II. Signs Of Reverence In General
68. With the bow you want to mean the reverence and honor to be paid to
people themselves or their images.
There are two kinds of bow: of the head and of the body.
- the bow of the head is made to the name of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints in whose honor the Mass or liturgy of the Mass is celebrated hours;
- the bow of the body, or deep bow, is made: at the altar, if there is no tabernacle with the ss. Sacrament; to the bishop; before and after the incensation, as noted below under n. 91; whenever it is expressly prescribed by the various liturgical books.
69. The genuflection, which is done by bending the right knee only to the ground, it means adoration, and therefore it is reserved to the ss. Sacrament, be it exposed, or placed in the tabernacle, and to the holy cross from solemn adoration in liturgical action. Friday evening "in the Lord's Passion", until the beginning of the Easter vigil.
70. Neither kneeling nor deep bowing are carried out by those who carry objects that are used for the celebration, for example the cross, the candlesticks, the book of the Gospels.
The reverence towards the ss. Sacrament
71. All those who enter the church do not neglect to worship the ss. sacrament chin, both going to the chapel of the ss. Sacramento, be it at least genuflecting.
Likewise all those who pass before the Ss. Sacramento genufletto- no, unless they progress processionally.
The reverence towards the altar
72. All those who enter the presbytery or depart from it, or pass healthy before the altar, greet the altar with a deep bow.
73. Furthermore, the celebrant and the concelebrants, as a sign of veneration kiss the altar at the beginning of the mass. The main celebrant, before moving away from the altar, as a rule he venerates him with a kiss, the others instead, especially if they are rather numerous, with due reverence.
In the celebration of praise and vespers solemnly presided over by the vo, he kisses the altar at the beginning, and, according to the opportunity, at the end.
However, if this gesture did not correspond fully to the traditions of the culture of a particular region, it is up to the episcopal conference end a gesture that replaces the kiss, informing the apostolic seat. |
