Stand or kneel?

[Morning_Glory]

**Usually, at my own parish, I kneel until after all have received Communion and the priest has taken his seat. Recently, I was at a church with no kneelers, and I stood until all received Communion and the priest took his seat. People were looking at me pretty strange (which seemed weird from a church that had no kneelers).

Was this the wrong thing to do? So I know the next time I visit a church with no kneelers.**

 

[thistle]

**Usually, at my own parish, I kneel until after all have received Communion and the priest has taken his seat. Recently, I was at a church with no kneelers, and I stood until all received Communion and the priest took his seat. People were looking at me pretty strange (which seemed weird from a church that had no kneelers).

Was this the wrong thing to do? So I know the next time I visit a church with no kneelers.**

GIRM 43. The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant, or while the priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect; for the Alleluia chant before the Gospel; while the Gospel itself is proclaimed; during the Profession of Faith and the Prayer of the Faithful; from the invitation, Orate, fraters (Pray, brethren), before the prayer over the offerings until the end of Mass, except at the places indicated below.

They should, however, 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.

According to the GIRM you may sit or kneel. It does not say you may stand.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Usually, at my own parish, I kneel until after all have received Communion and the priest has taken his seat. Recently, I was at a church with no kneelers, and I stood until all received Communion and the priest took his seat. People were looking at me pretty strange (which seemed weird from a church that had no kneelers).

Was this the wrong thing to do? So I know the next time I visit a church with no kneelers.

Lying on the floor is not permitted. I assume that everyone else was sitting? I would have kneeled on the floor in my place or sat down which is also permitted. Or a half kneel , half sit position.

 

[Morning_Glory]

Br. Rich SFO:

Lying on the floor is not permitted. I assume that everyone else was sitting? I would have kneeled on the floor in my place or sat down which is also permitted. Or a half kneel , half sit position.

**I was practically lying on the floor when I saw that there were no kneelers in the church! Recovered my senses and was trying to be a good girl for the rest of the Mass.

Trying…**

 

[palmas85]

Kneelers are not required, and really not necessary, although it can be a little hard on the knees without them. I would have knelt anyway.

 

[John_Lilburne]

thistle:

GIRM 43. The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant, or while the priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect; for the Alleluia chant before the Gospel; while the Gospel itself is proclaimed; during the Profession of Faith and the Prayer of the Faithful; from the invitation, Orate, fraters (Pray, brethren), before the prayer over the offerings until the end of Mass, except at the places indicated below.

They should, however, 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.

According to the GIRM you may sit or kneel. It does not say you may stand.

Morning Glory wrote: “I stood until all received Communion and the priest took his seat”.

When people are receiving Communion the priest is saying “The Body of Christ” and people are responding “Amen”. So this is not a time of silence. So it is not the time of “sacred silence after Communion”. It is the time of people talking during Communion. So according to the paragraph above you do not yet have the option of “they may sit or kneel”. The correct posture is to stand. Certainly it should be an option for those who want to follow the Roman Missal.

 

[thistle]

As soon as you have received the Eucharist it is a time of sacred silence for you. In all the churches I have attended Mass in many countries everyone either kneels or sits after receiving the Eucharist. Does that mean they are all wrong? Nobody stands after receiving and returning to their place.

 

[muledog]

John Lilburne:

When people are receiving Communion the priest is saying “The Body of Christ” and people are responding “Amen”. So this is not a time of silence. So it is not the time of “sacred silence after Communion”. It is the time of people talking during Communion. So according to the paragraph above you do not yet have the option of “they may sit or kneel”. The correct posture is to stand. Certainly it should be an option for those who want to follow the Roman Missal.

Don’t be so rigid, especially since it is not the intent of the rubric to keep people from kneeling at this point.

The rubric mentioned doesn’t make the destinction between personal communion and communion of the entire congregation. Therefore, “after Communion” could be construed as being the time *after each person has received. *

Then there is the Dubium sent to Rome by Cardinal George, asking the following:

Dubium: 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 Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, to forbid this practice?

The answer from Rome was

Responsum: Negative, et ad mensum [No, for this reason]. The mens [reasoning] is that the prescription of the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, 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.

In the July, 2003 issue of the BCL newsletter, the following was published:

In the implementation of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, therefore, posture should not be regulated so rigidly as to forbid individual communicants from kneeling or sitting when returning from having received Holy Communion.

That seems to be the position of the U.S. bishops, which can be seen in this transcription of their June 2001 meeting:

**Archbishop Charles Chaput **(Denver) asked for clarification on an amendment proposed by Bishop Edward Clark (Aux. Los Angeles) that after reception of Communion all are to remain standing until the last person has received.

Archbishop Chaput: It’s not my amendment, it’s Bishop Clark’s. The Committee says it has been accepted, or subsumed into amendment 2, but I don’t think it has been. Because number 2 says, “The faithful may kneel or sit during the period of religious silence after Communion”.

And Bishop Clark is suggesting that no one sit or kneel till everyone receives, so it really isn’t – I mean it’s kind of ignoring the question, and for clarity I would just ask, why does the Committee think it really is answering his question with the wording of number 2?

Archbishop Lipscomb: Well, I [reads] “They may kneel or sit following the reception of Holy Communion”, and instead say: “They should sit during the readings before the Gospel”, and so forth, “and if this seems helpful, they may sit or kneel during the period of religious silence after Communion”.

Archbishop Chaput: And what Bishop Clark is suggesting is that nobody sit or kneel until everybody receives; and then they can. So they’re not really the same issue it seems.

Archbishop Lipscomb: Well, again, if that was the bishop’s intention I don’t think we would accept that as practice for the United States – until everybody goes to Communion then you either sit or kneel, that everybody remains standing until then. I just don’t think that follows the practice of most of our churches in the United States.

Archbishop Chaput: See, I agree with you, but I thought this was confusing so I was just asking for a clarification. So the period of silence can begin as soon as you receive, if you want to go back and sit down, or kneel.

Archbishop Lipscomb: You can sit down, or you can kneel – or you can stand. That’s included previously.

The entire issue of kneeling after Communion can be found in this excellent article at the Adoremus website.

 

[tom.wineman]

The church down the road has no kneelers and chairs so close you can’t kneel if you wanted to.
Everybody thinks it is fine just to sit right through the consecration and communion . They do stand for the Our Father. I don’t go there.

 

[SMHW]

I just thought I’d mention…

At my parish it IS the custom to stand until everyone has received communion. There are some people who don’t but the majority stay standing and join in the communion song. We then have a communal period of silence where everyone sits.

At a neighboring parish it is common to kneel for a few moments and then stand again until everyone has received.

My point is that there ARE parishes where standing until all receive communion is the norm. These parishes may not be the majority but they are quite real.

 

[devoted_to_Mary]

Our church has kneelers and seats about 250 people quite comfortably. After the communion of the body and precious blood by our Priest, everyone sits and waits for the ushers to summon their isle to go and receive. We bow before receiving the body of Christ. After communion the people sit or kneel as they wish, most kneel.
The choir sings until all have received communion and the faithful are instructed to participate in the singing as well. I asked the priest once if I could say private prayers after communion and he said no, that we all must support the communion together and we can pray after the songs, but sometimes they don’t stop singing until the priest sits. Sometimes the time for personal prayer and reflection is only seconds. Sometimes I wish I could pray when kneeling instead of sing. Most times I say my prayers after the end of the mass.

 

[Morning_Glory]

**So sorry, I wasn’t clear enough:

I did not receive Communion that day. I stood while watching everyone else receive (at the back of the church). I was not standing after receiving Communion while everyone else received.

Please, no “fighting”. I was just wondering.**

 

[LeahInancsi]

palmas85:

Kneelers are not required, and really not necessary, although it can be a little hard on the knees without them. I would have knelt anyway.

Bless you, palmas85. You will be in heaven while the rest of us are languishing in purgatory. I doubt there’s anyway I’m going to kneel on a hard (cement) floor for half an hour, unless I have a heavy wool coat to kneel on.