There had been many questions about this same thing in the parishes here in New Mexico. I did some research and found the answer. Apprently those who wish to kneel may still kneel.
*Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Chairman of the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy, received the following clarification concerning the right interpretation of the “General Instruction of the Roman Missal” on the posture of the faithful from their own reception of Communion until the period of sacred silence after all Communions have been received (at which time they may sit or kneel as they prefer).
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments*
*5 June 2003
Prot. n. 855/03/L
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?*
Responsum: Negative, et ad mentem. The mens is that the prescription of the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, no. 43, is intended, on one hand, to ensure within broad limits a certain uniformity of posture within the congregation for the various parts of the celebration of the 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.
Francis Cardinal Arinze
Prefect
The 2002
General Instruction on the Roman Missal provides in paragraph 43 for the various postures of the people during the Mass. This universal liturgical law states that “the people should stand … from the prayer over the gifts to the end of the Mass, except at the places indicated later in this paragraph.” The indicated places are the Consecration, “when they kneel,” and during the period of reflection after Communion, when they may “kneel, stand or sit” (Congregation for Divine Worship,
Notitiae 10, p.407).
This same paragraph allows each national bishops’ conference “to adapt the actions and postures …
to the customs of the people.” The American bishops have done this, codifying the Tridentine practice, which has existed as an American custom under the 1970 Missal, of kneeling down after the Agnus Dei. In the American adaptation of the
General Instruction to the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal (2002), it therefore states,
43 … The faithful kneel after the
Agnus Dei unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise.
Thus, the norm for the United States continues the practice of kneeling down after the Agnus Dei, unless a bishop establishes, for his entire diocese, the practice of remaining standing. There is no faculty for individual parishes to do this, establishing a patchwork of practices within a single diocese.
For those who wish to kneel, where the norm is standing, the right to do so has been secured by the Holy See.
The above information was found at EWTNs Website the page is
ewtn.com/expert/answers/kneeling_after_the_lamb_of_god.htm.
NMKNIGHT
