Q. During the Lamb of God, the acolytes go and take the Eucharist from the tabernacle. Why don’t we kneel when they open the tabernacle?
A. When I was in seminary, a common joke (common at least for me) was to say a seminarian had a “case of the genuflects” while serving during Mass. This meant that, motivated by piety, a seminarian felt the need to genuflect every time he moved in front of the tabernacle, approached the tabernacle, moved away from the tabernacle, basically anytime his position in relation to the tabernacle changed. I like to think the joke was not meant to be mocking (or at least not completely meant to be mocking) but rather to point out the fact that, while pious, constant genuflections were not envisioned by the Church.
It probably sounds odd to be critical of someone for genuflecting to our Lord present in the tabernacle. After all, should we not show due reverence to the Blessed Sacrament? Obviously, the answer is yes, but it is important to keep in mind that obedience to the norms of the Church supersedes personal piety and, in the case of genuflecting toward the tabernacle during Mass, the Church has established norms governing the practice.
While it may sound counterintuitive, these norms are rooted in the understanding that the focus during the Mass is not the tabernacle, but the altar. “The altar on which the Sacrifice of the Cross is made present under the sacramental signs is also the table of the Lord to which the People of God is called together to participate in the Mass, as well as the center of the thanksgiving that is accomplished through the Eucharist” (GIRM n.296). It is the altar, not the tabernacle, that is the center of the Mass.
This is because it is around the altar that the faithful gather, and on the altar that the one sacrifice of Christ is made present. “For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different” (Council of Trent). Mass is a sacrifice, something the Church has gone to great lengths to defend against the criticisms of our Protestant brothers and sisters, and because it is a sacrifice, our attention should be on where that sacrifice is made present to us.
This might also sound counterintuitive because we are taught from a young age to genuflect toward the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reposed when entering a church, not to the altar. This is, of course, a worthy pious practice that is re-enforced in the liturgical norms of the Church. But once Mass begins, the focus of our attention is no longer on Christ present in the tabernacle.
In fact, the norms of the Church make it clear that there is not to be a genuflection toward the tabernacle during the celebration of the Mass. “If, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is present in the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they depart from it, but not during the celebration of the Mass itself” (GIRM n.274).
When the priest or other minsters move in front of the tabernacle during Mass, they do not genuflect toward it. Instead, they are to bow to the altar, emphasizing again that the focus during Mass is the altar, not the Blessed Sacrament reposed in the tabernacle.
Genuflections to the Blessed Sacrament do occur during Mass, but they are made by the priest and only on three occasions “namely, after showing the host, after the showing of the chalice, and before Communion” (GIRM n.274). These genuflections are meant to re-enforce the fact that Christ is now present under the appearance of bread on the altar. The one sacrifice of Christ has been made present. By limiting the number of genuflections during the Mass, the Church is trying to emphasize the significance of these moments in the Mass, namely, when Christ becomes present under the appearance of Bread and Wine and when a priest receives Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
The faithful do not kneel when the Blessed Sacrament is moved from the tabernacle to the altar in preparation for the distribution of Holy Communion because our focus is on the sacrifice that was just offered. It is only in the United States (at the discretion of the diocesan bishop) that the faithful kneel again after the Lamb of God. Elsewhere the faithful remain standing. This posture reflects that the high point of the Mass (the Consecration), during which the faithful kneel, has passed.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
