When did the Church begin installing pews?

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I’m curious about when we added pews to our Churches. I know that many of the great medieval cathedrals do not have them, so it must be sometime after that. What was the custom for the Mass with no place to sit and no kneeler? Are there any good books out there about the history of Church architecture as it relates to worship?
 
Dear Townsend,

Some of what I am going to say is still scholarly speculation but… When the Church met in houses, we think there was sometimes a bench provided for certain people to use, like the elderly. In those days, eating was done in a reclining style so the whole arrangement was different, though. When we started to meet in church buildings, at first there were only seats for perhaps the Bishop or Priest and maybe some other ministers and dignitaries. When the monastic communities started to form (6th century), they would have places for the monks to sit, too. Then, once you get into the 9-10th centuries, there were occasionally benches or mats for the laity and by the time the 1500s rolled around, pews were common.

When there was no place to sit, the people spent most of the time standing. If they were able and it was customary, they’d kneel on the floor. Greek Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, from my understanding, have no pews or kneelers even to this day, although there may be exceptions.

As for a good book, I don’t know of any off hand. Check out a good Catholic bookstore/website…
 
I odn’t know the exact answer. However, part of the answers have already been provided by some a helpful response.

But there’s another part of the story. The Canons of the 1st Council of Nicea, 325 AD, forbade kneeling for “the prayers” (read that Divine Liturgy of Mass) on Sundays in certain parts of the year, only permitting it at certain times. Standing - as if at attention or rising from one’s seat in the presence of a superior - was the norm specified by canon.

Most Orthodox churches do not kneel or sit except on certain specific occasions. At least in this country, pews and kneelers are more common in Greek Orthodox Churches, but many others do not have them, providing seats along the perimeters of the nave for elderly or those with problems standing.

At least for the Orthodox - perhaps for the Eastern Catholic Churche as well (I don’t know for sure), no church council has ever superceded or rescinded Canon 20 of Nicea I.

Pax Christi!
 
Br. Dan:
…Eastern Catholic Churches, from my understanding, have no pews or kneelers even to this day, although there may be exceptions…
This is a fairly accurate statement today, although a few years back this was not the case. When many of the Eastern Catholic faithful arrived in the USA from the “old country” in the late 1800s, they attempted to bring with them the fullness of the liturgical traditions inherent in the Eastern Churches; this included, among other things, pewless worship spaces. By this time, Roman Catholicism was firmly established in the USA and, frankly, many of the Roman Catholic clergy and faithful had a hard time accepting that a Church that differed so greatly from their own in liturgical and ceremonial matters could possibly be Catholic. As a matter of survival in the new country, many, if not all, of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the USA were forced to undergo varying degrees of “Latinization,” in which their own traditions were diluted by those already established and accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, not the least of which was the installation of pews and kneelers.

Recently, through the grace of God and the foresight of our Holy Father, there is a concerted effort among the Eastern Catholic Churches to abandon the old vestages of “Latinization” and return to their ancient and sacred traditions, with the full blessing and encouragement of Rome. This call to return to the true Eastern Traditions was strengthened and enhanced by JPII’s 1995 encyclical, Orientale Lumen (Light of the East), in which he calls upon all Catholic faithful to acquaint themselves with the riches that the Eastern Churches bring to our Holy Catholic Church.

Within the last decade or so, many Eastern Catholic Churches have abandoned their pews altogether (with the exception of a few for the aged and infirm), and are making great strides toward eliminating other remnants of “Latinization” as well.

BTW - another of the sacred traditions of the Eastern Catholic Church that we may soon see a return to in the USA is (dare I say it?) married priests!

Slava Isusu Christu!

a pilgrim
 
a pilgrim:
BTW - another of the sacred traditions of the Eastern Catholic Church that we may soon see a return to in the USA is (dare I say it?) married priests!
If I may, let me clarify this statement of mine…

By my using the term “return to in the USA,” I may have given the impression that married priests were, at one time, accepted practice in the Eastern Catholic Churches in America - this has NEVER been the case.

When the Eastern Catholics first arrived in America, they gathered amongst themselves, mostly in the coal and steel areas of the Northeast, and attempted to form parishes for worship purposes, even going so far as to purchase land and erect church buildings - the only thing lacking were priests! The call went out to the “old country” to send priests familiar with the rites and traditions of Eastern Catholic worship to fill these positions. Many priests gladly volunteered to embark upon this grand journey to the “new country” to minister to the needs of their brothers and sisters here. The vast majority of these priests were married men, a fully-acceptable practice with regard to Eastern Catholics according to the Holy See.

It must be remembered that, at that time, there was no Eastern Catholic heierarchy in place in America, so the Eastern Catholic priests who showed up on our shores were subject to the rule of the Roman Catholic bishops within in their geographical areas. These bishops, ignorent of Eastern Catholic tradition and wanting to avoid the “scandal” of married Catholic priests, had virtually all of these priests shipped back to the old country (except for a couple of old widowers), literally stranding an entire population of Catholic faithful without priests to minister to them.

Not wishing to forfeit their religious rites and customs, most of these abandoned faithful refused to join the Latin Rite churches in their communities (the Latin Rite being totally foreign to them) and instead chose to sever their Catholic ties with Rome by joining the Orthodox Church in America, whose rites and traditions were virtually identical to those they were familiar with and forced to abandon. Estimates with regard to the number of Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic faithful alone who felt abandoned by Catholicism and sought out the “protection” of the Orthodoxy place that number as high as 225,000 faithful! In fact, it has been said that by denying the Eastern Catholics in America their rightful place within the body of the Church, the Catholic Church herself unwittingly served as the single largest missionary for Orthodoxy in America! Ready-made congregations and parishes, in many cases complete with church buildings, changed hands literally overnight, lost to Catholicism.

…but this is all a matter for a different thread…

Thank you for allowing me the clarification!

a pilgrim
 
a pilgrim:
If I may, let me clarify this statement of mine…

By my using the term “return to in the USA,” I may have given the impression that married priests were, at one time, accepted practice in the Eastern Catholic Churches in America - this has NEVER been the case.

When the Eastern Catholics first arrived in America, they gathered amongst themselves, mostly in the coal and steel areas of the Northeast, and attempted to form parishes for worship purposes, even going so far as to purchase land and erect church buildings - the only thing lacking were priests! The call went out to the “old country” to send priests familiar with the rites and traditions of Eastern Catholic worship to fill these positions. Many priests gladly volunteered to embark upon this grand journey to the “new country” to minister to the needs of their brothers and sisters here. The vast majority of these priests were married men, a fully-acceptable practice with regard to Eastern Catholics according to the Holy See.

It must be remembered that, at that time, there was no Eastern Catholic heierarchy in place in America, so the Eastern Catholic priests who showed up on our shores were subject to the rule of the Roman Catholic bishops within in their geographical areas. These bishops, ignorent of Eastern Catholic tradition and wanting to avoid the “scandal” of married Catholic priests, had virtually all of these priests shipped back to the old country (except for a couple of old widowers), literally stranding an entire population of Catholic faithful without priests to minister to them.

Not wishing to forfeit their religious rites and customs, most of these abandoned faithful refused to join the Latin Rite churches in their communities (the Latin Rite being totally foreign to them) and instead chose to sever their Catholic ties with Rome by joining the Orthodox Church in America, whose rites and traditions were virtually identical to those they were familiar with and forced to abandon. Estimates with regard to the number of Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic faithful alone who felt abandoned by Catholicism and sought out the “protection” of the Orthodoxy place that number as high as 225,000 faithful! In fact, it has been said that by denying the Eastern Catholics in America their rightful place within the body of the Church, the Catholic Church herself unwittingly served as the single largest missionary for Orthodoxy in America! Ready-made congregations and parishes, in many cases complete with church buildings, changed hands literally overnight, lost to Catholicism.

…but this is all a matter for a different thread…

Thank you for allowing me the clarification!

a pilgrim
Have you been a life long Byzantine Catholic? I returned to my birth rite just less than two years ago. I thank you for teaching me more about my birth rite!

I know at our church, Father would like to get rid of ALL the pews, (we actually have portable benches). but I do know her would keep a few for the elderly.
Yes, I throughtly am overwhelmed by our rich traditions and practices. I am even pick up one or two Church Slavonic phrases!

If ever in NE OHiio, all are welcome to visit our church!

Go with God!
Edwin
 
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