Sanct., c. xxvii); St. Maximus (Horn. Even after it became usual to raise the consecrated Host and Chalice for the adoration of the Faithful after the Consecration, it was long before the priest’s preceding and following genuflexions were insisted upon (see Thurston in “The Month”, October, 1897).

On the other hand, examples are not wanting of Christians who pray standing. It is laid down by modern authorities that a genuflexion includes every sort of inclination, so that any bowing while kneeling is, as a rule, superfluous (Martinucci, Man. of Rites (n. 3402) of July 7, 1876, insisting that women as well as men must genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament.

But when the occasion was one of special solemnity, or the petition very urgent, or the prayer made with exceptional fervor, the Jewish suppliant knelt. In the United States, Catholics kneel throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, but in Europe and elsewhere, they’re only obligated to kneel during the Consecration. Genuflexion.—To genuflect [Lat. By canon law (II Decretal., bk., IX, ch. That, in the early Church, the faithful stood when receiving into their hands the consecrated particle can hardly be questioned. It only takes a minute. What precisely were the prayers which the Fathers of Nicaea had in view when insisting on the distinction of days is not at once evident.

For post-Nicene, times, see St. Hilary (Prolog. Even our priests and deacons bow or nod when passing the Tabernacle, including before and after the homily, and so do the altar boys and girls, ushers, lectors, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, upon entering or leaving the sanctuary. Caerem., I, i, nn. As they do this, they say, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.” This one complete gesture makes a cross — an intersection of a vertical line from forehead to breast and a horizontal line from left to right shoulder. They are probably the “genuflectiones”, the multiplicity of which in the daily life of some of the earlier saints astonishes us (see for instance the Life of St. Patrick in the Roman Breviary, March 17). 2, ch. suggest that a probable explanation may be found in the view that these “orantes” are merely conventional representations of prayer and of suppliants in the abstract.

Genuflecting: Another telltale sign of a Catholic is genuflection, which is touching the right knee to the floor while bending the left knee. vi, art. Turning now to the liturgical prayer of the Christian Church, it is very evident that standing, not kneeling, is the correct posture for those taking part in it.

Thus Solomon dedicating his temple “kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards Heaven“, etc. Thereupon, the deacon in attendance subjoins: “Flectamus genua” (Let us kneel down). And when forgiveness of offenses has to be besought, Origen (De Orat., 31) goes so far as to maintain that a kneeling posture is necessary. The custom of placing the Sacred Particle in the mouth, rather than in the hand of the communicant, dates in Rome from the sixth, and in Gaul from the ninth century (Van der Stappen, IV, 227; cf. Eccl., VII, ix). The officiating bishop or priest invites the faithful present, who are supposed to be standing, to pray for some intention which he specifies. A practical tip to know if it is appropriate to genuflect in a Catholic church is to look for the red sanctuary lamp. iii, De consecrat., c. x).

In any case, to have the right to stand during public prayer was looked upon as a sort of privilege—an “immunitas” (Tertull., loc. Certain exceptions, however, seem to show that this was not always the case. in Psalm.

Of silent kneeling prayer the characteristic example is the group of prayers for all conditions of men in our Good Friday liturgy. "Caium Cæsarem adorari ut deum constituit cum reversus ex Syria non aliter adire ausus esset quam capite velato circumvertensque se, deinde procumbens" (Suet., Vit., ii).