why do we stand after communion now?

[buffalo]

I have listened to all explanations and arguements…my conclusion is this…I still don’t like it…it is not meaningful for me

I feel cheated of private devotion time…they put any old spin on it and it won’t change my mind. I am going back to kneeling and if people don’t like it , well I guess they will have to lump it…

I agree! I can tell you when I stood after Communion I wasn’t able to Commune with Jesus like I do when I kneel. At this point unity in posture is not first and formemost on my mind.

 

[Brendan]

That is how I understood it when it was explained to us: that is, although the direction is to stand, kneeling is *not *prohibited. Coming from me, though, it is obviously second-hand information, of interest only to see how what was actually taught sunk (or failed to sink) in!

No, it means that there is NO direction given by the Church in this matter. Each person may sit, stand or kneel as they see fit.

If someone is giving a ‘direction’ it is NOT the Church, nor are they acting in the name of the Church.

 

[Aaron409]

I believe most people would want to kneel you just recieved Christ. Thats why they have prayers for you to say for after communion. Or you could say a decade of the rosary if you preferred.

 

[EasterJoy]

No, it means that there is NO direction given by the Church in this matter. Each person may sit, stand or kneel as they see fit.

If someone is giving a ‘direction’ it is NOT the Church, nor are they acting in the name of the Church.

My understanding is that the “someone”, in our case, was the archbishop. In our archdiocese, we stand after the Agnus Dei. We also have, as per the rules, a period of sacred silence after Holy Communion–that is, after *everyone *has had Holy Communion and the singing is finished–for the purpose of silent reflection. People sit or kneel for this. It is clear in the directives by the archdiocese that this period is not optional. What anybody in any other parish in the archdiocese does, though, just isn’t my business. Whatever they do when I visit their parish, I do that. I don’t ask for a letter from the chancery office, proving they’re exempt.

Our pastor has taught us what he was asked to teach us. Now, I may have understood incorrectly, I may be explaining this wrong, but we all stand for Holy Communion, I do know that. I’ve also found that when I’ve thought our pastor might be wrong about something, he has been within the rules and doing what the archbishop has asked every single time.

You can doubt my pastor and archbishop. I don’t. I’m not going to. Go ahead and doubt me, though, because I do it all the time!

 

[EasterJoy]

I believe most people would want to kneel you just recieved Christ. Thats why they have prayers for you to say for after communion. Or you could say a decade of the rosary if you preferred.

I agree. I just think of “you” in the plural. If we’re not finished receiving, *I’m *not finished receiving. After all, Holy Communion is, by its very nature, communal. My kneeling and prayers after Holy Communion can wait until we can all kneel and pray together.

It is another way of looking at it, anyway.

 

[jmcrae]

I agree. I just think of “you” in the plural. If we’re not finished receiving, *I’m *not finished receiving. After all, Holy Communion is, by its very nature, communal. My kneeling and prayers after Holy Communion can wait until we can all kneel and pray together.

It is another way of looking at it, anyway.

What difference to other people would it make whether you do your Anima Christi standing, or kneeling?

Or are you just supposed to stand there and gaze into space, while everyone else is receiving?

 

[Brendan]

My understanding is that the “someone”, in our case, was the archbishop. In our archdiocese, we stand after the Agnus Dei. We also have, as per the rules, a period of sacred silence after Holy Communion–that is, after *everyone *has had Holy Communion and the singing is finished–for the purpose of silent reflection. People sit or kneel for this.

If the archbishop said that people may stand, sit or kneel after the hymn is completed, that is fine.

If the archbishop said that everyone must remain standing until all have recieved Communion, well… he has no more authority to issue that ‘directive’ than you, I or my neighbor’s pet cat.

We are all on equal footing authority wise in that regard

 

[Brendan]

I agree. I just think of “you” in the plural. If we’re not finished receiving, *I’m *not finished receiving. After all, Holy Communion is, by its very nature, communal. My kneeling and prayers after Holy Communion can wait until we can all kneel and pray together.

It is another way of looking at it, anyway.

So why are you limiting yourself to just those in the particular building you are in?

Are you not in Communion with the Catholic parish in the next town? If their Mass started 1/2 after yours, they are just starting to recieve.

To be logically consistant, you would have to remain standing for them too. They too are part of the Body of Christ and participating in the Communion of the Blessed Sacrament. Or are you only in Communion with the occupants of a particular building.

 

[Patchunky]

What ‘posture of unity’ are you talking about?? The Church makes no call for a particular posture, and to create one on one’s own is, well a sign of disunity.

The 1st Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 325A.D. , in Cannon 20 decreed that on Sundays, prayers to God were to be offered STANDING…

 

[Brendan]

The 1st Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 325A.D. , in Cannon 20 decreed that on Sundays, prayers to God were to be offered STANDING…

That Canon is a matter of Church discipline, not doctrine.

An Ecumencial Council cannot supercede Scripture, and Nicea was not attempting to do so.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father

Phillipians 2:9-11

So when the saints in Heaven kneel to give praise to God, is it your claim that they violate Nicea

 

[EasterJoy]

If the archbishop said that people may stand, sit or kneel after the hymn is completed, that is fine.

If the archbishop said that everyone must remain standing until all have recieved Communion, well… he has no more authority to issue that ‘directive’ than you, I or my neighbor’s pet cat.

We are all on equal footing authority wise in that regard

I don’t know. I would do what the archbishop asked me to do, if it were not immoral, for no other reason than that he asked me to do it. Gratuitous obedience may not be a virtue, but it makes the pastors’ days a little easier, and I’m all for that. I would do the same for my dad, and for the same reason. His authority and my affection for him is such that I need no compulsion to force me do as he asks. If the archbishop directs me for pastoral reasons alone, and not because canon law says he can force me to do it, that is still good enough for me.

I might even do that for you, although probably out of charity rather than out of respect for authority and affection for the priesthood. As much as I like animals, I’m not so sure I’d say that about the cat. It depends on what he wanted.

What difference to other people would it make whether you do your Anima Christi standing, or kneeling?

Or are you just supposed to stand there and gaze into space, while everyone else is receiving?

It doesn’t make any difference at all, if there isn’t singing. If there is singing, though, I sing, for “to sing is to pray twice”. Probably more to the point, I spent enough time with my aunt while she played the organ to know that group worship is rendered more than a little pathetic when no one sings. Some people can’t carry a tune in a bucket, though. I don’t blame them for choosing not to contribute.

As I said, I have another way of looking at all this. You have your pious reasons for wanting to kneel immediately and I have my pious reasons for being perfectly content to remain standing.
OTOH, I’m not the rubrics police. If I go to a parish in our diocese where everyone sits or kneels after Holy Communion, instead of standing, then I do that. Mass is a communal celebration. Except for something truly important, like kneeling during the consecration, I would rather do whatever seems most like we’re all praying together.

 

[Paul2274]

Stay-at-home Dad of 3… is me!

When we come back from communion we kneel. You need to remember that we are still in the actual presents of Jesus in the eucharist. Not until Blessed sacrament is reposed in the tabernacle are you supposed to be seated.

They could tell me I had to do jumping-jacks after communion but believe me… this God fearing man is going to be on my knees in the presence of God. Wouldn’t that just be common sense?

Paul

 

[EasterJoy]

Stay-at-home Dad of 3… is me!

When we come back from communion we kneel. You need to remember that we are still in the actual presents of Jesus in the eucharist. Not until Blessed sacrament is reposed in the tabernacle are you supposed to be seated.

They could tell me I had to do jumping-jacks after communion but believe me… this God fearing man is going to be on my knees in the presence of God. Wouldn’t that just be common sense?

Paul

You stand during the Our Father, correct? Standing in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament isn’t disrespectful, per se, then, is it? It is not jumping jacks.

I understand the True Presence, and quite frankly, I think my archbishop and pastor do, too. Experience and common sense tell me that these are two deeply faithful men who do have actual authority over me. They’ve not only been to seminary, they’ve both taught at seminary.

If you want to follow your own preference, I don’t have a problem with that. I do have a problem with being told that there is something wrong with me for wanting to follow my pastor’s or archbishop’s preference.

 

[Sam_Maloney]

To me, this seems another case when a modern emphasis on the ‘horizontal’ aspect of worship has superseded the ‘vertical’: we are very much about ‘us’, very rarely about ‘Him’.

In my parish, we were promised that standing till all had received wouldn’t rob us of our moment for private prayer. In practice, it has: by the time the last recipient of the Eucharist has returned to his seat, the vessels have been purified and priest has begun the final blessing.

We’ve spent the last hour on togetherness, praying and singing together, shaking hands and wishing each other peace. This is the last and only moment in the entire Mass that belonged to God alone, so of course it is being torn from us so that we can squeeze in another 60 seconds of together time.

To stand at such a time is a terrible punishment for me. I can hardly bear the burdens I already carry, and do not need another.

 

[EasterJoy]

…by the time the last recipient of the Eucharist has returned to his seat, the vessels have been purified and priest has begun the final blessing…

A period of sacred silence after Holy Communion is part of the GIRM described for our archdiocese. At our parish, everybody, including the deacons and priest, are seated and in silent reflection during that time.

We’ve spent the last hour on togetherness, praying and singing together, shaking hands and wishing each other peace. This is the last and only moment in the entire Mass that belonged to God alone, so of course it is being torn from us so that we can squeeze in another 60 seconds of together time.

To stand at such a time is a terrible punishment for me. I can hardly bear the burdens I already carry, and do not need another.

According to rubrics, there should also be periods of sacred silence observed within the liturgy of the Word.

And, by the way, I have been taught that there is no moment in the Mass that is not for God. The entire Mass is a single act of worship, unfolding in two main parts, and everything done within it should be done within awareness of that. The entire point of being “we” is so that we might be buried together in the death of Christ and offered as a single holy sacrifice to God. The singing is not for everybody else. The singing is an act of worship. The sign of peace is a recognition of Christ in each other, not a chance to sneak in a compliment about the nice hat. And so on.

So yes, even our “togetherness” should primarily be vertical in emphasis, not horizontal. If that is lost, it can make worship at Mass much more difficult, I agree.

(It will be awhile until I can log in again. If you reply, do not think I’m ignoring you by not replying to you.)

 

[benedictgal]

This response from Francis Cardinal Arinze falls along the same lines as what Brendan had noted in the first page of these posts. The following comes from a 2003 Q & A session with Cardinal Arinze (as noted in the online edition of Adoremus):

Does everybody have to stand until the last person has received Holy Communion?

There is no rule from Rome that everybody must stand during Holy Communion. There is no such rule from Rome. So, after people have received Communion, they can stand, they can kneel, they can sit. But a bishop in his diocese or bishops in a country could say that they recommend standing or kneeling. They could. It is not a law from Rome. They could – but not impose it. Perhaps they could propose. But those who want to sit or kneel or stand should be left reasonable freedom.

I read Deacon Ed’s post and somehow cannot make sense of his theological reasoning. If I were living in Mexico during the time of the persecutions that claimed the life of Blessed Miguel Pro, then, standing would certainly be an option, especially if the house where he was celebrating Mass was raided. For obvious reasons, you need to make a quick getaway.

However, we are already standing during the Post-Communion prayer, so his theological assertion would work. It would not work after Communion. This time is sacred time that should be reserved for adoring the Lamb of God whom we have just received.

 

[jmeyer3131]

EasterJoy, you are right. There is nothing wrong with you following the preference of your priest and archbishop, particularly when you have found them to be conscientous in the past.

And once again you have a way with words:

And, by the way, I have been taught that there is no moment in the Mass that is not for God. The entire Mass is a single act of worship, unfolding in two main parts, and everything done within it should be done within awareness of that. The entire point of being “we” is so that we might be buried together in the death of Christ and offered as a single holy sacrifice to God. The singing is not for everybody else. The singing is an act of worship. The sign of peace is a recognition of Christ in each other, not a chance to sneak in a compliment about the nice hat. And so on.

 

[Brendan]

EasterJoy, you are right. There is nothing wrong with you following the preference of your priest and archbishop, particularly when you have found them to be conscientous in the past.

That is quite true, if a priest or bishop has a preference, for example, putting mustard and relish on their hot dog, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing the same.

Standing after Communion falls into the same category, a personal preference.

Their is nothing wrong with following their personal preference in this matter.

I, on the other hand, see very little value in relish with mustard, and equally little value in standing after I return to the pew after recieving Communion. If the bishop has a preference on the matter, fine, my preference is equal to his.

 

[redrosetea]

Frankly, I think it’s unfair they don’t come right out and tell us it’s up to us…I suspect they are just trying to get everyone singing another song…they go on forever in my parish…verse after verse…

 

[Sam_Maloney]

What Easter Joy says about the entire Mass being for God is lovely in theory, it just doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground, at least in my part of the world.

Our protestant friends would tell us that their services are all about God, all for God, too. Generally divided between ‘Praise’-- singing, preaching or being preached at; and ‘Fellowship’-- sharing personal testimony, gladhanding, supporting one another.

We Catholics used to have something more: a direct experience of God, and time to reflect on His real and specific presence, separate from His more general presence ‘where two or more are gathered’.

We’ve not only lost that aspect of Mass, the ‘Praise’ is mostly for ourselves, too: 'We have been sung throughout all of history, called to be light to the whole human race". It’s all about the Fellowship, these days.

In masses with less than 20 people we need at least 4 people distributing communion, three readers and two to four altar servers: there are times when there are more people on the altar than in the pews.

So instead of kneeling, closing our eyes, and contemplating God after communion, we are commanded to stand and stare at those still in line, so that they realize how we are all light to each other, just in case the homily on social justice and 5 minute break for the sign of peace wasn’t enough to get the point accross.

Sorry I’m complaining so much: I’m trying to be a more positive person, and this isn’t helping. I may need to stop trying to participate here, as thinking about these issues doesn’t leave me any calmer.