Alright, here it is, my paper on posture during the Liturgy of the Eucharist! Now, I could have included a ton more information, but it was only supposed to be 5-6 pages - it is 6 pages long, and the footnotes (which are endnotes in my blog format) add 2 pages, so I feel like it works. :)
Postures of the Assembly
Helping Maintain the Communal Nature of the Liturgy of the Eucharist
Catholic. The word itself means universal. However, go into any Catholic parish in the United States, and you might not believe the Church is as universal as it thinks it is. Different parishes, even within the same diocese, practice different rules for when to stand, sit, and kneel. The most varieties in posture can be witnessed during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, a section of the Mass that truly sets us apart from other Christian congregations and should be emphasizing our oneness in the Lord. Sometimes, individual believers assume their own postures, perhaps displaying their own piety but forgetting the importance that the liturgy we are partaking in is only possible because we are a community of believers. As Catholics, we believe that “we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.”[1] But to truly be one body, should we not assume the same postures in our liturgies, unifying us in more than just spirit but in action as well? Posture is an important part in unifying us as one body and one spirit in Christ.[2] Although the inward posture of the heart is the most important posture of the assembly, our outward postures during the Liturgy of the Eucharist should reflect and enhance our individual acceptance, humility, and reverence as well as the communal nature of the sacrament we are sharing as the Church.
In order for us to worship and partake in a ritual, we must act as a community. Ritual, at its very core, works within two things: the culture of a community and the body of that community, both on a personal and a corporate level.[3] In a Christian context, this body refers to both the community, who is the body of Christ present on the earth, and the individuals who make up this body of Christ. What better way to act as one body and one community in our most highly regarded ritual, the Mass, than to physically change postures together? Part of our problem in the United States’ dioceses is that our culture is very individualistic, which moves us completely in the opposite direction from how rituals work.[4] The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy specifically states that “liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church, which is ‘the sacrament of unity,’ namely, the holy people united and ordered under their bishops.”[5] Not only do communal postures help us act outwardly as a community, but they help to foster our inner understanding of the prayers we are offering together as one body in a way that worded prayers can never grasp. According to Nathan D. Mitchell, “ritual’s aim is thus not to convey ‘meanings,’ but to produce a ‘ritually inscribed body’ with its own distinctive way of knowing. […] This logic of ritual, this logic of the body […] affords us a way of knowing in which we seem to ‘know what we are doing’ and ‘why we are doing it,’ yet still do not know ‘what what we are doing does.’”[6] Posture is an integral part of the worship experience, helping us physically embrace ideas that we cannot fully comprehend, and, as the Mass is a ritual, reminding us of the community of which we are a part and with whom we are celebrating.
The physical postures we assume have the potential to enhance the Mass, especially the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but we have to know what the postures mean in order for them to be of any significance. In the time of the early Church, standing was the normal posture for Christian prayer: it was the posture that set us apart from the rest of God’s creation, as we are the creatures who walk on two legs.[7] According to Genesis, we were given “dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.”[8] It was also in this posture that we, as humanity, fell out of union with God. As the most human posture, standing was the pose people assumed to give praise to God, a concept that only humans can understand and desire to partake in.[9] Originally, it was the posture most commonly taken for any type of prayer, whether communal or private, as it was also associated with the resurrection, therefore being linked with Sundays and the Easter season.[10] It is still a posture of respect and praise in our culture, as we stand when people of high esteem walk into a room or when we are pleased with a performance and give a standing ovation, but it has lost some of its original weight of giving praise up to the heavens.[11]
Sitting signified an important person. Royalty sat in chairs, with their people gathered around standing to listen to them or groveling at their feet and kneeling or prostrating themselves. Even today, the bishop often sits to say certain things at his Masses. At one point, the assembly sitting was “an act of receptivity, listening and partaking in a common meal.”[12] In recent times in our culture, though, sitting has become a very stagnant posture. It is easy to fall into the idea that we are just an audience watching a performance, rather than an assembly of believers who are actively partaking in the liturgy, when we are in this position. It is, however, an important posture that could remind us that we, as one Church, are “a royal priesthood, a holy nation”[13] if we remind ourselves of its dignified and receptive meaning.
Kneeling has changed over time as well. It developed from prostration, with kneeling being an adaptation of prostration. It is associated with the idea of “falling to one’s knees and bowing […] to worship/reverence/adore,”[14] and eventually came to be a posture of penitence, adoration, and supplication in the Christian community.[15] As the lowest posture we can assume and still be able to look at something going on in front of us, it is a very humble pose to take, removing us from our role as being above creation and reminding us of the fact that we, too, are creations of God. Traditionally, it is thought of as an individual prayer posture, one that focuses solely on the individual’s prayers and not on the prayers being offered up by the entire community.[16] However, when the assembly does it together and is actually looking towards something other than their hands, it has the potential to emphasize that we are a community of sinners who are all asking for God’s assistance as we adore Him together.
As a culture that is always developing, the meanings we associate with postures change as well, and the associations we have with them may be different than in other parts of the world. The Church does recognize this and allows for some inculturation in the liturgy, even with postures.[17] For example, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops chose to have their parishes kneel as the norm during the Eucharistic Prayer instead of stand like many other countries do because they feel it reflects the piety of American Catholics, and the Apostolic See understands this.[18] However, the United States also has the problem of taking the idea of adaptation to extremes and forgetting that “there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them,”[19] with adjacent dioceses and even neighboring parishes assuming different postures.[20] It is difficult to embody the idea of us being one body of Christ, one united Church, when people in the same culture cannot pick a posture to be united in. Therefore, we need to look more closely at the Liturgy of the Eucharist, focusing on what we are praying and deciding how we can best embody that physically.
The Eucharistic Prayer is, at least in many respects, the center of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It is a prayer filled with praise, invocation, penitence, and reverence, and in its midst lies the words of institution, the words that give us the gift of the body of Christ by consecration. What posture could possibly reflect all of those human emotions? I would argue that none completely fulfill them, but we can assume a posture together that helps us focus on these words and gives God, through the ritual, His due respect and admiration. Standing and kneeling are the two postures that seem to be most appropriate here. Standing is a posture of praise, a posture of a servant waiting to be called upon by his master, and is often thought of as a posture that helps the assembly actively partake in the sacrificial meal we are celebrating.[21] The Eucharistic Prayer itself speaks of standing in the presence of the Lord; however, it does this in a way that does not necessarily mean we must be standing at that moment.[22] Kneeling is seen as an act of adoration, and in the real presence of the Lord, what better posture to assume than one of complete surrender?[23] As long as the assembly is looking up, singing along with the Memorial Acclamation and Amen and realizing that, as one body, we are offering ourselves as well as the bread and wine up to fully become the body of Christ, kneeling can be just as appropriate and active a posture for this Prayer as standing. Assuming multiple postures during this part of the Mass, as suggested by some and as some cultures do, does not seem to be the best solution for our culture in the United States.[24] This separates the one prayer into many different sections, when it is the summary and summit of the body of Christ concept. It not only gets our minds farther from the idea of unity which the prayer is emphasizing, but it makes it harder for the individual members to focus on what is happening and what they are doing.[25] We need to focus on our unity as the Church through the gift of Christ’s body as we pray the Eucharistic Prayer together, not on which parts of it are more worthy of our adoration and humility than others.
The question of standing or kneeling also comes up after the Agnus Dei, when the priest declares that the feast before us is the Lamb of God, reinforcing the concept of it being a sacrifice, and the assembly responds with the words “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”[26] These are penitential words, which make us think of kneeling as the correct posture. Standing might also be an appropriate posture, though.[27] It is a posture that can reflect penitence as well as praise, which fits with the priest and assembly’s admitted unworthiness but happiness at still being one of the chosen people in light of this unworthiness.[28] It is also a posture that is practical, as the assembly needs to be able to move in order to receive communion right after this short, though significant, part of the Mass. Kneeling accurately embodies what we are praying together, but standing might help us more fully understand that all of humanity is unworthy of this supper, not only the individual members who are present and proclaiming it.
One of the most dramatic posture changes after Vatican II was the switch from the norm of kneeling to that of standing while receiving communion. This helps “to highlight more clearly the ‘communitarian’ nature of the procession to receive Communion,” along with our singing.[29] Though no one is to be denied the Eucharist as long as they receive in a reverent posture,[30] the idea of us being one body of Christ, receiving as one and not as individuals, is easily overlooked when we all assume different postures. If we, as the Church, are the bride of Christ, then we need to act as one body as we process forward and accept the one who will complete us, uniting us all as one body in Christ. We are all unworthy, but we are all expressing our joy at being welcomed into this heavenly wedding banquet, realizing who we truly are as God’s beloved creations.[31] The Eucharist needs to be revered and adored, but we do not need to be kneeling during our physical reception of the sacrament in order to accomplish that. If we assume different postures when we receive communion, not only are we interrupting the flow of the procession, but we are forgetting that communion is a communal act in its very definition.
An overlooked part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the time after we, as a community, receive the Eucharist, when we observe a period of silence or song of praise.[32] What posture should we assume? Does it have to be communal the way the rest of the Liturgy of the Eucharist postures should be? The assembly is told to sit or kneel, having a choice between the two.[33] In this time after communally receiving communion, this time of reflection is given so that the people can “praise and pray to God in their hearts.”[34] We all offered up the body of Christ as one and received the body of Christ as one, but the Church recognizes that its members are all slightly different, having varying spiritual paths and needs. This is a time to personally reflect on the gift of the Eucharist we have each accepted and on God’s overwhelming grace, and as such, the assembly is encouraged to assume a posture that allows them to enter into that conversation with God most easily.[35] Even though it is a time of prayer that can be different for every member, the community of believers is still praying together as it embraces the differences in its parts.
The entire Mass is important to the Catholic faith, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist is a major part that contributes to the Church’s unity. However, when we forget the importance of the posture of the assembly during the Eucharistic Prayer, the reception of the Eucharist, and the reflection time after communion, we can also forget how important it is that we are communally doing all of these ritual actions. By assuming the same postures, or by assuming different ones during the time that is purposefully not as formally structured as the rest of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we are reinforcing the idea that we, as many parts, have accepted our role as part of the eschatological community, the community that has become the body of Christ. Without shared postures, it is easy for the individual believer to think only of their individual acceptance of the grace of God and forget that the whole community is the recipient of His salvation. We are only able to partake in this meal because we are a community, and without shared postures, the communal aspect of communion is lost.
[1] Romans 12:5. All Biblical references will be from the New American Bible.
[2] In the section "The Structure of the Mass, Its Elements and Its Parts," the General Instruction of the Roman Missal
(GIRM) says that “a common posture, to be observed by all participants, is a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community gathered for the Sacred Liturgy: it both expresses and fosters the intention and spiritual attitude of the participants.” It is a commonly cited statement whenever the topic of posture in liturgy arises, as it is the starting place of this debate over the assembly’s physical posture. General Instruction of the Roman Missal. (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2003).
[3] Nathan D. Mitchell, “The Amen Corner,” Worship 79 (2005) 168.
[4] In his book Eucharist and American Culture: Liturgy, Unity, and Individualism, Dennis C. Smolarski, SJ, fully recognizes this modern issue in our culture. In his chapter on worship, he expands upon the idea of communal worship versus individual prayer. He also has some interesting insights into the falling number of people attending church and other communal activities and the rising number of “lonely” people in our country, saying on page 26, “if individuals who experience loneliness also regularly attend liturgical celebrations, which should foster community among those assembled, one can rightly wonder about the success of such celebrations in achieving the Lord’s wishes.” Eucharist and American Culture (New York: Paulist Press, 2010)
[5] Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), no. 26. SC also goes on to state that whenever the rites “make provision for communal celebration involving the presence and active participation of the faithful, this way of celebrating them is to be preferred, so far as possible, to a celebration that is individual and quasi-private” (no. 27), which supports the argument for communal posture that much more.
[6] Nathan D. Mitchell, “The Amen Corner,” Worship 79 (2005) 170, italics and quotes are his.
[7] John K. Leonard and Nathan D. Mitchell, The Postures of the Assembly During the Eucharistic Prayer (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1994) 21-22.
[8] Genesis 1:28.
[9] The Postures of the Assembly 22.
[10] The Postures of the Assembly 23-24.
[11] This is definitely a contestable point, but in our culture, it is not an everyday idea to pray standing up. Most people are taught as small children to pray kneeling, if they are taught any specific posture at all. The normal person does not stand and think vertically; instead, they look straight ahead, horizontally, waiting to see what someone is doing in front of them. It is such a common posture (which is part of its beauty, as we should be praising God in all of our actions, not just during formal prayers and liturgies), it might be hard to bring it back to its original Christian conception. We have to decide if it is a challenge we, as ministers, are ready and willing to undertake.
[12] John F Baldovin’s Introduction to The Postures of the Assembly, page 3.
[13] 1 Peter 2:9.
[14] The Postures of the Assembly 28.
[15] Kneeling associated with these intentions can be seen throughout the Bible. Solomon knelt in supplication in 1 Kings 8:54. In Philippians 2:10, all of creation is to bow in adoration at the name of Jesus. And Mark 1:40 speaks of a leper coming to Jesus, asking to be cured.
[16] Frank C. Quinn is an advocate of kneeling always equaling individual piety and devotion, believing it to be a posture that is incapable of being appropriate for the assembly during a liturgy, as he makes clear in his article “Posture and Prayer.” Worship 72 (1998) 67-78.
[17] SC, no. 37.
[18] Everyone who writes on posture, especially those who are proponents of standing, like to emphasize how different the United States is in comparison to other countries because of this fact. Frank C. Quinn refers to it multiple times throughout “Posture and Prayer” (especially page 77), and it is brought up is The Postures of the Assembly as well.
[19] SC, no. 23.
[20] This is directly against the end of SC, no. 23. which continues on to say that “as far as possible, notable differences between the rites used in adjacent regions must be carefully avoided. Something for people in the United States to remember is the statement before, no. 22, which says “no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” This includes posture!
[21] The Postures of the Assembly, esp. p. 63-66
[22] In Eucharistic Prayer II, for example, it says “we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you.” Though it is a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, which lends itself to standing, it is also referring to the idea that we are unworthy but are still given the opportunity to be with God, both physically and spiritually, which could make another posture (like kneeling) be appropriate.
[23] Joel Giallanza, “A Profound Bow of the Body and Spirit: The Eucharist, A Gift to Be Adored” Emmanuel 111 (2005) 388-397.
[24] Frank C. Quinn suggests the use of multiple postures, with standing during the words of praise after the Sanctus until the institutional words, when he would like the congregation to kneel. Though I understand his argument, he also says that kneeling focuses too much on individual devotion. If these are the words that Christ said, uniting us as one body in Him, kneeling (according to him) seems to convey the exact opposite meaning. “Posture and Prayer,” p. 76.
[25] In a word, it is distracting! It is distracting at the point of the liturgy at which we should try to be least distracted!
[26] Quote is taken from Today’s Missal Vol. 77 No. 4 (2010) 105.
[27] In fact, “the faithful kneel after the Agnus Dei unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise.” GIRM, no. 43.
[28] In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the tax collector “stood off at a distance […] and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’” Luke 18:13.
[29] GIRM, no. 86.
[30] As the GIRM says, “the norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm,” no. 160.
[31] Dennis C. Smolarski refers to this idea of the heavenly happiness that is found at the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” to which the book of Revelation refers. Eucharist and American Culture, p. 12.
[32] I am referring to after everyone has received the Eucharist, the tabernacle is closed, and the priest sits back down. The argument for how long we should remain standing takes us off on a tangent that is not the purpose of this paper – though whatever we do as an assembly, we should do it in the same manner to maintain the communal focus and to avoid individualism.
[33] Today’s Missal instructs the assembly to “sit (or kneel),” p. 109.
[34] GIRM, no. 45.
[35] Standing might also be an option to consider, as some believers may feel most comfortable praying and praising in that posture. However, it might be taking the personal thanksgiving aspect of this time a bit too far.
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