WHAT A GREAT PASTORAL LETTER ON THE MASS—THANK YOU ARCHBISHOP ANTHONY FISHER, OP, OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA!

Adoring the Eucharistic Lord: “Let us kneel before the God who made us”

ByArchbishop Anthony Fisher OP

You can read the letter of the Archbishop HERE!

THIS IS A MONEY-BYTE AND A MONEY-BYTE IT IS:

Of these physical postures, kneeling most clearly reveals what we believe about God and our relationship to Him. The Church invites us to genuflect, if we conveniently can, at the end of our pew, as we greet or farewell Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament on our way into and out of church. In Australia it directs us to kneel for the entire Eucharistic Prayer, when the Church recalls her history and our destiny, intercedes for many needs, offers the great sacrifice of Christ to the Father, and witnesses bread and wine become Christ’s Body and Blood. The Church calls us to kneel again, in adoration as we “Behold the Lamb of God”, in thanksgiving after Communion, in Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction. 

We are also called to make a sign of reverence before we receive Holy Communion at Mass (GIRM 160). In most cases this reverence is shown by bowing deeply, however many people choose to genuflect, or even to receive Communion kneeling. This is a perfectly valid option envisaged in the current Missal. Kneeling was the default position of receiving Holy Communion in the Latin church for many centuries. Altar rails, which still exist in many of our churches, are a reminder of this reverent custom. So, too, we genuflect before the mystery of the Incarnation as we recite the Creed on certain feasts, recall Christ’s death in the Gospel of the Passion, or venerate the Cross on Good Friday. We may well kneel to propose Marriage, for Confirmation, for Absolution, for Ordination, for Religious Profession, for the Litany of the Saints or for some blessings. In the Tantum Ergo, sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, St Thomas Aquinas reminds us that where our senses and intellects fail before so great a mystery, our faith and very bodies must supply by bending our knees.

My most humble commentary:

Wow! Wow! Wow! This is an Archbishop with common sense about the Mass. He allows for all the options for receiving Holy Communion in the Bugnini Mass but does not exclude the ancient custom of kneeling for Holy Communion and at an altar railing. Thank you Archbishop! 

He also asks that all churches restore the kneelers to their pews. Evidently, some churches, as was common in the USA after the Council and until Pope Benedict, removed kneelers and demanded that the laity stand for the Eucharistic Prayer. Mother Angelica, Pope Leo’s favorite evangelizer,  use to sell portable kneelers for people to take to churches without kneelers. What a saint!

And the good archbishop asks that people remain after Mass to make a prayer of thanksgiving—I guess that means that the nave of the church should return to a no-talking zone again—good luck with that! 

God bless this good Archbishop!