When to sit??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Monicathree
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Monicathree

Guest
After the distribution of Holy Eucharist, when do we sit…when the tabernacle is closed or when the priest sits??

peace
 
🙂
In my Church everyone sits when the Priest sits. I usually stay on my knees and continue to pray until the last blessing – when we all stand.

Remember you can NEVER make a mistake by being toooooo reverent!!

Blessings,
Joanie
 
We do the same as Joanie said. We kneel until the Priest sits down.
 
In this diocese everyone sits as soon as they come back from communion. There are no kneelers in the church. Many (under age-30) people in the diocese have never even HEARD of kneelers or never seen people kneel at a mass.
 
I’ve had this same question. When our Deacon is assisting the priest sits, after the Body of Christ is in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, while the Deacon takes care of the alter. We wait to be seated until the Deacon sits down. The priest then gives the weekly announcements.

I have no issues here, I just wonder if we should/could sit when the priest sits. My only concern is that some folk may think we are kneeling out of respect to the Deacon’s chore of cleaning the alter. That obviously is not the reason. We are kneeling to reflect and pray in thanksgiving for the gift of the Eucharist.

Christ’s Peace
 
40.png
Monicathree:
After the distribution of Holy Eucharist, when do we sit…when the tabernacle is closed or when the priest sits??

peace
Click to expand...
The instruction says that you can sit, stand or kneel your choice after returning from receiving Holy Communion. My personal choice is to kneel while the tabernacle is open.
 
We sit when the altar boys sit, and they are quite trustworthy and knowledgeable under the direction of our priest. Unfortunately one can’t always be thusly blessed. 😦

As for the actual rules, yes, we may sit, kneel, or stand after receiving Holy Communion… In all honesty, though, wouldn’t you rather have one smooth, common motion? I mean, this is the public prayer of the Church… Anyway, for now she has decided to allow “to each his own”.
 
40.png
Cradle:
In all honesty, though, wouldn’t you rather have one smooth, common motion?
Click to expand...
I agree. At my parish, we all sit when you hear the first clack of a kneeler being put back up. But if that person does it too quietly, then it throws everything out of wack with some people getting back to sitting and others not.
 
In our parish the tabernacle is in a separate chapel of reservation, and usually the priest stays standing until the EMHC has left the nave with the Blessed Sacrament. At which point he, and everyone else, sits. Frankly, I don’t think most people realize what he is waiting for to sit. If we have a visiting priest, sometimes they will forget, and sit before the Blessed Sacrament is out of the nave, and everyone sits with him. My preference would be to sit at the later of the when the tabernacle doors close, or when the priest sits.
 
The Bishop of the San Jose Diocese sent a letter out over a year ago to be published in all the bulletins stating:

we were all to “stand” while everyone was still receiving communion out of curtesy. If the ministers, choir members etc receive after the rest of the parishoners we must remain standing until they have received also. As soon as the last person receives we may then sit down.

It is not an ideal prodedure at all. I can’t start my thanksgiving until I am either sitting or kneeling because I like to shut my eyes. I usually stay after mass for my thanksgiving for that reason. I have visited other parishes in the San Jose diocese and at many of them the parishoners are standing, sitting, or kneeling. I feel awkward standing when most of the people are doing something else.

I also attend mass in Sacramento where everyone kneels after communion and sits when the priest sits. That seems to be the procedure in Reno also. I like that much better.
 
I was always taught that you kneel until the tabernacle is closed, regardless of whether the priest is sitting or not.

Surprisingly, many people in my parish do this, even though genuflecting when passing in front of the tabernacle is a rarity. So, now I’m wondering now if they stay kneeling because our choir director seems to do a good job of timing the music to end when the tabernacle ‘clicks’ shut. Hmmmm, people may actually just be waiting for the music to stop…
 
40.png
ally:
The Bishop of the San Jose Diocese sent a letter out over a year ago to be published in all the bulletins stating:

we were all to “stand” while everyone was still receiving communion out of curtesy. If the ministers, choir members etc receive after the rest of the parishoners we must remain standing until they have received also. As soon as the last person receives we may then sit down.

It is not an ideal prodedure at all. I can’t start my thanksgiving until I am either sitting or kneeling because I like to shut my eyes. I usually stay after mass for my thanksgiving for that reason. I have visited other parishes in the San Jose diocese and at many of them the parishoners are standing, sitting, or kneeling. I feel awkward standing when most of the people are doing something else.

I also attend mass in Sacramento where everyone kneels after communion and sits when the priest sits. That seems to be the procedure in Reno also. I like that much better.
Click to expand...
And the Vatican responded to a request for clarification which said that no one, Pastor or Bishop, is to specify the posture of the faithful after they return to their pew after receiving Communion. It is a personal choice, just like holding hands during the Our Father, you can if you want but are not to be required to.
 
40.png
ally:
The Bishop of the San Jose Diocese sent a letter out over a year ago to be published in all the bulletins stating:

we were all to “stand” while everyone was still receiving communion out of curtesy. If the ministers, choir members etc receive after the rest of the parishoners we must remain standing until they have received also. As soon as the last person receives we may then sit down.

It is not an ideal prodedure at all. I can’t start my thanksgiving until I am either sitting or kneeling because I like to shut my eyes. I usually stay after mass for my thanksgiving for that reason. I have visited other parishes in the San Jose diocese and at many of them the parishoners are standing, sitting, or kneeling. I feel awkward standing when most of the people are doing something else.

I also attend mass in Sacramento where everyone kneels after communion and sits when the priest sits. That seems to be the procedure in Reno also. I like that much better.
Click to expand...
Are you sure? In Cleveland: dioceseofcleveland.org/parishlife/GIRM_8.htm
*And so — all of us who are able — are directed to stand from the Lord’s Prayer until the period of sacred silence which begins only after the priest returns to his chair after all have received Holy Communion. If an individual is not able (because of age or health or personal piety), then he or she may kneel or sit immediately after his or her individual reception of Holy Communion *** (*GIRM, *43, 88 and CDWDS, Prot. N. 855/03/L).
Click to expand...
From dioceseofcleveland.org/parishlife/GIRM_implementation.htm
Unhappily, some have reported to us that there are some pastors and other parish leaders who insist on insisting that the faithful do liturgical actions that are not prescribed by the GIRM, the Bishop, or the OPL. We urge great sensitivity in detailing what is in fact prescribed (bowing of the head before the reception of Holy Communion), what is suggested by the OPL (the orans
Click to expand...
at the Lord’s Prayer as an alternative to holding hands at this prayer) and what is normative with a Vatican indult (standing during the Communion Rite is normative for the whole Church, but the indult permits an individual to choose to kneel or sit immediately after receiving Holy Communion. This decision or the person exercising this right, should not be belittled). We are engaged in people’s faith lives, their religious sensibilities, as well as their training and traditions. Simply telling people that they have to grow up and get on with their lives is highly inappropriate. We know you know this, but it bears repeating nonetheless.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top