you’re in?
 
The GIRM makes a statement about standing during Communion in such a way, that it sounds as if all are to remain standing in their pews even after receiving. A question (dubium) was sent to Rome and the answer back was that the rubrics (specifically, this part) was not to be interpreted so rigidly that people could not either kneel or sit after returning to their seat.

Whether the answer was distributed to all dioceses or not, I don’t know, although it was in the press (I saw it in the National Catholic Register). I believe the question was sent in by Cardinal George. It may be that it was not sent to all bishops, which could explain why some appearantly may have said that all are to remain standing. Or it may be that various bishops have said nothing, and priests are going on the basis of the appearant requirement of the GIRM, and have not been advsied of Rome’s answer.

As to quiet time, it is reccomended by the GIRM, without stating how long. One can always spend time after Mass, as the time between the end of Communion and the dismissal is relatively short.
 
Three weeks a month we have a second collection for various things (parish school support, capital fund, birthrite). This collection happens right after communion after the priest replaces the chalice veil and sits.

While it is an activity that is taking place, there are no hymns sung, so it is a quiet time. At least if offers a quiet time for prayer or reflection to those who desire it.

I wish we had a more formal period without any interruption, but this is better than many alternatives I have seen where immediately after communion is the final blessing and the mad dash to the parking lot.

Blessings.
 
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skate:
I appreciate your ideas. We were told that the congregation is supposed to be standing and singing while everyone receives communion. Is it different depending on the diocese you’re in?
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No SKate, according to GIRM 21 after you return to your seat after receiving Communion you may stand, sit or kneel. It is up to you. It is a time of meditation and prayer after Communion. You don’t have to listen to your priest in this case and stand if you don’t want to according to the GIRM according to “Mass Confusion” by Jimmy Akin.

I looked at the USCCB. The link to that page is HERE.

The statement is as follows:
“Sitting is the posture of listening and meditation, so the congregation sits for the pre-Gospel readings and may also sit for the period of meditation following Communion.”
Code: 
At all the churches I have been to anywhere kneeling is the posture after the Agnus Dei thru Communion until the priest leaves the chair for the dismissal.  However after Communion many people sit and meditate.  I have not seen anyone stand.
When people state that we stand at Communion, they are speaking of the way we receive Communion. In the US, the Bishops have made the determination that we stand to receive as opposed to kneeling as we used to do at a Communion rail. However, we can today go receive Communion in a kneeling position directly in front fo the priest and he cannot refuse you Communion. He may want to talk to you about it after Mass but he cannot refuse you at the time.

Hope this helps. God bless. Whit
 
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whit:
At all the churches I have been to anywhere kneeling is the posture after the Agnus Dei thru Communion until the priest leaves the chair for the dismissal. However after Communion many people sit and meditate. I have not seen anyone stand.
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Unfortunately I understand this to be up to the local bishop. I am aware of dioceses where the bishop has decided that the congregation will stand from the “pray brethren that our sacrifice…” through the agnus dei and thoughout communion.

Fortunately that is not what we do in our diocese. And I pray that we never do.

Blessings.
 
We only have a short time after recieving communion to pray. However, I make it a practice to do something that St. Mary’s Church does in Ponca City, OK. After the Priest leaves and the choir completes their song, everyone kneels for three to five minutes, then people begin to leave. I now also kneel and say my prayers after mass too.

This allows me to easily genuflect after mass and to also have some more quiet time with my Lord!
 
I was taught we should say some prayers in preparation before we receive communion.

After we receive communion and return to our pew we should kneel down, close our eyes and talk with Jesus.

After we get done talking to Jesus, we should say a prayer of thanksgiving.

If we have more things to say to Jesus, we should stay after Mass and finish praying.

In my opinion, if the church is so noisy that we can’t pray after we receive communion, we should leave church after receiving communion in order to spend some time with Jesus.
 
Regarding that time period after one receives communion - I received a response from my diocese regarding this and it was confirmed that while common posture is encouraged, each individual person does have the freedom to choose whether it is most appropriate for them to stand, kneel or sit at that time. For the reasons you state, I choose to receive early and kneel in prayer because this gives me more time to do so.

This has also been confirmed to Cardinal George in a query he wrote to Cardinal Arinze that this is appropriate
POSTURE AFTER COMMUNION
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The new GIRM provides that the faithful should “sit while the readings before the Gospel and the responsorial psalm are proclaimed and for the homily and while the Preparation of the Gifts at the Offertory is taking place; and, as circumstances allow, they may sit or kneel while the period of sacred silence after Communion is observed” (43).

Regarding sitting or kneeling during the silence after Communion, some interpreted this as meaning that the faithful should stand until the last communicant had received Communion, which was contrary to the traditional practice of the faithful assuming their preferred postures immediately upon returning to the pews.

A controversy ensued, in which Francis Cardinal George, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Liturgy, queried the CDWDS: “In many places, the faithful are accustomed to kneeling or sitting in personal prayer upon returning to their places after having individually received Holy Communion during Mass. Is it the intention of the [new Roman Missal] to forbid this practice?”

The response was as follows: “Negative, et ad mentem [No, and for this reason]. The mens [reason] is that the prescription of [GIRM] no. 43 is intended, on the one hand, to ensure within broad limits a certain uniformity of posture within the congregation for the various parts of the celebration of Holy Mass, and on the other, to not regulate posture rigidly in such a way that those who wish to kneel or sit would no longer be free” (responsum of Francis Cardinal Arinze, June 5, 2003 [Prot. 855/03/L], as published in the July 2003 BCL newsletter).
 
Thank you for your posts, the information and the reality of options! No options were presented to us. I appreciate all of your replies very much! :blessyou:
 
I can’t believe all the different things I’m reading here. I never knew it was so different from state to sate and diocese to diocese. I’m a transplanted New Yorker in Florida and my wife is from Louisiana. We both have always knelt following Agnus Dei until the unused host is back in the tabernacle, with the exception of going up to receive of course. After the host is back in the tabernacle, and only then, do you sit.

It is very difficult to pray at mass on Sundays I find. I am fortunate to get to go to daily mass and it is much easier to pray there. Sundays are like going to a concert. 🙂
 
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