Q. Recently I attended Sunday Mass at a church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was surprised when the assembly remained standing during the entire Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Communion Rite. The parishioners did not kneel until they returned from communion. Is this an approved format in the USA? How much authority does the pastor (or bishop) have to change the rubrics of the Mass?
—G.L., Rockford
A. The American bishops have determined the norms for posture that we should adopt during Mass and it is their right to do so.

It comes always as a surprise to America, but in other countries there are not pews or at least enough pews to accommodate large crowds on Sunday, in which case people stand during the whole of the Mass and are encouraged to kneel only during the consecration, if they are physically able.

But our practice in the United States follows very close to the rubrics of the Roman Missal and is a good practice. We stand and sit during the liturgy of the word. We stand for the prayers and the Gospel, sit for the other readings.

We sit down for the offertory, stand for the preface, kneel for the Canon of the Mass, sit down after Communion, and stand for the prayer and the final blessing. These postures and gestures are not merely ceremonial. They have profound meaning and, when done with understanding, can enhance our personal participation in Mass. Each posture we assume at Mass underlines and reinforces the meaning of the action in which we are taking part at that moment in our worship.

Why this tradition was different at the Mass you attended, I cannot say with certainty.

The USCCB says, “In addition to serving as a vehicle for the prayer of beings composed of body and spirit, the postures and gestures in which we engage at Mass have another very important function.

The Church sees in these common postures and gestures both a symbol of the unity of those who have come together to worship and a means of fostering that unity.

We are not free to change these postures to suit our own individual piety; for the Church makes it clear that our unity of posture and gesture is an expression of our participation in the one Body formed by the baptized with Christ, our head. When we stand, kneel, sit, bow and sign ourselves in common action, we given unambiguous witness that we are indeed the Body of Christ, united in heart, mind and spirit.”

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