Recently, a non-Catholic friend accompanied me to Mass. “I was so confused!” she exclaimed afterward. “How do you know when to sit or stand or kneel? And all those secret gestures!”
For most Catholics, that knowledge has been developed by participation in many Masses over the years. It’s so ingrained that even if we’re not paying close attention, the movement of the assembly gives us a split-second clue. We automatically change positions as our muscle memory takes over.
“But what does it all mean?” she continued. “Why not just sit, like we do at our church services?”
What a great question. We Catholics pray with our hearts, minds and bodies. The motions and postures we use have meaning and subtly change our mindset throughout each part of the Mass.
Sitting: A Time to Listen
Sitting is the posture we use to listen and learn and the position we take when we come into the church for Mass. We get comfortable, quiet our thoughts and prepare to absorb what we’ll hear. We give ourselves time to clear our heads of distractions, and like Martha’s sister, Mary, we put aside our schedules and to-do lists so we can listen to the Lord (Lk 10:38-42).
As we sit for the readings and the homily, we are attentive to what God wants to share.
We also sit for the presentation and preparation of the gifts and briefly before the dismissal. In each case, we listen and reflect, like 12-year-old Jesus in the synagogue and students in any classroom.
Kneeling: A Time for Reverence
Kneeling is a posture of devotion and adoration; imagine a young man proposing to his bride. It’s a posture of humility, as Jesus demonstrated when he knelt and washed the apostles’ feet.
The knee is a symbol of power, so to bend it is to bend our strength in submission. Kneeling brings us down to a child’s level and makes us small and vulnerable.
As Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and submitted to His father’s will, He knelt (Lk 22:41). That prayer in the garden was not only one of submission but one of worship. The same is true for us. As we kneel and submit to God’s will, we recognize His power and glory. We worship Him.
We kneel at Mass when Jesus is most profoundly present: during the Eucharistic prayer as the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood, before we receive the Eucharist as we invite God to come into our hearts, and after Communion to thank Him for the gift of the Eucharist we just received.
Standing: A Time for Readiness
Standing is a posture of respect and readiness. We stand when someone we love enters the room. We stand to bestow honor as a dignitary arrives or a judge enters a courtroom. At the first Passover, the Israelites were told to eat their meal standing, with staff in hand, prepared for the coming of the Lord.
Similarly, our standing at the beginning of Mass is in honor of God’s presence and in anticipation of the events that will follow. We stand during the Gospel out of respect for the words we hear about Jesus. We stand for most of the prayers the assembly recites together: the creed, the prayer of the faithful, the Lord’s Prayer, and when we greet each other in the sign of peace. We stand at the dismissal to reflect our readiness as we head out into the world.
What about praying alone?
Just as at Mass, our private prayer should involve our entire bodies. Multiple studies have shown that posture affect our emotions and vice versa. How we position ourselves in prayer affects how we feel about God.
Sitting is appropriate for reading Scripture or writing in your prayer journal. These are times when we are learning and thinking. We sit comfortably as we open ourselves to God, and he shares himself with us.
Standing is practically an automatic response when we find ourselves in awe of God’s majesty. Consider how we jump to our feet when our team scores, jubilant with praise and enthusiasm.
So it is with our standing prayer, as excitement and respect compel us.
And when we throw ourselves at God’s mercy, beg Him for some need or are profoundly grateful, we kneel. We submit our will to God and admit our weakness.
The Meaning Behind Gestures
“And what about all those other little gestures and actions?” my friend asked. Gestures are an essential part of our Catholic life. They have rich meanings.
When we come into a church, we make the sign of the cross with the holy water we find near the entrance. The cross reminds us of the Trinity, and the water reminds us of our Baptism in Christ.
As we reach our desired pew or row, we genuflect, kneeling briefly on one knee. This symbolism goes back to medieval days when commoners genuflected in front of kings and nobles.
Christians gradually absorbed the practice to honor our almighty King.
Before the Gospel is read, we use one of our thumbs to make the sign of the cross on our forehead, lips and heart. We are praying, “May the word of the Lord be on my mind, on my lips, and in my heart.”
God came to us in the soul and body of Jesus Christ, so we come to God at Mass with our own bodies and souls. This week, let’s pay attention to all those movements and remember what we are saying to God with them.
Colleen Arnold has spent 30 years as a physician in emergency medicine. This piece is condensed from an article in St. Anthony Messenger, a publication of Franciscan Media.