Tripping

[MarcusAndreas]

That English is not a translation of the that Latin. The Latin you posted says:
The faithful communicate kneeling or standing, as the Conference of Bishops shall have established. When, however, they communicate standing, it is urged that they make a due sign of reverence, to be established in the same norms.
This – the Latin passage – is the basic, normative text for this provision in the GIRM. The English passage quoted is the American adaptation which, by approval of the Holy See, replaces it for the United States.

Obviously I need to brush up on my Latin.

Either way the new GIRM does not outlaw kneeling.

 

[AnneTeresa]

Back to the OP’s question, I’ve never tripped or seen anyone else tripped by someone kneeling. But I have found it at times to be quite awkward when someone drops down right in front of you and you aren’t expecting it. I could see how someone might trip if they weren’t paying careful attention.

Still I don’t think it’s “wrong” to kneel if you want, not does it necessarily mean you are more “holy” than those who stand.

 

[Papabile]

Congregation de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum

Prot. n. 47 / 03 / L

Rome, 26 February 2003

Dear [name deleted],

This Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has received through official channels your letter dated 1 December 2002, related to the application of the norms approved by the Conference of Bishops of the United States of America, with the subsequent recognitio of this Congregation, as regards the question of the posture for receiving Holy Communion.

As the authority by virtue of whose recognitio the norm in question has attained the force of law, this Dicastery is competent to specify the manner in which the norm is to be understood for the sake of a proper application. Having received more than a few letters regarding this matter from different locations in the United States of America, the Congregation wishes to ensure that its position on the matter is clear.

To this end, it is perhaps useful to respond to your inquiry by repeating the content of a letter that the Congregation recently addressed to a Bishop in the United States of America from whose Diocese a number of pertinent letters had been received. The letter states: “… while this Congregation gave the recognitio to the norm desired by the Bishops’ Conference of your country that people stand for Holy Communion, this was done on the condition that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion on these grounds. Indeed, the faithful should not be imposed upon nor accused of disobedience and of acting illicitly when they kneel to receive Holy Communion”.

This Dicastery hopes that the citation given here will provide an adequate answer to your letter. At the same time, please be assured that the Congregation remains ready to be of assistance if you should need to contact it again.

With every prayerful good wish, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Mons. Mario Marini
Undersecretary

 

[maryjk]

Back to the OP’s question,

Good idea. Let us get back to the OP’s question.

People kneeling don’t bother me. It is the people that genuflect, stand up, then walk forward to receive. Generally there is space between the person receiving and the next person in line. But not so much for the people in line.

I have not tripped, but I have come close, more than once. And not because I walk into the person genuflecting, but because their leg shoots back into where I am standing.

 

[mkamoski1]

In the new Mass, starting this Advent, kneeling for Holy Communion will be prohibited except in the Extraordinary Form (where it will continue to be required), so it won’t be an issue any more.

This is false.

In fact, the new Mass actually further permits kneeling for communion.

 

[mkamoski1]

…kneeling to receive Holy Communion will no longer be permitted as of the First Sunday of Advent, 2011…

That is not consistent with the GIRM.

Please see the GIRM quote below, emphasis added for clarity…

"

GIRM 160 (2011 ed.):

1. The Priest then takes the paten or ciborium and approaches the communicants, who usually come up in procession.

It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, 25 March 2004, no. 91).

"

jimmyakin.org/2011/08/podcast-episode-007-is-michael-voris-right-about-kneeling.html

I am so glad Jimmy Akin did his homework.

That guy is AWESOME.

Thanks Jimmy!!!

Slave To the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I am yours…

• Mark Kamoski

 

[zab]

I am afraid that Sometimes people do more harm than good when they make fun of those who have said that they have at one time or another nearly tripped when the person ahead of them in the Communion line made a sudden unexpected move to genuflect. Just because some have had this experience does not mean that they are opposed to returning to the practice of kneeling. When Antonio Cardinal Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, encouraged the entire Catholic Church to return to the practice of receiving Communion while kneeling, I don’t think that he expected everyone to do so without the aid of a Communion rail or kneeler.

 

[maryjk]

I am afraid that Sometimes people do more harm than good when they make fun of those who have said that they have at one time or another nearly tripped when the person ahead of them in the Communion line made a sudden unexpected move to genuflect. Just because some have had this experience does not mean that they are opposed to returning to the practice of kneeling. When Antonio Cardinal Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, encouraged the entire Catholic Church to return to the practice of receiving Communion while kneeling, I don’t think that he expected everyone to do so without the aid of a Communion rail or kneeler.

I think you are right. I have almost tripped a number of times. It has always been when someone shot one leg back into my legs so they could genuflect. It has never been because I have walked into someone kneeling to receive.

If the Church returns to kneeling to receive, fine. At least it will stop people from genuflecting right in front of me.