Kneeling Before the Altar

Kneeling Before The Altar

By Madeline Mauro

Today, we see much confusion about the presence of kneelers before the altar in the church. Some churches are returning to putting up altar rails to instill the reverence necessary to receive our Lord in Communion. While this can appear holy and beautiful, it also carries the risk of inviting scrupulosity or a creeping sense of spiritual superiority. In this article, I want to unpack how that plays out—and how we can protect the heart of worship from becoming entangled in externals.

I will draw from Scripture, the early church, and the interior disposition of our hearts, such as where our Lord clarified that we must be careful of the outward signs of reverence in front of others. In Luke 18:11, we read,  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. The Pharisee saw himself as the one who was good, forgetting that it was God's goodness living within him. (Mark 10:18) He looked down at his brother, seeing himself superior. We are all equal in God's eyes; no one is better than the other. I remember going to a conference where the priest asked us to turn to our neighbor and say, "Get over yourself." we all had a laugh at this, and he was so right. One of the major obstacles we face in our spiritual growth is ourselves. We get so caught up in our thinking that we forget that we, too, can come across as acting like the Pharisees.

Even our shepherds can become so rigid in demanding reverence that they focus back on Vatican I to instill it. Some are going as far as to say that the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) is the true Catholic Mass. I often hear from these groups that Vatican II is wrong and that we are not worshiping in the highest form, causing fear and leading many in a dangerous direction of dividing the church. Even some Exorcists claim the devil responds best to the Latin prayers, the Gregorian chants, and so on.

Yet, history shows us that the New Testament was written in Greek, and many theologians return to this text for a more faithful translation. They have often said it gets lost in the translation, especially with Greek into Latin. While this became controversial with the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church agreed in the twentieth century to revisit the Vulgate because of our ability to translate it more accurately.

Today, we have Bibles translated from the original languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, with the ability to cross-reference to the Vulgate translation, all thanks to St. John Paul 2, who led the overseeing of the revised Latin edition (Nova Vulgata) for unity and reference and Pope Pius XII who encouraged scholars to return to the original text.

Without these pivotal changes agreed upon at Vatican II, the church members might still be in the dark,  relying solely on priests to tell us what Jesus meant. Today, having a Bible at home is a kind of rite of passage. We are now entrusted, even invited, to prayerfully listen and discover what our Lord is saying to us. It's personal and intimate. We no longer need bottle-feeding. We can feed ourselves with His Word. We can do this!

Even if you still feel a bit uneasy, the daily Mass readings cover almost the entire Bible in 3 years, weaving the Old and New together as Jesus did on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:27 tells us,  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. And the Catholic Church continues to do just that. 

Some think the church lost its luster when Vatican II removed the Latin prayer format. But what they forget to acknowledge is what happened at Pentecost. Chapter two of the Acts of Apostles is action-packed with delight for everyone. God lives among us. Leaving the upper room, they speak various languages, showing the world that God is for all people. This one act solidifies that God is for me. By Him speaking in my dialect, I can draw close to Him because he drew close to me first. Confirming what Jesus said in John 15:16, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Besides changing how we hear mass in our native tongue,  Vatican II made additional changes to bring God to us. They wanted us to receive God in a way similar to the early church settings, such as having the priest face us and removing the altar rails to invite us into a family table gathering.

As Catholics, we carry the thread of sacredness in the original church that continues to allow the Spirit to flow in this modern world. While some are tempted to cling to what might look reverent, one must not forget what brings us truly closer to Christ. The heart of worship is not about the external posture alone but the disposition of one's own heart in front of God. It's about surrender. It's not about whether we kneel at the rail or stand before the altar with open hands. What matters is that we come as we are: humble, hungry, and loved. I don't see Vatican II taking God away from us. I see it as God drawing closer to us once again, reminding me of Pentecost. If anything, we all must learn the one true language of God, which is love.

May the members of this sacred church worship with awe, never forgetting that our God lives among everyone who makes room in their hearts for Him. We are the tabernacles, the living stones. God is more than language or liturgy alone.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.