KNEELING, SITTING, STANDING, DURING MASS, EITHER THE MODERN OR ANCIENT: WHAT IS YOUR CUSTOM OR PREFERENCE?

THE BISHOP OF SAN BERNARDINO IS GOING AGAINST THE TIDE OF MOST WESTERN BISHOPS IN THE USA WITH THIS NEW DICTATE CONCERNING THE MASS:

American Catholicism likes rules and following the rules. Italians like rules, but don’t follow them. It’s a cultural thing. 

Even in pre-Vatican II times, things at Mass in Italy were far more chaotic than in the USA in pre-Vatican II times, more free-wheeling, as is the case with Italians.

The rubrics for the laity’s postures during Mass vary from region to region in the USA and differ greatly from what occurs to our 51st state to the north, Canada. 

In terms of the Communion Rite in the USA, there are two clearly different sets of rules in some dioceses. 

For the majority of dioceses in the USA the rule at Communion time is as follows:

1. After the Angus Dei, the laity kneel for the “Behold the Lamb of God”. 

2. From a kneeling position, people stand in an orderly way to process to Communion, standing, and then when they return to their pew they kneel in adoration and personal prayer. 

3. They remain kneeling until after Holy Communion and sit only after the left-over Hosts are placed in the tabernacle. If the ablutions then take place at the altar, the laity normally sit for this. 

In some dioceses in the USA, usually west of the Mississippi River, the following is required by bishops:

1. After the Agnus Dei, the laity remain standing for the “Behold the Lamb of God.”

2. From a standing position, they process to receive Holy Communion, standing.

3. They return to their pew and remain standing until the last person has received Holy Communion. 

(I am a bit unclear what the custom is when the laity then sit down. Maybe someone who knows can inform me. Do they sit or kneel after the last person has received or after the left over “Blessed Sacrament” is reposed in the tabernacle and the tabernacle closed. Or do they remain standing until the ablutions are completed and the “Prayer after Holy Communion” is prayed?)

WHAT IS YOUR CUSTOM? 

Some “traditionalists” are complaining about the micromanagement of the laity’s postures during the Mass. But this has always been the case in the USA and even with the TLM. The USA postures for the TLM even during pre-Vatican II times were very clear and were followed by most if not all churches in the USA at the time. There were differences only for the Low Mass and the Sung (High) Mass. But in the USA, improvisation by the laity wasn’t tolerated in the USA. 

I’ve always thought and taught that if the priest was expected to follow the rubrics of the Mass, so should the laity. There!