Omne Genu Flectatur

“Every knee shall bend.” Phil. 2:10

The Movement of Nations for Kneeling

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Society of the Missionaries of Charity

“God love you for your sincere desire to see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament better known, more fervently loved, more humbly adored and more faithfully served throughout the world! I fully support any organization which has this as its aim, and I will be praying for you and all the intentions of The Movement of Nations for Kneeling.”

Ceremonial of Bishops, Nos. 68-72 p. 36-37

Kneeling “officially signifies adoration.”

Pope Saint Pius X

“One who waits for symbols and promises standing, but the Reality, one receives with love and on one’s knees.”

Pope Paul VI,
Mysterium Fidei, 1965, n.56

“The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers the worship of latria (adoration) to the Sacrament of the Eucharist.”

St. Augustine, In Ts, Ch.98, 9:PL 37, 12

“No one eats of this flesh without having first adored it and not only do we not sin by adoring but we would sin by not adoring.”

Pope Paul VI, Address of June 15, 1978

The worship of divine adoration must be given to Christ present in the Eucharist.

The Mission of This Movement Is Threefold

1. To restore and bring about increased, more humble and fervent adoration, reverence and love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist through receiving Holy Communion worthily, and in the best way possible, while kneeling and on the tongue. The communicant must of course, always be in a state of grace, having received absolution in the Sacrament of Penance.

2. To promote and defend kneeling at the appropriate times during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, especially during the Consecration.

3. To maintain and renew the venerable practise of genuflecting and kneeling “before the Blessed Sacrament, whether enclosed in a tabernacle or publicly exposed, as a sign of adoration…This act requires that it be performed in a recollected way. In order that the heart may bow before God in profound reverence, the genuflection must neither be hurried nor careless.” (S.C.S.D.W. Inaestimibile Donum, 1980, No. 26, approved by John Paul II)

This mission is to be wholeheartedly fulfilled in full communion with official Church guidelines, strong recommendations and intentions of Popes and the Saints, and long-established practise, throughout the Church. The models for perfection are Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mary, Patroness and Mother of this movement, and all the Holy Angels and Saints.

The great importance and need for the Church to fulfill this mission is very clear:

An explanation from recent literature

“On kneeling in the liturgy – If we attempt to banish or downplay the posture of kneeling we will be doing serious harm to an element integral to Catholic liturgy.” Jesus prayed while kneeling. Kneeling was, from Apostolic times, the general custom. In the Old and New Testaments it is the posture of the New Covenant, when all fall to adore God-with-us in Christ…the gesture which, as Isaiah had foretold, would greet the coming of God’s Kingdom. This posture signifies profound adoration. (A. Beards. Homiletic & Pastoral Review. Feb., 1992)

Kneeling and faith in the Eucharist

“Once more, the act of bending the knee before Jesus Christ is not just a relative act, or an act that is based on culture. Rather it transcends culture because it is an act that has scriptural, traditional, and cosmic significance…When Catholics ‘worship’ by ‘bending the knee’ in Eucharistic adoration, they strengthen belief in the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ In the Eucharist, for themselves and for the entire Church. And when they can and do not, they weaken it…Kneeling, as an act of latria (adoration) of Jesus Christ…testifies to all four fundamental doctrines better than the act of standing…if a person deliberately, and with full knowledge, discourages kneeling at the Consecration or genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament, he or she is ‘anathema'” C.T.(cf.n.878) (Fr. Scanlan, Homiletic & Pastoral Review. August, 1994)

Receiving Jesus this way is needed and best because:

1.  It emphasizes the uniqueness of this Holy Food as compared with ordinary food.
2.  It emphasizes the uniqueness of the ordained priest touching the Sacred Species.
3. It emphasizes the presence of Christ who is feeding his flock and fosters humility.
4.  It gives us a strong sense of identification with past Catholics and Saints who have received on the tongue from time immemorial.
5.  It minimizes the danger of the Host being dropped or ignored. Reduces sacrileges/abuses.
6.  It fosters a sense of unity in the Liturgy.
7.  It reaffirms the fact that Holy Orders is a Sacrament that ordains a man to the priesthood.
8.  It expresses complete obedience to the Church.(Challenge, Fr. F. Heuser, p.3-4, June 1992)

Pope John Paul II

“I did not revoke what one of my predecessors has said about this . . . my dear priests and my dear brothers and sisters, only Communion on the tongue and kneeling is allowed . . . I say this to you as your bishop! (Sermon, March 1,1989,SS Nome Di Maria Church)

On Communion in the hand: “There is an apostolic letter that the existence of this special permission is valid. But I tell you, that I am not in favor of it…neither will I recommend it!”
Nov. 1980,Germany (101 Times,Vol.4,No.2,1992,tel.908-689-8792,USA)

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“Self-knowledge puts us on our knees and it is very necessary for love.” – Total Surrender, p.30

“Further, it is the custom in our Society, and my known wish, that the Sisters receive Holy Communion on the tongue, which to my knowledge they are doing everywhere.” – India,1995

Pope Paul VI

The Church throughout centuries: To preserve and defend reverence, dignity and holiness due to the greatest treasure in the Church, only kneeling, not standing, to receive Holy Communion, always on the tongue, was allowed. “This method, ‘on the tongue’ must be retained.” – Memoriale Domini, 1969

St. Basil (330-379AD)

Considered Communion in the hand a “great fault.”

Council of Rouen (650AD)

Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layperson, but only in their mouths.

Council of Constantinople (695AD)

Prohibited the faithful from giving Communion to themselves.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-74)

“Out of reverence towards this Sacrament, nothing touches It but what is consecrated.”

(Summa,Pt.III,Q.82,Art.3)

S.C.S.D.W., Inaestimibile Donum,1980, No.11

“When the faithful communicate kneeling, no other sign of reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament is required, since kneeling itself is a sign of adoration.”

Eucharisticum Mysterium,1967,3f

“It should be absolutely clear that all the faithful show this Holy Sacrament the worship of adoration that is due to God Himself, as has always been the practice recognized in the Catholic Church.”

Conference of Catholic Bishops

According to the Novus Ordo, the people kneel not only during the Consecration, but also “beginning after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the prayer, that is before the Our Father.”

(U.S. Appendix to the G.I.R.M., No.21)

(Isiah 45:23)

“Every knee shall be bowed to me”

(Phil 2:10)

“As I live, saith the Lord, every knee must bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth”

Immensae Caritatis, S.C.D.W., 1973 Sec I, a., 1955

Liturgist: “Have you ever seen anyone receiving Holy Communion in the hand while kneeling? No. The posture of kneeling inclines the person to receive Communion on the tongue! It is the ordained priest’s privilege and task to give Holy Communion and to enter the tabernacle, and he should not abandon or lightly delegate this. We must stop the liturgical abuse of unnecessary extraordinary ministers where we don’t need them, under ordinary conditions.”

Akita, Approved by local bishop

Through stigmatist Sister Agnes’ wound, the nuns were led to abandon Holy Communion in the hand and to receive Jesus on the tongue and kneeling instead.

President, Women for Faith & Family

“Receiving Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling down is the traditional and most respectful way. These signs of respect would help us to bring back reverence…to focus on Jesus.” “The first step…is to return the tabernacle to its central place of honour over the altar.” (1995)

Clergy who ask congregations to kneel report: Returning to kneeling is actually reducing reception time by fifty percent in the parish!

Worldwide appeal for help to fulfill this mission

1. It is our great hope and prayer that all religious societies and orders, clergy, and laity will inspire and lead the entire Church, by God’s grace, in fulfilling this important mission. We appeal to all to help by prayer, example, and word and to invite everyone to do the same.
2. We invite all clergy and laity to ask and encourage the faithful to receive Holy Communion on the tongue and while kneeling; to come and kneel in a line or semi-circle in front of, along, and around the altar is the best proven and most efficient way, the common practise for centuries throughout the world.
3. We encourage the use and restoration of an elevated step, mat or floor padding, pews or kneelers, or communion rails, where needed.
4. Since this is a matter of ecclesiastical discipline, the practise of receiving Holy Communion in the hand can be rescinded in any diocese.
5. We ask all Cardinals, bishops, clergy, religious and lay persons in every nation to please make, distribute or write for copies of this document. Donations to cover costs are gratefully accepted. Accurate and faithful translations of this flyer are encouraged, available and can be reproduced in other languages to spread this movement to all peoples. We encourage all to establish local chapters and/or informal support networks.

Thank you very much. May God bless you, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for your diligent and generous response to this appeal to and for the good of the whole Church.

Angel’s Prayer

With the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air, the angel at Fatima prostrated himself, and recited this prayer:

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles throughout the world, in reparation for all the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. (Ecclesiastical approval: Fatima, 1930)

Verified to be free of theological errors by ecclesiastical authority

(December 11, 1995)

OMNE GENU FLECTATUR
The Movement of Nations for Kneeling
Worldwide Apostolate: P.O. Box 489, Station U
Toronto, ON, Canada M8Z 5Y8