Altar rails are present in several new churches architect Duncan Stroik has designed. Among them, the Thomas Aquinas College Chapel in Santa Paula, Calif., the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis., and three others on the drawing boards.
Altar (Communion) rails are returning for all the right reasons.
Said Father Markey: “First, the Holy Father is requiring holy Communion from him be received on the knees. Second, it’s part of our tradition as Catholics for centuries to receive holy Communion on the knees. Third, it’s a beautiful form of devotion to our blessed Lord.”
James Hitchcock, professor and author of Recovery of the Sacred (Ignatius Press, 1995), thinks the rail resurgence is a good idea. The main reason is reverence, he said. “Kneeling’s purpose is to facilitate adoration,” he explained.
When Stroik proposed altar rails for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, “Cardinal [Raymond] Burke liked the idea and thought that was something that would give added reverence to the Eucharist and sanctuary.”
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/altar-rails-returning-to-use/#ixzz1jgNupn83
Make sure you look at the Comments. Here are some opposing comments, they are few.
Posted by Carolann Quinn on Saturday, Jul 2, 2011 10:08 PM (EST):
My knees aren’t what they used to be. This is not a good thing. If this would be at my church, I will quit going to Communion since I won’t get up without help. And the Catholic Church backslides more into the 16th century.
Posted by Mal on Saturday, Jul 2, 2011 10:34 PM (EST):
No, do not bring it back. It is so wonderful to bow then step forward and put the left hand forward (asking to receive the eucharis)then reverently placing the host in the mouth. It is more natural than sticking the tongue out and having the host deposited on it. Kneelers are foreign to today’s Catholics in India and other places. Let us keep the practice of receiving holy communion the same all over the world.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/altar-rails-returning-to-use/#blogComments#ixzz1jgSjs8Ul
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