i know I am going to sound really stupid but I have never seen ANYONE bow or
genuflect during the creed. Is this done only in the EF ?
I only attend OF.
please forgive my stupidity.
In the Extraordinary Form, a genuflection (if one is not already kneeling, as at Low Mass) is
always made in the Credo.
In the Ordinary Form, a profound bow, from the waist, is
always made in the Credo, except for at the Christmas masses and one other mass which I don’t remember (probably Easter Vigil?), in which everyone genuflects.
I think the problem with only bowing is that it is a less deliberate action, and feels and looks as such, and doesn’t feel as natural (to a Roman Catholic, at least), IMO, as genuflecting. We don’t bow at any other time in the mass, nor do we bow to a tabernacle, nor do we bow to bishops, but we do make genuflections (or kneel) all the time, at every mass, to every occupied tabernacle, and traditionally to bishops. It’s just like how hardly anyone remembers to bow the head before receiving communion–even I forget about half the time, and when I don’t, I notice very few people who do–as it’s a less deliberate action, and there’s much subjectivity as to what a “profound” bow is, how deep it is. There is no subjectivity as to what a genuflection is: hit the floor with the right knee. There are those who do the semi-, partial-genuflect thing, but when everyone does it at the same time, it’s a more powerful visual statement, and nobody wants to be the odd one not doing it unless you can’t. Then there’s the problem of still genuflecting on two days in the OF: how many people remember to do that, really? That’s just poor, poor liturgical design on the part of the Consilium. It’s almost as if that was designed to fail. I’m not saying the poor design was purposefully done, but when you have to have the priest stop in the middle of the Credo to tell everyone to kneel because no one remembers on those two days out of the whole year, then there’s a real problem that needs to be fixed.
Whenever you go to EF High Masses,
everyone genuflects, because it’s a more deliberate action, and it’s always done. At Low Mass, you’re already kneeling and at High Mass, a genuflection is made. That’s much better design, IMO, and is simpler. I don’t know what the intent was in changing it and making a rule that few people follow because they don’t know it and then an exception to a rule that few people follow because they don’t remember it. That’s just plain flawed and makes no sense.
