Bowing Before the Mystery: The Unity of Kneeling at Mass

Be a Catholic: When you kneel before an altar, do it in such a way that others may be able to recognise that you know before whom you kneel. ~ St Maximilian Maria Kolbe 

From Crisis

By Mark Haas

The Catholic Church has always acknowledged the posture of kneeling as something uniquely beautiful within the context of the Holy Mass, a gesture that speaks more deeply than words.

The Catholic Church has always acknowledged the posture of kneeling as something uniquely beautiful within the context of the Holy Mass, a gesture that speaks more deeply than words. Kneeling embodies humility, adoration, and a profound readiness to receive the mysteries unfolding on the altar. In a world that often celebrates self-assertion, the act of kneeling stands as a quiet but powerful reminder that before God, we bow in love, reverence, and awe.

This past Sunday, I noticed something startling within the pews.

After the people finished singing the Sanctus, the entire congregation, all 1,000 or more of us, knelt down in unison. The moment is powerful every week: a hush descends, the organ fades, and the people of God bow before the mystery that is about to unfold upon the altar. It is the posture of awe, reverence, and worship before the Real Presence of Christ.

But this time, something jarred me out of that sacred silence.

One man remained standing.

While everyone else knelt, this man stood firmly in his pew, head raised, stoically holding his ground as though to make a point. He did not appear elderly or injured. He wasn’t holding a child or struggling to balance. He didn’t sit down. He simply stood there, motionless, as if defying gravity—or perhaps, defying the instruction of the Church.

The visual image was striking: one solitary man upright, while a thousand others bowed in worship. One man refusing to kneel while the rest of the Body of Christ humbled themselves before the King of Kings.

What the Church Teaches

The Church’s liturgical documents are quite clear about posture at Mass. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal(GIRM) gives detailed norms for the faithful during the celebration of the Eucharist. In the United States, for example, paragraph 43 states:

In the dioceses of the United States of America, they should kneel beginning after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer…The faithful kneel again after the Agnus Dei unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise.

That’s not a mere suggestion—it’s the Church’s instruction. The GIRM also emphasizes that our postures are meant to express unity:

A common posture, to be observed by all participants, is a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community gathered for the sacred Liturgy. For the same reason, attention should be paid to what is determined by this General Instruction and by the traditional practice of the Roman Rite and the approved liturgical books.” (42)

In other words, the Church desires that we move, stand, sit, and kneel together—not as a mindless exercise in conformity but as an outward expression of the spiritual reality that binds us together as one Body.

When one person intentionally refuses to follow this unity, it is more than a small eccentricity. It visually and spiritually fractures the “sign of unity.”

Restraining Ourselves for the Sake of Unity

The GIRM adds a gentle but firm caution:

With a view to a uniformity in gestures and postures during one and the same celebration, the faithful should follow the directions which the deacon, lay minister, or priest gives according to whatever is indicated in the Missal. One’s personal preferences must be restrained in a common liturgical celebration, otherwise the “sign of unity” is fractured. (43)

That last line is striking: “One’s personal preferences must be restrained.”

We live in an age that idolizes self-expression. But the liturgy isn’t about expressing myself—it’s about worshiping God. The Mass is not “my Mass,” nor is it “our Mass” in a purely communal sense. It is Christ’s sacrifice, made present again upon the altar, in which we are graciously allowed to participate. To worship rightly, we must first surrender our preferences.

That surrender is symbolized most beautifully when we kneel.

“At the Name of Jesus, Every Knee Shall Bend”

Scripture itself gives the clearest rationale for this posture. St. Paul writes: “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10–11).

Kneeling is not a medieval invention. It is the natural, human response to the presence of divine majesty. Throughout Scripture, those who encounter the Lord fall to their knees—or even to their faces—in reverence. From the magi kneeling before the Christ Child to the apostles bowing before the Risen Lord, this gesture has always marked true worship.

The Absurdity of Standing “on Principle”

The lengths to which some people will go to justify standing through the consecration—writing lengthy essays or giving impassioned homilies about how “standing is a sign of resurrection/equality/honor/etc.”—is, frankly, baffling to me. Of course, standing can symbolize dignity and new life. But the Eucharistic Prayer is not about us. It is the moment when Heaven bends to earth and God becomes present on the altar. The appropriate human response is adoration, humility, and awe.

Jesus is Lord. Period.

When the priest raises the Host and says, “This is My Body,” we do not stand as equals. We kneel as servants before our King. To remain standing as a gesture of independence or “personal theology” misunderstands what is happening at that sacred moment.

The Beauty of Kneeling Together

The man who remained standing may have thought he was taking a principled stand. But in reality, he stood apart. His gesture—intentional or not—broke the harmony of a thousand voices and hearts united in prayer. Some parishes break from this instruction from the documents and from their bishops. 

The Church asks us to kneel at Mass not merely for order’s sake but to teach us something profound: that true worship requires humility, obedience, and unity.

When we kneel together, we proclaim with one voice and one posture:
Christ is Lord.
He is here.
And before Him—every knee shall bend.