What do I bow towards at Mass?

[Flopfoot]

In our church the tabernacle is off to the right of the church while the altar and cross are in the middle. When I would go up to read, I would bow towards the tabernacle, but the other day the priest told me I was supposed to bow towards the cross. Which is right?

 

[Lee_M]

In our church the tabernacle is off to the right of the church while the altar and cross are in the middle. When I would go up to read, I would bow towards the tabernacle, but the other day the priest told me I was supposed to bow towards the cross. Which is right?

You bow to the altar. During Mass, our focus is on the altar.

 

[Lee_M]

In a church when the tabernacle is not in a side room, you genuflect toward the tabernacle when entering the church. Any other time, we focus on the altar by bowing.

 

[Mintaka]

TECHnically, we genuflect toward the tabernacle whenever we enter or leave any pew. We should also genuflect before the tabernacle whenever we cross the church right in front of it, and the same thing goes for bowing to the altar.

However, the custom of the church in the US is usually only to genuflect at some times and not at others. Some parishes still genuflect while leaving for Communion, for example, and most people end up genuflecting after Communion because they’re kneeling in the pew anyway. Other parishes have been sternly instructed not to do this. At my old parish, lectors always genuflected when getting up to do readings and getting back into the pew, and then bowed before the altar when going up to the lectern and coming back. At my current parish, we lectors have been instructed not to genuflect. Out of obedience, then, I don’t.

But you should still always genuflect when crossing in front of the tabernacle when the King is within; and always bow in front of the altar. Always, always, always. If anybody tells you different, you just do it anyway. It’s not optional.

Re: bowing to the altar, it’s not because the altar is “the focus”, and it’s not only during Mass. A church altar has been made intrinsically a very holy place – the place where Heaven touches Earth, where Christ comes to us with Real Presence, and the sacrificial actions of the Mass are performed by Christ the High Priest. As long as that altar hasn’t been deconsecrated and you’re walking in front of it, you’d better be bowing your little back. Profoundly, if you can do it; at least nodding and holding the pose if you physically can’t.

And I’ve come to the conclusion that you may as well take the time to do a good genuflection or bow. It’s not like bobbing your head or knee is so much faster than doing it right.

 

[Pani_Rose]

Re: bowing to the altar, it’s not because the altar is “the focus” of the Mass during Mass. The altar is intrinsically a very holy place – the place where Heaven touches Earth. As long as that altar hasn’t been deconsecrated and you’re walking in front of it, you’d better be bowing your little back. Profoundly, if you can do it; at least nodding and holding the pose if you physically can’t.

And you may as well take the time to do a good genuflection or bow. It’s not like bobbing your head or knee is so much faster than doing it right.

Christ himself is the Altar.

I did a quick search and found a clearer explantion here:

The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving himself to us. “For what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?” asks St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, “The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of Christ is on the altar.” The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers.The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving himself to us. “For what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?” asks St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, “The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of Christ is on the altar.” The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=234103

Thought it might help. I say of my husband, who is a deacon, he serves the Altar - it is Christ he is serving at the Divine Liturgy.

 

[Mrs_V]

In our parish the tabernacle is off to the left of the altar. Everyone, includeing the priest and deacon, genuflects towards the tabernacle. Some genuflect toward the tabernacle and THEN altar, but most only towards the tabernacle.

 

[Lee_M]

But you should still always genuflect when crossing in front of the tabernacle when the King is within; and always bow in front of the altar. Always, always, always. If anybody tells you different, you just do it anyway. It’s not optional.

I was told by the director of worship at my archdiocese that we genuflect to the tabernacle when entering and exiting the church(or pew). The only other time is when we put the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. However we bow in front of the altar any time we cross it. Does anyone have a ruling on this? Is there any reference to it in the GIRM? I would like to know if I have been told wrong.

 

[muffinmojo]

We always bow from the waist to the altar, and always genuflect to the Host(in the tabernacle), unless of course we are unable to do those things because of injury or age.

The tabernacle always takes presidence, from what I understand, because it contains the physical Body and Blood of Christ, while the altar is holy and consecrated, contains relics, and also represents Christ in more than just a symbolic sense.

If you pass the altar but the tabernacle is behind it, genuflect for the tabernacle. The Body of Christ is more holy than the table it is prepared on(which is also Christ, but not in the substantial sense like the Host).

 

[Tietjen]

In our church the tabernacle is off to the right of the church while the altar and cross are in the middle. When I would go up to read, I would bow towards the tabernacle, but the other day the priest told me I was supposed to bow towards the cross. Which is right?

Unless I am mistaken, neither is correct. You bow to the alter. You genuflect to the tabernacle. In my parish the tabernacle is directly behind the alter. When the readers go up, they always bow and that has always confused me. Wouldn’t it be more correct to genuflect to our Lord than merely bow to the alter?

 

[fbl9]

i thought this was an easy answer till i started to read. for myself i have been genuflecting towards the tabernacle any time i approach the alter as a reader,or when bringing up the gifts either the collection or the wine and bread.Our parish priest likes having more focus on Christ present in the tabernacle.

 

[Phemie]

The GIRM addresses bows & genuflections in the quote below.

It seems to take for granted that the ministers will remain in the sanctuary since it does not address the situation of people coming to the sanctuary during Mass except perhaps those who present the gifts at the Offertory since they fall under the instruction for those in procession.

Genuflections and Bows

1. A genuflection, made by bending the right knee to the ground, signifies adoration, and therefore it is reserved for the Most Blessed Sacrament, as well as for the Holy Cross from the solemn adoration during the liturgical celebration on Good Friday until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.

During Mass, three genuflections are made by the priest celebrant: namely, after the showing of the host, after the showing of the chalice, and before Communion. Certain specific features to be observed in a concelebrated Mass are noted in their proper place (cf. above, nos. 210-251).

If, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is present in the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself.

Otherwise all who pass before the Most Blessed Sacrament genuflect, unless they are moving in procession.

Ministers carrying the processional cross or candles bow their heads instead of genuflecting.

1. A bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them. There are two kinds of bows: a bow of the head and a bow of the body.

1. A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.
2. A bow of the body, that is to say a profound bow, is made to the altar; during the prayers Munda cor meum (Almighty God, cleanse my heart) and In spiritu humilitatis (Lord God, we ask you to receive); in the Creed at the words Et incarnatus est (by the power of the Holy Spirit . . . made man); in the Roman Canon at the words Supplices te rogamus (Almighty God, we pray that your angel). The same kind of bow is made by the deacon when he asks for a blessing before the proclamation of the Gospel. In addition, the priest bows slightly as he speaks the words of the Lord at the consecration.