To promote unity and reverence for the Eucharist in the Archdiocese of Louisville — and to dispel confusion related to sitting, kneeling and standing during Mass — Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre has issued a new document, “Norms for Posture and the Communion Rite.”
The norms were sent to pastors on May 14 along with a letter to the faithful explaining the new norms, which will go into effect on June 22, the feast of Corpus Christi.
“Throughout our liturgies are moments when we collectively engage in specific actions that emphasize our communal worship,” said Archbishop Fabre, commenting on the new norms. “The Mass is imbued with deep significance, where each gesture and action conveys profound meaning.
“We are encouraged to remember that the Sacred Liturgy is fundamentally an act of the whole People of God united as one. The gestures of the Christian faithful serve as a tangible representation of our shared faith,” he said.
The letter to the faithful notes that in the Archdiocese of Louisville, “the previously recommended practice was to stand throughout the entire distribution of Holy Communion.”
“While commendable, this is not the norm in most places throughout the United States and has led to some confusion and disunity,” it says.
Under the new norms, the congregation will kneel after the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) and remain kneeling until their turn to join the Communion procession. Returning to their seats, congregants will kneel again for a period of personal prayer. Those who are unable to kneel may sit.
For reception of Communion, the norm is to be standing and to bow the head before receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The letter explains that communicants shouldn’t be denied Communion if they kneel, but catechesis should instruct that standing is the “normative posture.” Those who serve in the sanctuary should model the norm, it says.
Communicants may continue to choose whether they receive the consecrated Host on the tongue or in the hand.
After the “remaining hosts are returned to the tabernacle in the sanctuary or are taken out of the sanctuary,” the congregation should sit.
The letter also instructs that “pastoral adaptations” should be made for “those who cannot take the normative postures due to physical limitations.”
These norms are already common in some parishes, while others may experience a more significant change, said Dr. Karen Shadle, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Worship, which helped develop the new norms.
“For a lot of parishes, this will be a piece of cake. It’s what they’re already doing,” she said.
At St. Patrick Church, “We have to adjust,” said Father Jeff Shooner, the pastor. “We’ll have to provide some catechesis.
“It has been common for years for people who move here not to understand the posture we do and for parishioners who come back from vacation wondering why we do what we do.
So there is some confusion. This helps to eliminate some of that confusion.”
In preparation for the changes, he intends to offer instruction at upcoming liturgies and in the parish bulletin.
“We will use Office of Worship resources; we will probably have some instruction at every liturgy. We may do a video on it,” he said. “We may take four or six weeks to insert some instructions here.”
He also expects that the congregation will need time to adjust.
“Pastorally, on the first weekend, everyone is not going to be there,” he said, adding that instruction will continue into the summer.
The “Norms for Posture and the Communion Rite” provides an in-depth explanation of the postures and offers a reminder about other practices, such as taking Communion to the sick and the reservation of the Eucharist in the tabernacle.
Shadle said the new norms aren’t aiming for “robotic uniformity.”
“The rite already has diversity. You can choose to receive (Communion) in the hand or on the tongue,” she noted. “People who are unable to kneel are not required to kneel. It’s not about robotic uniformity, we want to pray the same way.
“That doesn’t mean there was something wrong with what we did before,” she noted. “It really is around unity, so that we can pray together and we don’t have to focus on that; we can focus on the prayer and pray well.”
Shadle explained that the changes being made are under the purview of the bishop.
“There are parts of the liturgy the bishop has some discretion over. That’s why Catholics might experience something different when they go to Mass out of town” in another diocese, she said. “We as an archdiocese want to have one playbook that we’re working from.”
