Couldn't agree more with Mike Voris on this. In my own diocese the same thing happened in previous years to both kids and adults. Once, my own former pastor, Dominic Irace, refused Communion to a Virginia State Delegate, Dick Black, when he knelt for Communion at the cathedral. So a kneeling politician gets it, but the sacrilegious pols have no problem at all. Well, I'm happy to say that, as far as I know, this no longer happens in my diocese. Several people in my own parish kneel for Communion. When I go to Mass at St. John the Baptist in Front Royal the priest gives Communion at the altar rail (Yes, some churches still have them.) and Communicants can either stand or kneel. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all churches would offer the option. All it would take is a prie-dieu in ONE Communion line to give parishioners the option.
SAD INDDED !
ReplyDeleteTwo 10 year old boys want to kneel to recieve Our Precious Jesus and they are told NO and they can never serve again ...REALLY ...this is horrible and I am ashamed that this kind of stuff is happening ...
God have Mercy on the priest who told them to get up and not kneel...Please God have mercy !
This happened to my 11 year old son and my 10 year old daughter(she also veils her head for mass....her own decision). We live in a mission area in the south. We have a VERY small Catholic homeschooling group here and the priest who occasionally ministers to our tiny group refused Holy Communion to my son and daughter when they knelt down. Long story but what eventually occurred was a meeting between the priest and myself. He basically told me that we must worship in a uniform way because catholic means universal. I told him that the church was much more"uniform" when only the Latin mass was said. Much more was said but he now allows the children to receive kneeling. I have a feeling there are many more stories out there like this.
ReplyDeleteNormally I am inclined to agree with you, and I am one who definitely prefers kneeling to receive Our Lord than standing, but there is another principle here and that is that altar servers, indeed all the Sacred Ministers at the altar, take their directives in how, when, and why to do their various ministries—otherwise it is chaos. When I was in seminary many years ago, I was Master of Ceremonies in my fifth and sixth year of major seminary. I knew the rubrics cold—and still do for the TLM. When I told the deacon or subdeacon to move here or move there, they had better jump. The same with the thurifer or other servers. This is how you do it…. The rubrics in the seminary chapel were somewhat different than the rubrics in the Cathedral—not in essentials, but in the manner of serving, where one stood, or other petty details. In the Cathedral we did it the bishops’ way. In the seminary chapel we did it the Rector’s way. Servers and other sacred ministers follow the rubrics. When those boys serve Mass they need to follow the directives of the priest or whoever is in charge of the liturgy. When they attend Mass with their parents, they can follow their parents’ instruction. While I prefer kneeling for Holy Communion, there is nothing wrong with stnading. Bending the knee in one’s piety is not nearly as important as bending the heart in obedience.
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