What has happened to Genuflection?

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What is the official “ruling” on genuflection these days?

Is this another tradition that has been done away with?

I recently attended a funeral at my hometown parish church and was amazed at how hardly anyone bothered to genuflect when they entered the pews. I think I saw 3 people bother to do it.

I find this objectionable and in the utmost of poor taste.

What ELSE are they going to do away with next?
 
If the tabernacle isn’t in displayed I am not sure that genuflection is required…They have move the tabernacle in many churches to a room of it’s own…don’t ask me why, I have noooo idea what their reasoning is

I genuflect…depending on how cooperative my knees are that day
 
You are still supposed to genuflect if you can see the Tabernacle, and if not, then you bow to the altar. At the Church I attend now, they Tabernacle is hid by a curtain wall thing that divides the nave from the Eucharistic Chapel, but because I still know where it is, I genuflect upon entering the Pew.

Tradition is not gone, people have just forgotten it
 
It’s not done away with in the least. At my parish, everyone genuflects.

If the tabernacle is not behind or on the altar, if it is in a separate room, you don’t genuflect. Genuflection is reserved only for the Blessed Sacrament(well, except for genuflection on the left knee, which is done in the presence of bishops), a profound bow is used when it is simply reverencing the altar and not the reserved Host.

Also note that the Ordinary Form of the Mass has fewer genuflections; around 3 are prescribed. The EF has dozens, so I can see how it would feel like something is left out if you aren’t expecting this.
 
I have never been to a parish where people don’t genuflect.
 
Gardenman said:
What is the official “ruling” on genuflection these days?

Is this another tradition that has been done away with?

I recently attended a funeral at my hometown parish church and was amazed at how hardly anyone bothered to genuflect when they entered the pews. I think I saw 3 people bother to do it.

I find this objectionable and in the utmost of poor taste.

What ELSE are they going to do away with next?
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I’ve belonged to a number of parishes in several States. Everyone genuflects. I wonder who it is you imagine to be THEY. Who, exactly, are THEY?
 
Most of the people in the parishes I play for genuflect or bow.

Is it possible that since it was a funeral, there were many non-Catholics attending? Perhaps that’s why so few people were genuflecting.

Another possibility–a stretch, I know, but if the funeral was a particularly sad one and people were in deep grief and shock, they may have simply forgotten to genuflect.

I’ve heard that many people forget to eat when a loved one dies. So if we can forget to do something that keeps our bodies alive, it’s understandable that we would forget to follow the norms of our Church at a time of tragedy.
 
I wish that were the case ! 90% of the people attending the funeral were Catholic !

That parish now has a very liberal pastor. Maybe that’s part of the issue ???
 
Honestly, I see the majority of people genuflect at the several different parishes I attend around the city. Just today at a beautiful Church I got up and kneeled before the High Altar at the (now unused) altar rails and another woman beside me was kneeling so low her face was on the ground.
 
What happened to genuflection?

Several things, but first and foremost, where it is absent, I believe it is rooted in a loss of the sense of the Real Presence and an understanding of reverence.

When there is a true sign of external reverence (only known to each individual and God), it is a manifestation of interior reverence. As such, it is a response to the grace of God.

Everything from lack of genuflection and lack of modest dress to talking in Church - so much that some parishes rival a mall on Saturday afternoon - are signs of irreverence.

But, people need to be catechized. When they understand the Eucharist more thoroughly, they will be inclined to show signs of reverence.

In may parishes, the genuflection has evolved into what I call, “the Sunday slide” or “the Sunday limp”. People literally limp their way into the pew, of those who remember to do even that much.

People will often greet others without greeting our Lord or before Him. They say they don’t want to offend their neighbor by not acknowledging them, but sadly Our Lord takes a back seat.
 
Gardenman said:
What is the official “ruling” on genuflection these days?

Is this another tradition that has been done away with?

I recently attended a funeral at my hometown parish church and was amazed at how hardly anyone bothered to genuflect when they entered the pews. I think I saw 3 people bother to do it.

I find this objectionable and in the utmost of poor taste.

What ELSE are they going to do away with next?
Click to expand...
Genuflection has not been done away with. I see some people doing it, but not even half the people at our church. I think people have gotten lazy and have not taught their children to do it. Parents and teachers need to teach the youth so they can do it and pass it on. I learned it at home and in Catholic school. I think the majority of children don’t go to Catholic school either, which gave me a good foundation in my faith. I had the Dominican nuns teaching me.😉
 
redrosetea said:
If the tabernacle isn’t in displayed I am not sure that genuflection is required…They have move the tabernacle in many churches to a room of it’s own…don’t ask me why, I have noooo idea what their reasoning is
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Tabernacles have been moved because we can’t have that pesky body and blood of our Savior getting in our way of having a good time and catching up on news/gossip with our neighbor. That is what Mass/Church is all about. Gettin’ together and having a good time, right? :rolleyes:
 
Gardenman said:
What is the official “ruling” on genuflection these days?

Is this another tradition that has been done away with?

I recently attended a funeral at my hometown parish church and was amazed at how hardly anyone bothered to genuflect when they entered the pews. I think I saw 3 people bother to do it.

I find this objectionable and in the utmost of poor taste.

What ELSE are they going to do away with next?
Click to expand...
If the Tabernacle is not present, one need not genuflect. However, if it is somewhere in the church proper, you should genuflect in its direction.
 
thedavidwilson said:
Tabernacles have been moved because we can’t have that pesky body and blood of our Savior getting in our way of having a good time and catching up on news/gossip with our neighbor. That is what Mass/Church is all about. Gettin’ together and having a good time, right? :rolleyes:
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IMO, grave irreverence as a form of humor is still grave irreverence.
 
muffinmojo said:
If the tabernacle is not behind or on the altar, if it is in a separate room, you don’t genuflect. Genuflection is reserved only for the Blessed Sacrament(well, except for genuflection on the left knee, which is done in the presence of bishops), a profound bow is used when it is simply reverencing the altar and not the reserved Host.
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The location of the tabernacle isn’t the deciding factor. You should genuflect to the tabernacle if it is visible even if it isn’t behind or on the altar. Many parishes have moved the tabernacle to an alcove. It is supposed to be a more intimate space for adoration. This does not stop one from genuflecting if the tabernacle is still visible.

Do you have a source for the genuflecting to bishops? I have never heard of that one.
 
Gardenman said:
What is the official “ruling” on genuflection these days?

Is this another tradition that has been done away with?

I recently attended a funeral at my hometown parish church and was amazed at how hardly anyone bothered to genuflect when they entered the pews. I think I saw 3 people bother to do it.

I find this objectionable and in the utmost of poor taste.

What ELSE are they going to do away with next?
Click to expand...
I still genuflect. My concern is what the laity will add next. There are so many sneaky little additions to the Mass these days, such as hand-holding, and waving your arms about at key moments in the Mass, plus the endless music, that I can’t help but wonder what’s next. I don’t agree with the popular treatment of Mass as a love-in or kumbaya fest. I am there to worship God, and follow Jesus’ teaching that we meet in His name, and consume His flesh and blood. It’s about God, not my relationship with whomever I’m standing next to.😦
 
**
Do you have a source for the genuflecting to bishops? I have never heard of that one.**

**I knew about that one, even as an Episcopalian. It’s mentioned in books of ceremonies.

Somewhere on line, there is a photo of the ministers of a Western Rite Orthodox parish at High Mass genuflecting on their left knees to the Eastern Bishop (in Byzantine Vestments) at the north site of the Altar (the traditional place for Western bishops).**
 
thedavidwilson said:
Tabernacles have been moved because we can’t have that pesky body and blood of our Savior getting in our way of having a good time and catching up on news/gossip with our neighbor. That is what Mass/Church is all about. Gettin’ together and having a good time, right? :rolleyes:
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It does make me wonder what’s going through their heads when they put the priest or bishop’s chair right in the middle of the sactuary and the Eucharistic Lord in a glorified broom closet 🤷
 
RyanML said:
It does make me wonder what’s going through their heads when they put the priest or bishop’s chair right in the middle of the sactuary and the Eucharistic Lord in a glorified broom closet 🤷
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That is the problem with the configuration of the NO Mass. As humans we tend to focus on a face rather than a host or the tabernacle. On an emotional level the Priest/bishop is more real to us. The belief in the Real Presence is an act of the will since we do not have any sensory (name removed by moderator)ut and therefore is harder. When you have a person’s face to focus on that is what human lend importance to. The removing of the tabernacle is a symptom of this. The OF Mass has become a celebration of the personality of the priest (and laity) which is what protestants do.

This is why in the EF of the Mass the priest has his back to us. It is not because he is hiding the Eucharist from us. It is becasue we are all (priest and laity) are or should be focused on the Real Presence rather than the man celebrating the Mass. I guess there is somthing to be said about the Tridentine Mass.
 
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