After the 40 penitential days of Lent, the Catholic Church enters into the liturgical season of Easter, where joy and celebration is stressed above all else.
This spirit can be seen in certain small liturgical directives that help each Rite in the Catholic Church focus on the jubilation we should have in the light of the Resurrection.
One example is the way many Eastern Catholic Churches (as well as Orthodox Christians) deal with kneeling during Easter (also called the Paschal season).
No kneeling or prostrations
As a general rule, it is not customary to kneel during the consecration of the Eucharist in many Eastern Churches, because in the Byzantine culture, kneeling was associated with penance, not adoration.
Here is one simple description of the practice from a Byzantine church:
We are standing with our Resurrected and Glorified Lord and this is our proper liturgical sign of being united with Christ as one body. There is no disrespect in standing. Kneeling is considered penitential. We only kneel at certain services during Lent, such as during our Liturgies of the Presanctified Gifts.
While this practice may sound strange to Roman Catholics, it is completely acceptable and is in accord with the culture of Eastern Catholicism. Standing and bowing during the Divine Liturgy is as reverent as kneeling is in a Roman Rite Church.
The season of Easter goes even a step further, forbidding any type of kneeling in any public liturgy or personal prayer until the celebration of Pentecost.
Here's how one Orthodox church explains it:
Sunday is the day of Resurrection, and we stand to honor Christ’s victory over death. We also don’t prostrate from Pascha (Easter) through Pentecost. That’s 50 days of no kneeling, no prostrations. The early Church decided this at the First Council of Nicaea. During that season, we’re celebrating the Resurrection so completely that even our bodies express joy.
Interestingly, the Roman Catholic Church has a similar directive when it comes to the Litany of Saints. Whenever the litany is said or sung at Mass (such as at the Easter Vigil, or during ordinations that occur in the Easter season), everyone is supposed to stand. Normally the congregation would kneel during the recitation of the litany. It's a small directive, but one that is in keeping with the spirit of the Easter season.
Easter is a season to rejoice, and standing during prayer is one way to remind ourselves of this simple reality.
