Edit: interesting that this otherwise conservative Bishop needs to clarify the situation. Other authorities can posit a correlation between "standing" and lack of reverence, though.
“The proper posture is standing”
Oakland bishop provides detailed instructions on receiving Holy Communion in his diocese
(The following undated “Instructions on Receiving Communion Properly” by Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone have been posed on the website of the diocesan Office of Worship.)All Catholics, before receiving Communion, are to be free from serious sin and fast from all food and drink (except water and necessary medicine) for one hour before receiving. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1385; Code of Canon Law, canons 916 and 919)
The proper posture for receiving Communion is standing. This is to show the respect that is due the Most Blessed Sacrament (in our culture, standing up shows respect to someone of importance who enters the room); the bow before receiving Communion signifies the humility with which we must approach the Sacrament.
The deeper meaning of this posture, though, is that the position of standing is symbolic of the Resurrection, and so -- as is done in the Eastern Rites of the Church -- we assume this position when we receive the Sacrament of our salvation.
10 comments:
I like Bp Cordileone; however, the proper posture is standing for EASTERN Catholics. The proper posture for ROMAN Catholics is kneeling and on the tongue.
I think it'll come out in the wash eventually.
Why this endless infatuation with the postures and practices of the Eastern Catholic rites? Are those who think that way not comfortable in their own skin? I'm sorry but whenever I "hear tell" about this, I'm reminded of Whoopie Goldberg's early comedy routine when someone asked her, as a little girl, what she wanted to be when she grew up. "I wanna be white! And I want to have luxurious long blonde hair!"
I suspect it's related to the primitivist views of certain liturgical doofuses. They had this idea that anything 'Eastern' had to be older and more pure than anything 'Roman.' Anything 'Roman' had to be corrupt and encrusted with lots of totally evil bad stuff. I still see the notion floating around.
It's interesting that the Bishop uses the "standing as a sign of respect" argument because there is just enough truth in that to make it plausible...on a superficial level. Once one digs a little deeper, one sees that there was a logical reason for the practice of kneeling.
I don't want to dump on this Bishop. Yet he is a child of his age and, as such, is going to behave like one. The link with antiquity has all but been broken in our modernist-infested Church and so this kind of thinking on the part of the Bishop is the result.
He is wrong, of course. But I confess I don't know the right way to go about pointing it out to him. When one's "sensus Catholicus" is nearly lost, as is the case with far too many current prelates, it is hard to relate to them or get them to understand why there is a reason the Church has lasted for 2,000 years.
I wonder when Bishop Cordileone offers the TLM he would tell the attendees, in his sermon, that they should stand to recieve Communion?
The norm is absolutely not standing, despite what the GIRM states.
Also, it is ridiculous for the Eastern Catholics to recieve standing, at least in the local Byzantine Catholic church.
Fr has to raise the spoon up high and the communicants have to crouch down low and I have seen spillage of the Sacred Blood on more than one occasion.
Hello, Joe, and Cruise!
Is this to be the new watering hole for trads?
How we can restore the practice of kneeling is beyond me, specially since the Holy Father himself has said that he has no problem with standing; he just thinks kneeling is good. As long as that is the attitude from the very top, there is not much one can do but pray......and comment on Trad blogs!
God bless!
M. A.
I suppose I'm a bit of a Liberal in that I believe people are good enough to seek out the real deal when they're given a taste for it.
God wants us to be happy with him in eternity and He'll provide us with the means to that if we desire it.
More faithful Catholics are looking for authenticity, and they're finding it at Traditional chapels and under the wings of truly magnificent clergy like Bishop Schneider, Msgr Georg May and many others throughout the world who've sacrificed their lives to bring the Sacraments to us, the sheep.
Cordileone is the archbishop of San Francisco.
Uh huh.
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