Should we kneel at Mass?

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In Indiana an old bishop decided that the “procession” meant that we should have the line go from back to front. So while kneeling, waiting for your turn in line you had to keep looking back to see how many pews until it was your turn. When I left, the new bishop was supposed to have an order ready to go to change it but I don’t know if that ever happened.
I’ve seen about everything and I’ve always wondered why people have to change things
Sure makes traveling awkward…
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
Yes, this was common in some western diocese and is now being phased out. There are some stragglers left.
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There are some (Amelrican Latin/Roman) dioceses that still require standing during the Eucharistic Prayer? I was not aware of this.

I know that our bishop gave special permission for my parish to stand during the Eucharistic Prayer but this is not a diocesan wide policy and I imagine at some point or another we will have to kneel like everyone else.

Now remaining standing after the Angus Dei (as opposed to kneeling) is common in quite a few dioceses and I know of no phase out going on.
 
SMHW said:
There are some (Amelrican Latin/Roman) dioceses that still require standing during the Eucharistic Prayer? I was not aware of this.

I know that our bishop gave special permission for my parish to stand during the Eucharistic Prayer but this is not a diocesan wide policy and I imagine at some point or another we will have to kneel like everyone else.

Now remaining standing after the Angus Dei (as opposed to kneeling) is common in quite a few dioceses and I know of no phase out going on.
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By stragglers I mean people who do it.
 
zab said:
Archdiocese of Seattle is one.

From

seattlearchdiocese.org/Archdiocese/Policies/Documents/Eucharist.pdfEU 2. The following adaptations to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) and as found in the Apostolic letter Redemptionis Sacramentum (117–119) are to be observed everywhere throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle:
2.a. The faithful remain standing after the “Lamb of God” until the end of the Communion Procession unless prevented by age, infirmity or some personal situation (e.g. small children, etc.).
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Seattle’s the only place where I attended Mass in a church the shape of a gymnasium where the tabernacle was in a broom closet at the back and the sanctuary unrecognizable. Pretty sure I knelt during the Agnus Dei there and would again. Same diocese where I found an obviously once gorgeous RED brick parish where the hand carved wooden high altar was ripped out to be replaced with an elevated GREEN tile monstrosity with some tiny off centered altar and a big piano placed where the high altar and tabernacle once were, and of course the only tabernacle moved to some closet again. Also had a continuously running fountain made with the same green tile right beside the sanctuary. Can’t believe someone would have absolutely ruined the place like that!
 
kc456 said:
Nobody kneels at our mass and there are no kneelers. ??
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Seems odd. Lack of kneelers (in and of itself) is not supposed to be a reason to avoid kneeling during the parts of the Mass for which kneeling is the mandated position.

That said, my parish has special permission from our bishop to stand during the Eucharistic Prayer. I suppose this could be the case for other parishes.
 
SMHW said:
Back in the 1970s and 1980s there were some dioceses in the United States where the bishop mandated standing during the Eucharistic Prayer for that particular diocese. This was at a time when some in the Latin Church seem to have ‘discovered’ the Eastern Catholic Churches and apparently tried to integrate a few select Eastern practices into Western liturgies.
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But they missed the point in that attempt . . .

Originally, and to this day in the East, kneeling was a position of repentance, and standing the position of respect. As the day of the Resurrection, kneeling on Sunday was banned at an early church council, under pain of anathema.

In the Middle Ages or so, men began kneeling for earthly kings–so certainly the King of Kings was entitled to the same. In time, kneeling replaced standing as the position of respect in the Western Church.

There is no kneeling to this day during Divine Liturgy on Sunday (but there is on weekdays), although there are a couple of times a year we have prostrations (which largely become genuflections instead due to the pews).

The real question is why there are points in the Roman liturgy in which people stand at all . . .

AMDG

hawk
 
The local pastor told the parish that we should stand from the moment Communion is distributed until the remains are put away, adding that it’s in the GIRM. Yet the apologist here says one has the option to kneel after returning to the pew. So about one third of those at Mass recently stood throughout Communion time. Most of the people here at Mass are 55 and older. Surely one cannot expect them to stand an extra 20 minutes.

We usually are told to sit on Good Friday for the reading of The Lord’s Passion.
 
Redd_Jackal said:
The local pastor told the parish that we should stand from the moment Communion is distributed until the remains are put away, adding that it’s in the GIRM. Yet the apologist here says one has the option to kneel after returning to the pew. So about one third of those at Mass recently stood throughout Communion time. Most of the people here at Mass are 55 and older. Surely one cannot expect them to stand an extra 20 minutes.

We usually are told to sit on Good Friday for the reading of The Lord’s Passion.
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Cite in the GIRM that is.
 
Redd_Jackal said:
The local pastor told the parish that we should stand from the moment Communion is distributed until the remains are put away, adding that it’s in the GIRM. Yet the apologist here says one has the option to kneel after returning to the pew. So about one third of those at Mass recently stood throughout Communion time. Most of the people here at Mass are 55 and older. Surely one cannot expect them to stand an extra 20 minutes.

We usually are told to sit on Good Friday for the reading of The Lord’s Passion.
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If your diocese is one of those mentioned in the G.I.R.M. and your pastor has rightfully informed the parishioners that they should stand until everyone has received and the remaining Hosts have been placed in the tabernacle, then that is what they should do. However, those who have difficulty for one reason or another need not worry about standing for all that time. When coming back from Communion, people are free to sit or kneel if they choose. This has been determined by the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments.
 
truetofaith said:
One parish has folding chairs & no kneelers so the people have to stand. I sit by the back wall so I have room to kneel with room in front of me. I’m getting older and my knees are beginning to hurt on the hard floor. 🤷
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I’ve had to kneel on a floor from time to time, as well. You can get a knee cushion that gardeners use, or order a kneeler cushion- I have one at home.

God bless you.
 
SMHW said:
Seems odd. Lack of kneelers (in and of itself) is not supposed to be a reason to avoid kneeling during the parts of the Mass for which kneeling is the mandated position.

That said, my parish has special permission from our bishop to stand during the Eucharistic Prayer. I suppose this could be the case for other parishes.
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True! Kneelers haven’t always been around for the faithful. Some of the basilicas in Rome can be very challenging to kneel at. I now say that if I can kneel at Saint John Lateran, I can kneel anywhere.😃
 
Jennifoo said:
True! Kneelers haven’t always been around for the faithful. Some of the basilicas in Rome can be very challenging to kneel at. I now say that if I can kneel at Saint John Lateran, I can kneel anywhere.😃
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My knees are much better since joining an EC parish where we don’t kneel.

A few months ago, after attending western Mass three times in as many days, my knees were sure feeling it . . .

hawk
 
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