A new batch of bishops in the USA appear to exhibit the mental illness of liturgical rigidity as Pope Francis described being rigid, hiding something very ugly and mentally ill.
Certain new bishops in the USA are requiring priests to rigidly enforce the Modern Mass “norm” for receiving Holy Communion and that is standing.
But here’s the rigid mental illness part:
1. They can’t kneel at the altar railing or stand for that matter at an altar railing, even if the priest or Communion Minister is stationary behind the railing to allow for both standing or kneeling!!!! If that isn’t rigid mental illness, I don’t know what is and I think Pope Francis would agree with me. THE USA NORM FOR COMMUNION IS STANDING ANYWHERE ONE WANTS TO STAND BUT KNEELING IS NOT BANNED AND IS ALLOWED IF THE COMMUNICANT CHOOSES TO KNEEL! IT DOES NOT SAY IT CAN’T BE AT AN ALTAR RAILING OR A KNEELER FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND FLEXIBILITY!
2. If a kneeler is provided, in hospitality and welcome (todas, todas, todas) to allow the communicant to kneel comfortably and not directly on the floor, causing problems for the communicant and anyone behind them, that kneeler must be removed. Bishops who do this are like Seinfelds’s the “Soup Nazi!” No kneeler for you!!!! If that isn’t mental illness, I don’t know what is, but like Pope Francis, His Holiness and I know what rigid mental illness looks like and it is like the Soup Nazi!
3. The norm in the USA is to stand. That’s it. It doesn’t say you are not allowed to stand in front of an altar railing and if you kneel it can’t be at a kneeler or altar railing. Anti-kneeling Nazis have a mental illness in this regard concerning rigidity.
My conclusion: I have offered people at the Modern Mass Holy Communion kneeling or standing at the altar railing or a kneeler or, if no kneeler or altar railing is available , letting them kneel on the hard floor or carpet. I don’t have a rigidity mental illness in this regard, although that doesn’t mean that I’m not mentally ill—there’s nothing wrong with that.
At the TLM, if a communicant stands to receive Holy Communion, they are allowed to do so. When the TLM was at Savannah’s cathedral, the railing was three steps up, thus if someone wanted to receive Holy Communion standing and could not go up the three steps safely, I went to them and gave them Holy Communion as I would in the Modern Mass at Holy Communion, but with the traditional formula.
Just my nickel’s worth minus 2 cents.
6 comments:
Having two replacement knees and partial hip, my mother isn't allowed to kneel. At a solemn high TLM, we stood at the step and I held onto her. The priest celebrant and I are friends, so he was aware of her frailty/handicap. No problem, we did what we had to and went back to our place.
In the RC in the North East, I see a mix of standing/kneeling. No one is bothered, the majority of priests are accommodating. There is no "look at me, I'm pius" that I've ever observed; just people going to receive as their devotion leads them to do.
What I wish the RC would STOP encouraging is arms crossed for a blessing. 1) I understand from a priest friend this was a common way of receiving prior to the new books and 2) Its how many in the Christian East receive. Pick something else, make the peace sign, don't mimic an accepted way of receiving changing its meaning entirely.
My earlier point: Stop making innocent and genuine devotion of the people into wrongdoing. That in and of itself is a bit sick if you ask me. One would have to wonder about the motivations and inclinations of such shepherds as well as their overall fitness to lead and govern. Instead of encouraging the people, praising their devotion, allowing diversity in unity, encouraging exploration and discovery which leads to wonder and awe, Soviet-style apparatchik conformity is being imposed by Comrade-Bishop. And regarding all the '70s style rubrics that he seems to favor, I lived through it, I honestly find that approach to be trite/tiresome and somewhat nauseating anymore. The late and great Pope Benedict XVI reopened peoples eyes to wonder and beauty - seems on a handful want that genie back in its bottle. Good luck with that.
It's almost as if the powers at be (TM) are on a warpath to eliminate the things. It really is a pity. The contempt that some show for various forms of piety is extremely off putting...(And mostly why I stay out of church politics these days)
It is insane and so divisive and off putting!
ByzRus, you have wonderful insights. The bishop of Charlotte is a real sicko and should be given the boot. I suspect $$ will begin drying up there.
Both $$ and vocations will be reduced.
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