Now On YouTube: Bishop Tod Brown Refuses To Give Holy Communion To A Kneeling Woman

This video was first widely seen through The Cafeteria Is Closed blog under title: Mean Tod Brown

It may be productive to share it again here, as some people may not have seen it before.

Here is the description of the event as provided by the kneeling woman:

I was sitting on the side of the Church, 3rd row, where Bishop Tod Brown distributed the Holy Eucharist, (in the video, I am the woman with short brown hair and glasses, wearing a black sweater and long white skirt sitting on the opposite side (from the camera) of the aisle in the center of the church) and upon approaching the Bishop to receive, I genuflected, out of reverence for the Sacred Species and remained on one knee to receive the Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Brown refused to give me Holy Communion. Bishop Brown said, “You need to stand up”.

I was in shock and didn’t move or respond. He then reached out and took hold of my folded hands, attempting to physically pull me to a standing position, and said more sternly, “You need to stand.”

I looked up and whispered, quietly and respectfully, “Please, bishop”, and he then grabbed my arm, and pulled me, as though to physically pull me up to a standing position (although obscured, you can see where he bends down and extends his right arm to grab mine) as he stated more loudly, “Get up”.

Still on one knee, I then asked very quietly and with genuine ignorance, “Why?”

As he stood up straight he responded, very loudly and sternly, “Because THAT’S the way we receive communion. Now, GET UP, you’re causing a scene.’

You can also see the video here: Bishop Tod Brown Refuses Holy Communion To A Kneeling Woman

The event is also described in the Open Letter to Tod Brown, Bishop of Orange

Comments

[Joey]

Joe I believe that receiving communion in the hand was a the norm for most of the life of the early church. In a text of St. Cyril of Jerusalem's fifth Mystagogic Catechesis (21f), which he preached to
neophytes in 348 A.D., in which he counsels the faithful to "place your left
hand as the throne of your right one, which is to receive the King [in Holy
Communion]" (apudL'Osservatore Romano. English edition of June 14, 1973, p.
6). This Father of the Church further counsels great care for any Fragments
which might remain on one's hands. It doesn't bother me one bit to see people receive kneeling, standing, on the tongue, in the hand, or by intinction. The USCCB offers this catechesis on the posture of standing: Each posture we assume at Mass underlines and reinforces the meaning of the action in which we are taking part at that moment in our worship. Standing is a sign of respect and honor, so we stand as the celebrant who represents Christ enters and leaves the assembly. This posture, from the earliest days of the Church, has been understood as the stance of those who are risen with Christ and seek the things that are above. When we stand for prayer we assume our full stature before God, not in pride, but in humble gratitude for the marvelous thing God has done in creating and redeeming each one of us. By Baptism we have been given a share in the life of God, and the posture of standing is an acknowledgment of this wonderful gift. We stand for the Gospel, the pinnacle of revelation, the words and deeds of the Lord, and the bishops of the United States have chosen standing as the posture to be observed in this country for the reception of Communion, the sacrament which unites us in the most profound way possible with Christ who, now gloriously risen from the dead, is the cause of our salvation.

The confusion about kneeling to receive communion is perpetuated by the followers of Mother Angelica and EWTN. The U.S. bishops have made a decision about standing yet the Angelicites refuse to obey the bishop's instruction. So it seems to me.

[Colleen]

All the changes in liturgy, and the fact the priest had to get permission to say the Traditional Latin Mass, has caused me to be suspicious.

The Holy Sacrament of the Mass was said in Latin. Latin was the Universal language of the church, and any Catholic could go anywhere and know what was going on because they could follow their missle in their own lanquage. Now each their own.

Anyway the manner in which we worshiped was how we believed. The Holy sacrifice of the Mass was about Christ being the sacrifice for
our sins. We knelt before and during communion because we believed in the very real presence of Christ.

Anyway I practiced how I was taught, and I felt grounded in the traditions and practices
of my faith, now I am confused either the Mass was Holy and no priest should ever have had to get permission to say it
and if it was why all the changes, and why
does it seem that we worship more like the protestants.