Too old to genuflect

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I’m a new Catholic, confirmed at the Easter vigil this year. I am 55 years old and no longer of a weight or fitness level to be sure that I could get up again if I genuflected properly.

Can I be correct with the following?

Profound bow to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle (which in my church is in the chapel, not the sanctuary) when I enter the chapel

Profound bow to the empty altar when I am facing it

Also, I understand (finally, I think) that we should make a reverent head bow before receiving the Body of Christ and also before receiving the Blood of Christ during the communion. Please confirm this for me.

Thank you. Those who convert from other Christian traditions sometimes have a challenge remembering and performing these ritual actions which are second nature to cradle Catholics! 🙂
 
abcdxyz said:
I’m a new Catholic, confirmed at the Easter vigil this year. I am 55 years old and no longer of a weight or fitness level to be sure that I could get up again if I genuflected properly.

Can I be correct with the following?

Profound bow to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle (which in my church is in the chapel, not the sanctuary) when I enter the chapel

Profound bow to the empty altar when I am facing it

Also, I understand (finally, I think) that we should make a reverent head bow before receiving the Body of Christ and also before receiving the Blood of Christ during the communion. Please confirm this for me.

Thank you. Those who convert from other Christian traditions sometimes have a challenge remembering and performing these ritual actions which are second nature to cradle Catholics! 🙂
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First of all, you are NOT too old. Gee, I will be 54 tomorrow and I don’t consider myself old.

Secondly,age for the most part has nothing to do with the inability to kneel or genuflect…bad knees do. I know people in their 20’s who blew out their knees in sports and cannot genuflect.

That being said, yes, a profound bow is perfectly OK. I often do so when I don’t have anything to hang on to, but even with that sometimes my knees are giving me so much trouble that I have to stop genuflecting for a time. God understands.
 
If you can’t genuflect, what you have proposed is fine.

No one expects you to do what you cannot do.
 
Yes. Profound bow is good for reverencing the tabernacle and altar. A bow of the head is the norm to do before receiving communion.

God Bless,
Matt
 
Joannm said:
First of all, you are NOT too old. Gee, I will be 54 tomorrow and I don’t consider myself old.
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Sorry, Joannm, I guess I blame things on age that I should really blame on my own lack of physical vigor. I know that there are many who are my age and older who can genuflect with the best of them. I just don’t want to make a scene by having to be lifted off my knee by other parishioners. Thanks for your reply!
 
None of us knows how your knee joints feel when you try to kneel or genuflect. We don’t know to what degree extra weight has degraded the cartilage or what injuries have had ill effects on your joints. None of us is qualified to say that you should or should not be excused from the normal ceremonials of respect. I doubt that age has much to do with it. I know that my wife hasn’t been able to kneel, or genuflect or sit in one place for five minutes without pain in her knees. She has a prescription for it. I don’t ask her if she sits all through Mass. If she stands and I see that she’s bending at the waist to redistribute her weight on her knees, I tell her to sit down. I put the kneeler (if there is one) out of the way so that she can stretch her legs out.
God wants to see your shining face at Mass. The shine should come from a reverent and grateful heart, not from a film of pain induced sweat.

Matthew
 
I’m not getting any younger either (56). I use the pew to help me get up.
 
abcdxyz said:
I’m a new Catholic, confirmed at the Easter vigil this year. I am 55 years old and no longer of a weight or fitness level to be sure that I could get up again if I genuflected properly.

Can I be correct with the following?

Profound bow to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle (which in my church is in the chapel, not the sanctuary) when I enter the chapel

Profound bow to the empty altar when I am facing it

Also, I understand (finally, I think) that we should make a reverent head bow before receiving the Body of Christ and also before receiving the Blood of Christ during the communion. Please confirm this for me.

Thank you. Those who convert from other Christian traditions sometimes have a challenge remembering and performing these ritual actions which are second nature to cradle Catholics! 🙂
Click to expand...
Yes, you are correct.
 
if you then develop the unfortunate tendency to topple over when you bow, your pastor may suggest you forego that gesture as well. do what you can, as do the faithful in wheelchairs, on crutches or walkers, and offer it up. I think God regards the humble acceptance of burdens in the same light as the willing undertaking of a burden like genuflecting, which is reserved for those who do not as yet have their own burden.
 
I’m 47 and don’t have a problem with genuflecting, but I screwed up my lower back in the Air Force, so when I’m kneeling I have to rest my behind on the edge of the pew behind me, or my back just slaughters me. It looks a little funny to have me, at my age, half-sitting in the pew, when many older folks are kneeling bolt upright on the kneelers, but to avoid dull, throbbing pain, I’ll risk looking a little funny. 🙂
 
Health matters more than age when it comes to your ability to genuflect … For weeks after I fractured some toes in a silly accident, my strange attempt to genuflect looked more like the dramatic scene from the Karate Kid movie where balancing precariously on one leg and kind of swooping down was the most I could do, with a lightning fast Sign of the Cross before reaching out frantically to grab the pew ahead of me for support. :o

We do our best, and God is happy with it.

~~ the phoenix
 
First things first::extrahappy: Welcome home!!! I came home two years ago this past Easter, and even I have trouble genuflecting (I had a stroke approx 13 years ago) and I have to hold onto the pew or else I won’t be able to get up. I even know a priest who has to hold onto the altar during the consecration because of a blown-out knee, so join the club!

:byzsoc:
Prayers,
Chantal
 
I empathize completely; a full genuflection is simply no longer possible for me (used to do lots of dancing and my knees have finally rebelled.)

I know I’ve posted this before, but it fits here. We (dh, two dd’s and myself) were blessed to have a private audience with Pope John Paul II in 2001 through the intervention of our local archbishop. We were immediately in front of His Holiness, where there was a kneeler. We all knelt down, and, too late, I realized that the kneeler was really too narrow for the four of us. After the Holy Father gave us blessed rosaries, and his blessing, we all started to stand up…and I simply couldn’t, try as I might. I had no choice but to grab the arm of the Pope’s throne to help myself up. Embarrassing! I’m sure the various onlookers and likely His Holiness were amused, however.
 
I am 42 and have bad knees, so even though I can genuflect, it is very hard to get back up without something to hold onto!

Kneeling in the pew is a different story. My parish is wonderful, but the kneelers in the pews are very uncomfortable and cut into the knees terribly. Sometimes I can kneel and offer up the pain to the souls in purgatory or as penance for my own sins. Most of the time, though, I sit at the very edge of the pew and lean forward, hands folded in prayer, so it looks like I am kneeling.

In the end, just do what your body can afford to do. Remember, the most important part of your body for worship is your heart!
 
abcdxyz said:
I’m a new Catholic, confirmed at the Easter vigil this year. I am 55 years old and no longer of a weight or fitness level to be sure that I could get up again if I genuflected properly.

Can I be correct with the following?

Profound bow to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle (which in my church is in the chapel, not the sanctuary) when I enter the chapel

Profound bow to the empty altar when I am facing it

Also, I understand (finally, I think) that we should make a reverent head bow before receiving the Body of Christ and also before receiving the Blood of Christ during the communion. Please confirm this for me.

Thank you. Those who convert from other Christian traditions sometimes have a challenge remembering and performing these ritual actions which are second nature to cradle Catholics! 🙂
Click to expand...
A reverent bow to the tabernacle is certainly acceptable if you are not physically able to genuflect. And yes, prior to receiving the Eucharist do bow your head. Okay, now that I’ve discussed business…

WELCOME HOME! :extrahappy:

Too often people who have just entered the Church feel all at once full of joy and then ask ‘now what?’ If you need support during this mystagogial period and in the coming months, please contact me and I’ll be pleased to join you on your journey.

God bless you! 🙂

Kelly
 
mozier said:
I am 42 and have bad knees, so even though I can genuflect, it is very hard to get back up without something to hold onto!

Kneeling in the pew is a different story. My parish is wonderful, but the kneelers in the pews are very uncomfortable and cut into the knees terribly. Sometimes I can kneel and offer up the pain to the souls in purgatory or as penance for my own sins. Most of the time, though, I sit at the very edge of the pew and lean forward, hands folded in prayer, so it looks like I am kneeling.

In the end, just do what your body can afford to do. Remember, the most important part of your body for worship is your heart!
Click to expand...
Our parish has the same uncomfortable type of kneelers. I have found a few pews that have more room and thus make it more comfortable. These pews are behind where the disabled sit and I usually sit there and can kneel comfortably.
 
abcdxyz said:
I’m a new Catholic, confirmed at the Easter vigil this year. I am 55 years old and no longer of a weight or fitness level to be sure that I could get up again if I genuflected properly.

Can I be correct with the following?

Profound bow to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle (which in my church is in the chapel, not the sanctuary) when I enter the chapel

Profound bow to the empty altar when I am facing it

Also, I understand (finally, I think) that we should make a reverent head bow before receiving the Body of Christ and also before receiving the Blood of Christ during the communion. Please confirm this for me.

Thank you. Those who convert from other Christian traditions sometimes have a challenge remembering and performing these ritual actions which are second nature to cradle Catholics! 🙂
Click to expand...
Yup. All good.
 
Having read this whole good thread, I would encourage anybody whose only problem with genuflecing is a surplus of self-accumulated poundage not connected with medical extenuations to take charge and set yourself free from this miserable burden.

Just from the practical point of view, the FREEDOM of being a little more fit (which one can be even if over weight) and free of excess weight is SUCH a magnificent liberty! Go for it if you can! (Ask me how I know this.)

The OP is only 55. Way too young for a healthy person to be complaining of “age”. Heck! “55 is the new 35!”
 
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