STANDING AND KNEELING
The Western Rite has been restored and the Western Church is being rebuilt. Our mission is to restore the Faith and Order of the “undivided” Church, and to begin the re-evangelization of the post-Christian West. In order to restore the Faith and Order of the undivided church we sometimes need to reapply canons that have long been forgotten in Western Christendom. Sometimes, reapplying forgotten canons can mean making adjustments in our liturgical practices. The two primary adjustments that will need to be made is in standing and kneeling, and in the ecclesiastical Calendar with its Paschalion.
In the Orthodox Church, we stand on Sundays, Feast days, and daily during Paschaltide; and kneel on week days. This is not a Byzantinization of the Western Rite, but was the universal practice in the undivided Church.
The First Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325) made this practice binding by a special canon obligatory for the entire Church. The canon of this Council states: "Since there are some persons who kneel in church on Sundays and on the days of Pentecost [i.e. Paschaltide], with a view to preserving uniformity in all parishes, it has seemed best to the holy Council for prayers to be offered to God while standing" (Canon XX).
In Canon XC of the Council in Trullo (692), of the 6th Ecumenical Council, we read: "We have received it canonical from our God-bearing Fathers not to bend the knee on Sundays when honoring the resurrection of Christ. Since this observation may not be clear to some of us, we are making it plain to the faithful, that after the entrance of those in holy orders into the sacrificial altar on the evening of the Saturday in question, let none of them bend the knee until the evening of the following Sunday, when, following the entrance after the lamps have been lit, again bending knees, we thus begin to offer our prayers to the Lord. For, inasmuch as we have received it that the night succeeding Saturday was the precursor of our Savior’s rising, we commence our hymns at this point in a spiritual manner, ending the festival by passing out of darkness into light, in order that we may hence celebrate the resurrection together for a whole day and a whole night.”
This does not mean that pastors should be liturgical police, correcting those faithful who kneel on Sundays and ordering them to stand. Personal acts of piety are personal acts of piety. But what it does mean is that those serving at the altar should stand when it is appropriate to stand, and kneel when it is appropriate to kneel, setting an example for the congregation by conforming to the canons of the Church.
By Fr. Victor Novak
In the Orthodox Church, we stand on Sundays, Feast days, and daily during Paschaltide; and kneel on week days. This is not a Byzantinization of the Western Rite, but was the universal practice in the undivided Church.
The First Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325) made this practice binding by a special canon obligatory for the entire Church. The canon of this Council states: "Since there are some persons who kneel in church on Sundays and on the days of Pentecost [i.e. Paschaltide], with a view to preserving uniformity in all parishes, it has seemed best to the holy Council for prayers to be offered to God while standing" (Canon XX).
In Canon XC of the Council in Trullo (692), of the 6th Ecumenical Council, we read: "We have received it canonical from our God-bearing Fathers not to bend the knee on Sundays when honoring the resurrection of Christ. Since this observation may not be clear to some of us, we are making it plain to the faithful, that after the entrance of those in holy orders into the sacrificial altar on the evening of the Saturday in question, let none of them bend the knee until the evening of the following Sunday, when, following the entrance after the lamps have been lit, again bending knees, we thus begin to offer our prayers to the Lord. For, inasmuch as we have received it that the night succeeding Saturday was the precursor of our Savior’s rising, we commence our hymns at this point in a spiritual manner, ending the festival by passing out of darkness into light, in order that we may hence celebrate the resurrection together for a whole day and a whole night.”
This does not mean that pastors should be liturgical police, correcting those faithful who kneel on Sundays and ordering them to stand. Personal acts of piety are personal acts of piety. But what it does mean is that those serving at the altar should stand when it is appropriate to stand, and kneel when it is appropriate to kneel, setting an example for the congregation by conforming to the canons of the Church.
By Fr. Victor Novak