Altar Rail Returning to Use...

These Last Days News - July 5, 2011

Altar Rails Are Returning to Use...

"Communion in the hand has not been, and will not be accepted by Heaven. This is a sacrilege in the eyes of the Eternal Father, and must not be continued, for you only add to your punishment when you continue on in the ways that have been found to be unpleasing to the Eternal Father." - Our Lady of the Roses, June 30, 1984

National Catholic Register reported on July 2, 2011:

In Tiverton, R.I., when some parishioners suggested returning altar rails to the sanctuary of Holy Ghost Catholic Church, Father Jay Finelli gladly accepted, little knowing shortly thereafter the Pope’s 2007 motu proprio letter Summorum Pontificum would follow and he would be interested in learning how to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass.

In Norwalk, Conn., when a groundswell of parishioner support encouraged pastor Father Greg Markey to restore St. Mary Church, the second-oldest parish in the diocese, to its original 19th-century neo-gothic magnificence, he made sure altar rails were again part of the sanctuary.

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, 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.”

In Eastern Orthodox churches, there is an iconostasis — a wall of icons and religious paintings that separate the nave from the sanctuary — rather than altar rail separating the sanctuary. While the altar rail is usually about two feet high, the iconostasis veils most of the sanctuary.

“The altar rail is nothing compared to that,” he says, “and these are our Eastern brethren. We can benefit and learn something.”

Altar Rail History

They may be returning, but were altar rails supposed to be taken out of sanctuaries?

“There is nothing in Vatican II or post-conciliar documents which mandate their removal,” said Denis McNamara, author of Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy and assistant director and professor at the Liturgical Institute of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill.

Cardinal Francis Arinze strongly affirmed this point during a 2008 video session while he was still prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: “The Church from Rome never said to remove the altar rails.”

So what happened?

“Unfortunately, democratic ideas came into the situation after Vatican II,” Hitchcock said.

Stroik points some out of these ideas: a general iconoclasm that rejected the past, a desire to make churches into gathering spaces more like Protestant meeting houses, and the argument that kneeling is a sign of submission, which is seen as disrespectful to the modern person — we didn’t kneel before kings and queens, so it was more “democratic” not to kneel.

Added McNamara: “Some people called them ‘fences’ which set up division between priest and people.”

“Of course,” he said, “theologically there is a significant meaning in the distinction between nave and sanctuary. Just as there was confusion over the roles of ordained and laity at the time, so there was confusion about the architectural manifestation of those roles.”

Altar rails give “a clear designation as to what is the sanctuary,” Father Markey said. “The word ‘sanctuary’ comes from the word ‘holy,’ which means ‘set apart.’ The sanctuary is set apart from the rest of the church because it reinforces our understanding of what holiness is. The sanctuary is symbolically the head of the church and represents Christ as the head.”

McNamara traces church architecture roots to the Temple of Solomon: The large room corresponded to the church nave; the Holy of Holies, an image of heaven, corresponded to today’s sanctuary. They were separated visually by the great veil, which was torn when Christ died.

“[The altar rail] is still a marker of the place where heaven and earth meet, indicating that they are not yet completely united,” McNamara explained.

“But, at the same time, the rail is low, very permeable, and has a gate, so it does not prevent us from participating in heaven. So we could say there is a theology of the rail, one which sees it as more than a fence, but as a marker where heaven and earth meet, where the priest, acting in persona Christi, reaches across from heaven to earth to give the Eucharist as the gift of divine life.”

Reverence at Mass

Altar rails have an important role for the extraordinary form of the Mass where, Father Finelli noted, reception of Communion has to be on the tongue. He celebrates the extraordinary form weekly in Advent and Lent and monthly the rest of the year.

Communicants kneel at the oak railing that was crafted by a parishioner who is a professional woodworker. The rail was gilded by parishioners. They crafted a similar altar rail for the adoration chapel.

The presence of the rails has made an impression on the 2,000-family parish. “So many people kept requesting to use the altar rail,” he recalled, “I decided at the beginning of Lent that people receive at the altar rail.” (The requirement is for all weekday and special feast Masses in the ordinary form too.)

Given the option to kneel or stand, many choose to kneel to receive Communion. While they can receive on the tongue or in the hand, more people are choosing to receive on the tongue.

As Father Finelli put it, “It’s a very strong sign for the love and respect for the Real Presence because it’s really Jesus we’re receiving.”

Father Finelli clarifies that for Latin Catholics to receive the Eucharist while standing and in the hand is an indult, a special permission granted by the Holy See, because the ordinary way by Church law is still to receive while kneeling and on the tongue. (The indult was granted at the request of the American bishops.)

While the extraordinary form is celebrated three times weekly at St. Mary’s in Connecticut, Father Markey says the Communion rails are used for all ordinary form Masses as well. In his 1,000-family parish, parishioners also have the option at the ordinary form to kneel or stand.

This is approved by Rome. He notes the Vatican directive: “In 2003 the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments says in the ordinary form ‘communicants who chose to kneel are not to be denied holy Communion … nor accused of disobedience …’”

Stroik designed St. Mary’s renovated sanctuary incorporating hand-carved marble neo-gothic altar rails with brass gates that Father Markey purchased from a church that was closing in Pennsylvania. It beautifully matches the original white marble fixed altar and new marble free-standing altar, which brings another dimension to liturgical symbolism.

“When we gather at the altar rails, we symbolically gather at the altar,” Stroik said.

Making both altar and rails from the same materials — in this case marble — makes the connection even clearer.

Liturgical architecture expert McNamara agrees. He has found that some old church architecture books consider the rail the “people’s altar” and thus was made with the same marble as that of the altar.

To add to the symbolic connection, some churches cover the rails during Communion with linens similar to those on the altar.

Drawn to Prayer

There are yet more reasons for incorporating altar rails. Stroik finds where they have been removed in a cathedral, basilica or historic church receiving numerous visitors, many don’t know how sacred the altar is and wander around the sanctuary. The church has to put up ropes and signs like in a museum to do what altar rails were supposed to do: “create a real threshold so people can tell it’s a special place, a holy place set apart.”

Stroik says the altar rail is “an invitation for people to come close to the sanctuary, kneel and pray before the tabernacle, a statue of Our Lady or images of saints.”

Father Markey said returning the rails has been a great success.

Longtime parishioners who have attended St. Mary’s for 50 years or more regretted the magnificent altar rail being torn out in the 1960s. They now tell him, “Thank God you brought it back, Father.”

He also notices worship is enhanced for adults as well as children: “Little children like to kneel and pray there while their mom and dad receive holy Communion,” said Father Markey. “There’s almost universal embracing. It’s one of the most popular decisions I’ve made as pastor.”

"Why must you insult My Son? Can you not bend your knees? Is He not your King?" - Our Lady of the Roses, November 21, 1970

The amazing Bayside Prophecies...
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.

BOW YOUR KNEES
"Remember, My child, shout it from the roof. My Son is with you until the end of your time. It is truly His Presence, His Real Presence, His divine Presence, His Body and His Blood. Do not treat Him with disrespect! Bow your knees; cover your head! Do not chew Him!" - Our Lady, June 8, 1974

REAL PRESENCE
"You violate your sacred trust. You have taken the Body of your Creator, the Son of your God in the Trinity, and violated Him. You must do your eating at home! When you come to the great Sacrifice, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you come in reverence. You must go down upon your knees and do penance now for the offenses to your God! ...
"As in the past, cannot you recognize the mystery of Heaven and earth? Did not the staff of Moses turn into a serpent in the will of God? Did not the river in Egypt turn into blood in the will of God? And cannot God, in His will, come to you changing the bread and wine into the actual Presence, the real Presence, the factual Presence of His Body and Blood?" - St. Michael, February 1, 1977

HONOR
"All honor must be given to My Son in the Eucharist. Man must kneel. My Son's House is the House of God and a house of prayer, and it must not be turned into a meeting hall." - Our Lady, July 25, 1979

RESTORE HOLINESS
"In the beginning I gave to you, through your prophets, the establishment of My Church upon earth. The rules were simple but now have become changed and defiled to please the carnal nature of mankind. You must restore the holiness to My House! You must bend your knees in humility and penance." - Jesus, December 31, 1975

RESTORE ALTAR RAILINGS
"I have asked you to get down on your knees. Clergy in My Son's House, His Church, restore the altar railings, that man may be on his knees. For many shall crawl on their knees in desperation seeking to flee, but nowhere shall they escape the flames. Restore My Son's Church while there is time. Return the railings! Have the people make atonement upon their knees to their God!" - Our Lady, May 30, 1981

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D1 - The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass PDF
D2 - The Holy Eucharist PDF
D3 - Communion in the Hand? PDF
D146 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 1 PDF
D147 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 2 PDF
D184 – Church of Man, Part 1 PDF
D185 – Church of Man, Part 2 PDF
D198 - Kneel before your God PDF

Articles...

Kneeling:

Vatican official: Kneeling expresses meeting Jesus in the Eucharist
https://www.tldm.org/News9/KneelingMeetingJesus.htm

"Kneel before your God in the Eucharist"
https://www.tldm.org/News5/kneeling.htm

Pope Benedict on the theology of kneeling
https://www.tldm.org/News8/PopeBenedictXVITheologyOfKneeling.htm

Vatican defends the right to kneel for Holy Communion
https://www.tldm.org/News5/Vatican_kneeling.htm

Vatican on kneeling for holy Communion
https://www.tldm.org/vatican%20letter.htm

Communion in the hand a sacrilege:

Communion in the hand should be rejected
https://www.tldm.org/News6/von-Hildebrand.htm

What the holy ones say about receiving Jesus
https://www.tldm.org/News6/holy-ones.htm

Communion in the hand is a sacrilege
https://www.tldm.org/news2/cih.htm

More reasons for rejection Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/News5/CinH2.htm

Bishop Laise speaks out against Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/News6/Laise.htm

Communion in the Hand: Documents and History (Bishop Juan Rodolfo Laise)
https://www.tldm.org/News4/BishopLaise.htm

Sacrileges due to Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/forms/sacrilege1.htm

The consecrated hands of a priest
https://www.tldm.org/News7/ConsecratedHands.htm

Modernist and Protestant revolutionaries were behind Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/News7/CommunionInTheHand.htm

Fr. John Hardon speaks out against Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Hardon.htm

Bishop Bernard Stewart against Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/News7/BishopStewart.htm

Cardinal Arinze speaks out against Communion in the hand
https://www.tldm.org/News8/CommunionInTheHandArinze.htm

Communion in the hand gets attention at Vatican Synod
https://www.tldm.org/News8/CommunionInTheHandVaticanSynod.htm

Archbishop Lenga proposes that Holy See issue a universal regulation, establishing the official way of receiving Holy Communion to be on the tongue and kneeling
https://www.tldm.org/News8/CommunionInTheHandArchbishopLenga.htm

Tradition:

Latin, the universal language of the Catholic Church
https://www.tldm.org/news5/latin.htm

The case for the Latin Mass
https://www.tldm.org/news5/latinmass.htm

Should women cover their heads in Church?
https://www.tldm.org/news6/veils.htm

"You cannot separate Tradition from your Faith"
https://www.tldm.org/news6/tradition1.htm

Vatican II, part 1: Infiltration of the Church
https://www.tldm.org/News6/VaticanII-1.htm

Vatican II, part 2: Dark clouds forming before Vatican II
https://www.tldm.org/News6/VaticanII-2.htm

Vatican II, part 3: the satanic revolution gains momentum at the Council
https://www.tldm.org/News6/VaticanII-3.htm

Links...

Letter on the posture of the people during Mass, Cardinal Medina Estévez, November 7, 2000

Kneeling and Faith in the Eucharist, by Fr. Regis Scanlon

Standing or Kneeling during the Liturgy?, by Fr. Joseph Fessio, S. J.

Standing Up for Kneeling (Catholic Insight - December 1997)

Kneeling (EWTN Library - Winter 1991)

Kneeling after the Lamb of God (EWTN Library)

Kneeling and genuflection, Catholic Encyclopedia

We encourage everyone to print or email copies of this web page to all the Bishops and all the clergy. Also, email or send this web page to the news media and as many people as possible.

"My children, My little humble children, I appeal to you as your Mother, go forward on foot, knock on the doors; bring the light to your brothers and sisters. For those who have been given great grace, much is expected of them." - Our Lady of the Roses, May 26, 1976

"As disciples of the latter days, My children, much shall be asked of you, but I assure you: all that you give in faith and charity shall be returned to you threefold." - Jesus, June 1, 1978

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