Wierd Communion line?

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Communion rail? Kneeling to receive the Eucharist? Don’t try that in the LA Diocese. The standing before and after doesn’t lend itself to a time of reverence either.
 
As the pastor is responsible for maintaining “good order” as Paul says in one of the epistles, he may decide that communicants come row by row starting from the front pew or starting from the rear pew. He may decide to take the pews from the outer rows first or pews closest to the center aisle first. The point is to show proper respect for the Eucharist by behaving in an orderly fashion. I have been in parishes where the we were such a small congregation that we came up as we pleased, in parishes where we began from the last pew by the doors and in other parishes where we began from the pews closest the altar. As I mentioned before, the point is good order and decorum.
Follow the pastor’s guidelines. It shows respect for him and for your fellow communicants.

Matthew
 
mart(name removed by moderator)orres said:
I first experienced “free-for-all” communion at the most traditional-looking church I’ve ever assisted at: St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore (where St. John Neumann was pastor once). The mass was very reverent even in its abbreviated daily version, and then at communion time, people just got up and knelt at the communion rail waiting for the priest and server to get to them. I thought it seemed to be a throwback to a great tradition. They were definitely not waiting pew by pew.

Makes sense, like Kielbasi said, since people back then probably didn’t receive communion as much.
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Well having been raised in the pre-Vatican II days, attending Catholic School, and Mass with the altar rails and all, I still remember the nuns teaching us to go down the isle in an orderly fashion with those in the front rows leading the way.

I don’t ever remember approaching the communion rail in mob fashion.

Jim
 
Maybe she is upset because its a sudden change and hey, if its not broken dont fix it.

I dont know but what is wrong about her not liking it? I mean as long as she is still going to Mass why should she have to like it?

I did not like arbitrary changes my new Pastor introduced either. But I am still going to Mass and practicing my faith in spite of this odious man.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Even if only certain people in the pews were going up to receive, they still proceeded pew by pew, the front pews being first.

Jim
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Not according my mom. In Italy where she grew up they went up randomly. There wouldn’t be a mob because not nearly as many went up as they do today. (My mom’s nearly 80 so this was quite a while back.)
 
I think that frequent communion was already becoming common as early as the 1950s. But it probably ‘caught on’ at different times in different places.

I vaguely recall that in the early 1960’s people in my parish kind of practiced some combination of just going up and orderly lining up. That would be on Sundays. For weekday masses, the school kids would have to go in order as directed by the sisters. Other people usually went up when they could fit in. By the late 1960’s it had become common for the ushers to indicate when any given pew should go to communion.
 
katy said:
I have come across a parish that insists people come to Communion starting from the back. I don’t really care one way or the other, but find it quite distracting. I was told it had something to do with the last being first. Is this the lastest fad coming down the pike?
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One of the reasons I sit in front is so I can have more time after communion. I guess I would have to move to the back!
 
in Mexico, at least where I have been, and here in mostly Hispanic congregations, there is no row-by-row orderly procession, everyone who is going just gets up and goes. Also many people stay in the pews because in general they seem to have a good strong sense of when they are not ready, for instance, I never see civilly married or divorced-remarrieds go to communion here, although it is common in northern parishes where I come from.
 
It seems to me that the main problem with having a communion procession starting from the back is that it would allow the people who are prone to leaving Mass early a quicker exit after they have received communion. They usually sit toward the back anyway.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
It seems to me that the main problem with having a communion procession starting from the back is that it would allow the people who are prone to leaving Mass early a quicker exit after they have received communion. They usually sit toward the back anyway.
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I usually sit very far to the front. One Sunday I was late and slipped into the very back pew. It was amazing to sit there. I saw people coming to Mass as late as the consecration. I saw others leave as soon as the first people started lining up for communion. I also found out that the people who sit in the back don’t say the prayers and don’t sing. The following week I was back in my normal front-of-the-church spot.
 
At one point, it was announced that our parish would move to this system. It was explained that there are three processions during Mass: the entrance procession, the offetory procession and the communion procession. It was stated that by starting with those in the back for communion, it would be more in line with the other processions which start at the rear of the church. However, after this was put in our bulletin for a couple weekends, I never heard anything more about it. Our altar servers now walk down the side aisles to the back of the church and then come down the center to receive communion. After that, the congregation starts from the first pew as always. I’m not sure why they didn’t go to the start from the back system as announced. 🤷
 
I’ve been to Mexico 3 times and was really surprised the first time I went up for Communion. There were no organized lines and no ushers. People just head to the front of the church when they’re ready.

When I returned from receiving, someone was in “my” pew! Once they had received, they sat anywhere that was convenient. Can you imagine the uproar that would cause in our territorial country?? “Someone was in MY pew!” —KCT
 
KCT said:
When I returned from receiving, someone was in “my” pew! Once they had received, they sat anywhere that was convenient. Can you imagine the uproar that would cause in our territorial country?? “Someone was in MY pew!” —KCT
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Could be interesting if everyone had left their coats and handbags in the pews. 😃

I receive in the choir loft, and we have to go row by row there, because there isn’t enough room to do otherwise (the loft is big, but not much of the space is “aisle”)

Mudgie-in-training and freelance sparkle/coffee grinds sprinkler
 
I think that approaching Holy Communion row by row must be an American thing. We have been in the foreign service for twenty-three years, and have lived in and visited many different countries, and I have only seen this custom in the US. A priest friend of my from our home in Virginia thinks that the ramdom method is better because it makes it easier for people who should not be going to communion to stay in the pew without being noticed. When we go row by row anyone not going to communion stands out. We should not be noticing such things, but people do.
 
Marysann said:
I think that approaching Holy Communion row by row must be an American thing. We have been in the foreign service for twenty-three years, and have lived in and visited many different countries, and I have only seen this custom in the US. A priest friend of my from our home in Virginia thinks that the ramdom method is better because it makes it easier for people who should not be going to communion to stay in the pew without being noticed. When we go row by row anyone not going to communion stands out. We should not be noticing such things, but people do.
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Makes a lot of sense now. This is a telling discovery. When I was a youth (in the 1980s), prior to my falling away and reversion, this “everyone receives” combined with a poor catechesis probably contributed to my lack of understanding of the Real Presence – and consequently, probably my falling away. And maybe others as well.

It’s a shame, since the tradition will likely not change again in my lifetime. :ouch:
 
katy said:
I have come across a parish that insists people come to Communion starting from the back. I don’t really care one way or the other, but find it quite distracting. I was told it had something to do with the last being first. Is this the lastest fad coming down the pike?
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This method of receiving is mandated in the Lafayette, IN diocese. I find it extremely distracting and totally unnecessary. The reason given by the bishop for doing this was that all processions start from the rear of the church and move forward.

The glories of processions in general were given, and we were adminished not to treat Communion time as a personal/individual moment, but as a communal one.

Sooooo…now we must stand before/after Communion, sing continuously throughout, constantly look over your shoulder, and still find the time to spiritually prepare ourselves to receive the Body and Blood.

-Mike
 
muledog said:
Sooooo…now we must stand before/after Communion, sing continuously throughout, constantly look over your shoulder, and still find the time to spiritually prepare ourselves to receive the Body and Blood.

-Mike
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When you put all that together, it sounds pretty awful. I’m not getting why going up to receive Communion is considered a procession, the way the Processional at the beginning of Mass is. Maybe I’m just stupid. 😉

Mudgie-in-training and freelance sparkle/coffee grinds sprinkler
 
CarolAnnSFO said:
When you put all that together, it sounds pretty awful. I’m not getting why going up to receive Communion is considered a procession, the way the Processional at the beginning of Mass is. Maybe I’m just stupid. 😉

Mudgie-in-training and freelance sparkle/coffee grinds sprinkler
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Our parish does it from the back. I’ve never particularly found it to be a problem. When the usher taps the person at the aisle on the shoulder people stand up and move out.

It is the only parish I’ve been to that does it this way, and I personally prefer from the front, but it’s not a big deal that I can see.
 
ncjohn said:
Our parish does it from the back. I’ve never particularly found it to be a problem. When the usher taps the person at the aisle on the shoulder people stand up and move out.
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I guess it helps to have the ushers in that case – I wouldn’t want to have to look over my shoulder all the time.

Mudgie-in-training and freelance sparkle/coffee grinds sprinkler
 
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