Originally published at The Catholic Thing
I never thought about the “ontology” of processions, or whether a norm could permit its own violation, until I looked at Blaise Cardinal Cupich’s pastoral letter (here) from last week in which he appeared to forbid the faithful from kneeling to receive Communion, on the grounds that this would “disrupt the flow of the procession” and, contrary to the corporate spirit of Holy Communion, “call attention to oneself.”
The day after reading the letter I counted time during Communion. To receive standing, I found, takes on average 3 seconds, and kneeling 5 seconds. Therefore, if 100 faithful received and half of them knelt, less than two minutes would be added, which hardly seems a disruption.
A cavil, perhaps. For sheer process, I expect the old Communion rail cannot be bested.
But here’s where the ontology of processions enters in. Can the end point of a procession be a candidate for a disrupter of that procession? People are walking forward to receive, and I stick out my leg to trip someone, Then, yes. Chairs are placed in the aisle so that people must take a detour around. Also, yes. But suppose I receive standing, and I take the time necessary to
