why do we stand after communion now?

[redrosetea]

I don’t like it at all. I want to kneel down and pray, instead we stand and sing…Does anyone know the reason:shrug:

I thought we were supposed to use that time to pray…

 

[Brendan]

After returning from recieving Communion, you are allowed to stand, sit or kneel as you desire.

So if you prefer to kneel and pray after Communion, feel free to do so.

5 June 2003

Prot. n. 855/03/L

Dubium: In many places, the faithful are accustomed to kneeling or sitting in personal prayer upon returning to their places after individually received Holy Communion during Mass. Is it the intention of the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, to forbid this practice?

Responsum: Negative, et ad mentem. The mens is that that the prescription of the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, no. 43, is intended, on one hand, to ensure within broad limits a certain uniformity of posture within the congregation for the various parts of the celebration of the Holy Mass, and on the other, to not regulate posture rigidly in such a way that those who wish to kneel or sit would no longer be free.

Francis Cardinal Arinze
Prefect

NB: This clarification was published in the July 2003 edition of the Newsletter of the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWCLAR.HTM

 

[Carolinagirl411]

We are supposed to kneel and many parishes that I have been to still do. My particular parish made the announcement that we are supposed to stand. So now some people stand and some people kneel. Very confusing. Very irritating. When I go to parishes that all kneel…just seems more reverent. When I go to mine I just end up thinking after I receive the Eucharist…Ok do I kneel or do I stand? which isn’t appropriate. I usually kneel long enough to say a prayer then stand with the rest. I wish it would all go back to the way it was.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

We kneel after receiving communion, in my dioceses.

Jim

 

[Phemie]

We are supposed to kneel and many parishes that I have been to still do. My particular parish made the announcement that we are supposed to stand. So now some people stand and some people kneel. Very confusing. Very irritating. When I go to parishes that all kneel…just seems more reverent. When I go to mine I just end up thinking after I receive the Eucharist…Ok do I kneel or do I stand? which isn’t appropriate. I usually kneel long enough to say a prayer then stand with the rest. I wish it would all go back to the way it was.

Actually, the default posture for and after communion per the GIRM has been standing since 1975. Few parishes followed the GIRM on that point. But Rome has spoken and said that you are free to kneel or sit if that is your choice. I prefer to stand and sing so that’s what I do. If I’m in a parish where everyone kneels, such as the parish where I grew up, then I do what they do.

 

[Carolinagirl411]

Oh ok…i’m new to the Church since Easter so I didn’t know, however, to me personally

I have just received the true body and blood of our savior Jesus Christ. Me? I would be flat on my face humbling myself as much as possible. but since I can’t do that I will kneel. Standing just doesn’t humble me enough and I need to be humbled and thankful

 

[buffalo]

It really amazes me how Pastor’s are quick to point out we are not a Church of rules, so liturgical abuses abound, but then they will try to enforce a rule that is not a rule.

 

[kage_ar]

We kneel at our Parish.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I don’t like it at all. I want to kneel down and pray, instead we stand and sing…Does anyone know the reason:shrug:

I thought we were supposed to use that time to pray…

You only stand because you have choosen to. After you return from from receiving Communion you may sit, stand or kneel until everyone else has received and the Blessed Sacrament is reposed in the tabernacle. The Bishop or priest is NOT to dictate any posture. That is what Rome has said about the matter.

So if you want to kneel, kneel, I do.

 

[ethelzguy]

I’ve always knelt until the tabernacle was closed. I will always kneel. If someone looks at me weird, so be it.

But, I’ve never been to Mass anywhere in my life that people didn’t kneel for the EuP and after Communion.

I only read about stuff like that here.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

Just to answer the OP’s question, we stand after communion for the same reason we stand to hear the Gospel. That is, we are preparing to go out into the world to be Christ to the world. If, as our theology teaches, the Eucharist is a transformation of the communicant, then we are to be made over into the image of Christ and that image should be more and more clear with each reception of Him under the form of Bread and Wine.

Sadly, as with many things, the theology of what we are doing and why was never explained to anyone. Further, for those who want to take a moment to commune with the Risen Lord whom they have just received, such a departure may be premature and, therefore, the posture of departure may be premature.

This is one of those places where some ideals have to give way to other ideals. In short: stand, sit, kneel – all three are acceptable postures and each person may select the posture that seems most appropriate.

Deacon Ed

 

[Phemie]

I’ve always knelt until the tabernacle was closed. I will always kneel. If someone looks at me weird, so be it.

But, I’ve never been to Mass anywhere in my life that people didn’t kneel for the EuP and after Communion.

I only read about stuff like that here.

The posture for the Eucharistic Prayer, according to the GIRM, is standing, with kneeling only at the words of Consecration. The US has its own adaptations which include kneeling for all of the Eucharistic Prayer.

 

[maendem]

Just to answer the OP’s question, we stand after communion for the same reason we stand to hear the Gospel. That is, we are preparing to go out into the world to be Christ to the world. If, as our theology teaches, the Eucharist is a transformation of the communicant, then we are to be made over into the image of Christ and that image should be more and more clear with each reception of Him under the form of Bread and Wine.

Sadly, as with many things, the theology of what we are doing and why was never explained to anyone. Further, for those who want to take a moment to commune with the Risen Lord whom they have just received, such a departure may be premature and, therefore, the posture of departure may be premature.

This is one of those places where some ideals have to give way to other ideals. In short: stand, sit, kneel – all three are acceptable postures and each person may select the posture that seems most appropriate.

Deacon Ed

A quick disclaimer: our parish kneels for communion and I am happy to kneel as well, mainly for the sake of unity.

However: I want to echo Deacon’s post,because standing IS the GIRM norm. The standing together after communion represents a united community where all members have partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ and are now ready to go out into the world as part of that body…not a private little Protestant “me and Jesus” moment, where each person is lost in private, isolated prayer ( as important as those moments are…)

Unfortunately, I think the only time many people make for such private prayer is during Mass, which is really a public,communal celebration, while if we all took time before Mass or during the week, in adoration, we wouldn’t be so starved for those crucial, intimate moments alone with Christ.

Lastly, reverence is first of all an interior disposition. Kneeling may indeed be a more obvious sign of that disposition (personally, I prefer it), but that does not mean those persons or parishes who stand are not being reverent.

The crux of the problem and confusion is, as usual, poor catechesis, where sudden changes are instituted in a parish and never explained properly to the congregation. Thus some stand, some kneel, everyone points fingers, and the unity is fractured.

 

[sneakers]

I don’t like it at all. I want to kneel down and pray, instead we stand and sing…Does anyone know the reason:shrug:

I thought we were supposed to use that time to pray…

Everybody in our church kneels after communion. Then, when we are all seated again, including the priest, there is a moment or two of silence.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

A quick disclaimer: our parish kneels for communion and I am happy to kneel as well, mainly for the sake of unity.

However: I want to echo Deacon’s post,because standing IS the GIRM norm. The standing together after communion represents a united community where all members have partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ and are now ready to go out into the world as part of that body…not a private little Protestant “me and Jesus” moment, where each person is lost in private, isolated prayer ( as important as those moments are…)

Unfortunately, I think the only time many people make for such private prayer is during Mass, which is really a public,communal celebration, while if we all took time before Mass or during the week, in adoration, we wouldn’t be so starved for those crucial, intimate moments alone with Christ.

Lastly, reverence is first of all an interior disposition. Kneeling may indeed be a more obvious sign of that disposition (personally, I prefer it), but that does not mean those persons or parishes who stand are not being reverent.

The crux of the problem and confusion is, as usual, poor catechesis, where sudden changes are instituted in a parish and never explained properly to the congregation. Thus some stand, some kneel, everyone points fingers, and the unity is fractured.

The Faithful may either stand, kneel or sit. There is no requirement of “unity” of posture after returning from receiving Holy Communion. The time after returning from receiving until the final prayer of the Mass IS in fact a private little “me and Jesus” moment, where each person is lost in private, isolated prayer.

 

[jmcrae]

Actually, the default posture for and after communion per the GIRM has been standing since 1975.

Actually, what it says is that “if no other provision has been made” then the people are to stand after Holy Communion.

If your church has pews with kneelers, then “provision has been made” for you to kneel, which means that you should kneel - standing is only if there is no provision made for you to kneel.

 

[redrosetea]

Well I don’t like it one bit…I know I sound like a curmudgeon, and I might be one …but it seems to me prayer should trump a song …I get sick of having to get every single verse, of every song we sing in …and no time to pray. .I feel very conspicuous when I kneel after communion we set in almost the front row of church, because I like to be able to hear things very clearly

 

[EasterJoy]

The Faithful may either stand, kneel or sit. There is no requirement of “unity” of posture after returning from receiving Holy Communion. The time after returning from receiving until the final prayer of the Mass IS in fact a private little “me and Jesus” moment, where each person is lost in private, isolated prayer.

What I’m going to write is not to quarrel with you, but to perhaps look at the other side of the post-communion devotional coin.

Over the last year, since it was encouraged (but not required) to remain standing after receiving Holy Communion in our parish, I have found that a posture of unity has had a very edifying effect. It has caused me to take the time to realize that the Eucharist, in making me one with Jesus, makes me one not only with every single Catholic in the church with me, not only every single Catholic now alive, but with the entire Church, the Church Triumphant, the Church Militant, and the Church Suffering: that is, with the entire Body of Christ! This is a moment of prayer that one can truly get lost in!

If you look upon every person receiving with you, and take it to heart that every single one is a soul quenching the thirst of Christ, every single one is a soul with whom Christ wishes you to love within the splendor of Heaven, every one a soul who has, with you, been buried in the death of Christ in baptism, a soul with whom it is your dearest hope to join in unending praise of God forever, if you take it to heart that this eternal sacrifice has joined each of us together even at that moment with the unending liturgy of Heaven, that we together are charged to bring every soul possible into that embrace…well, I can only speak for myself, but I look at everyone I meet in a new light, after that.

Last Sunday our pastor, in talking about our charge to take the good news to the ends of the earth, noted that while faith is always personal, it is never private. We are one body. Jesus prayed that we may be one, and gave us as our greatest command that we love one another.

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with moments in which we return to the sense that there is no one else in the universe worthy of praise or thanksgiving, glory or honor, save God. Far from it! I just wanted to point out that it is a little antithetical to that to consider our brothers and sisters as someone other than Christ…for we become what we consume, not many Christs, but the one. “Not I, but Christ in me” means to be in unity. It is in this way, and in this way only, that we are offered by Christ at Mass as the single holy offering which is alone acceptable to God.

 

[EasterJoy]

… it seems to me prayer should trump a song …(

St. Benedict said that “to sing is to pray twice.” If you’re singing in church, your song ought to be a prayer, too.

I know, I know. Not every song selected for Mass is the devotional equivalent of the Lord’s Prayer. When we are not given authority to choose these things, we can only do the best we can do.

 

[Brendan]

A quick disclaimer: our parish kneels for communion and I am happy to kneel as well, mainly for the sake of unity.

However: I want to echo Deacon’s post,because standing IS the GIRM norm.

Actually, it isn’t

If you read the Bishop’s deliberations on the subject, they specifically rejected the posture after one personally recieves.

The problem is that the GIRM, as translated into English, has some ambiguity, and thus the clarification of what the GIRM meant from the Vatican.

What the GIRM means, according to the Diacstery competent to issue authentic interpretation (under Canon 16), is that when the faithful return to their seats after their personal recpetion of the Eucharist, the faithful may stand, kneel or sit as they see fit.

No one else has the authority to say otherwise.