UA
3 This past weekend my family and I attended Mass at another parish out
3 of town. During the consecration they remained standing instead of
3 kneeling. Once I noticed a few people were kneeling, my family and I
3 also knelt. Boy did we feel out of place. Are there any Church
3 documents, or Church Laws concerning the practice of kneeling during the
3 consecration? What are the arguments for the practice of standing
3 during the consecration? Any information concerning this topic would be
3 greatly appreciated.
AA[GB=>FM]
Dear Gregg,
Before beginning to write this answer to your message, I called the
Chancery Office of a major U.S. Archdiocese to consult litrugy and
canon law personnel there about present-day discipline regarding
kneeling and/or standing during the Eucharistic prayer (and,
therefore, at the Consecration) of the Mass. I shall be reporting to
you here the substance of what I found out.
I can find no Roman document mandating or even recmmending standing
instead of kneeling during the Eucharistic prayer, including the
Consecration and thereafter. Elliott's "Ceremonies of the Modern
Roman Rite" (Ignatius Press), p. 56, says: "(The people) are meant
to observe the rules of the episcopal conference concerning standing,
kneeling and sitting during celebrations." COMMENT: I was told,
when I called the aforementioned archdiocesan chancery officials,
that the U.S. episcopal conference has *not* issued any directives
about standing/kneeling during the Eucharistic prayer OR while
receiving Communion. I was further told that, when section 34 of
"Eucharisticum Mysterium" (Sacred Congregation of Rites, April 13,
1967) says: "The faithful should willingly adopt the method
indicated by their pastors," the word "pastors" means "bishops" or
"episcopal conferences", not (repeat *not*) "parish priests" or
"liturgy coordinators". Therefore, the congregation remains free to
stand or kneel as each one chooses. Parish officials do not have the
authority to impose a uniformity which the local bishop, or bishops'
conference, or Rome does not impose.
This would apply not only to the whole Eucharistic prayer but also to
the manner of receiving Holy Communion. The instruction
"Inaestimabile Donum" of the Congregation for the Sacraments and
Divine Worship, April 17, 1980, lays down this principle in section
11: "With regard to the manner of going to Communion, the faithful
can receive it either kneeling or standing, in accordance with the
norms laid down by the episcopal conference."
But, once more, our own episcopal conference has laid down *no* norms
in this area, so people should be *left free* to kneel or stand for
Holy Communion. (The diocesan bishop may establish uniformity for
his own territory, but parish officials have no right to do so.)
In this regard, one should observe the principle laid down in
"Eucharisticum Mysterium" no. 45:
"THE LAWS OF THE CHURCH MUST BE FAITHFULLY OBSERVED IN CELEBRATING
MASS
"In the celebration of the Eucharist above all, no one, not even a
priest, may on his own authority add, omit, or change anything in the
Liturgy. Only the supreme authority of the Church, and, according to
the provisions of the law, the bishop and episcopal conferences, may
do this. Priests should, therefore, ensure that they so preside over
the celebration of the Eucharist that the faithful know that they are
attending, not a rite established on private initiative, but the
Church's public worship, the regulation of which was entrusted by
Christ to the Apostles and their successors."
The same point is made with even more poignancy and vigor by Pope
John Paul II in his letter to all the bishops, "Dominicae Cenae", On
the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist", February 24, 1980, section
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