Q. Why do we sit, stand, kneel so much? Q. Why is there so much kneeling during church? Sitting is the posture of learning. The custom at the time of Jesus was for not only the students, but the instructor to sit. Aside from the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 where the crowds were instructed to sit, Acts 8:31 tells of the instruction of the Ethiopian eunuch, and Mark 9:35, Luke 4:20, John 4:6, John 8:2 and Acts 16:13 all attest to this posture at the time of Jesus. This is why we sit for the first and second reading, and for the homily; we are at Mass to receive instruction in Gods Word. Standing is a posture of prayer and it indicates a reverence for God. The custom at the time of Jesus was to stand while at prayer. Matthew 6:5 and Mark 11:25 attest to this posture. This is why, in the Mass today, when the priest says Let us pray it is the clue for us to stand. Standing as a sign of reverence is shown when we stand for the entrance and recessional processions and for the reading of the Gospel. For the early Christians standing also took on a symbolic reference to the resurrection of Christ. The early Christians frequently stood facing the East toward the rising sun, which was regarded as a symbol of Christ Himself as it illuminated their lives anew each day. Kneeling is also a posture of reverence and prayer, especially supplication. This is attested to in Psalm 95:6: O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker (KJV) and also such New Testament passages as Matthew 17:14, Mark 1:40, Acts 9:40, Romans 14:11, Ephesians 3:14 and Philippians 2:10. By kneeling, we express our humility before the greatness of God as we adore Him. This is why we kneel during the times of consecration and communion while at Mass. We also kneel when we pray fervently and as a sign of penance. By kneeling, Catholics are doing what Christians and Jews have long done. To reject this posture in worship is to reject the Holy Scriptures and our heritage. Strange as it may seem today, at one time the Church actually had to institute rules which limited the kneeling at Mass as it had become commonplace to kneel almost throughout the entire celebration. Prostration as an expression of humility before the greatness of God is seldom seen anymore, but Matthew 26:39 and Mark 14:35 show Jesus in this posture at the Garden of Gethsemane. Prostration is prescribed primarily for episcopal and sacerdotal ordinations and at the beginning of the Good Friday Services (although kneeling is allowed in its stead at the Good Friday Services). Q. Why doesnt the congregation wait to sit back down when the deacon is putting away the chalices after Communion? We kneel as a sign of our respect for the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. The rubrics of the Mass do not state when one should be seated after Communion. My feeling is that one should remain kneeling while the sacred vessels are being cleansed, no matter whether it is the priest or the deacon who is doing the cleansing. The storing of the vessels indicates that the cleansing has been completed and our Lord is now in repose in the tabernacle. *** Im Glad You Asked
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:12:55 +0000
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