Aleteia logoAleteia logoAleteia
Friday 27 December |
Saint of the Day: St. John the Apostle
Aleteia logo
Spirituality
separateurCreated with Sketch.

Why do we kneel down to pray?

WEB3 PRAYING KNEELING CHURCH WOMAN shutterstock_209855863

gabriel12/Shutterstock

Jacques Gauthier - published on 03/24/17

A gesture of adoration and penance that requires a certain humility

Help Aleteia continue its mission by making a tax-deductible donation. In this way, Aleteia's future will be yours as well.

Donate with just 3 clicks

*Your donation is tax deductible!

When we pray on our knees, the body prostrates itself and the heart surrenders itself.

This attitude of prayer, particularly appropriate in this time of Lent, expresses submission to God, obedience to his will, adoration, humility and penance. It reflects an attitude of faith, par excellence.

How much the saints have been taught on their knees before the Blessed Sacrament!

To pray on our knees is to communicate an attitude. As with any bodily gesture or posture, the act of kneeling before God says something. The body communicates a message.

To place ourselves on our knees is to “speak” adoration and penance, which requires a certain humility. Humility is a fundamental attitude for prayer; in humility we accept our condition as creatures, placing ourselves before him, awaiting him, aware of our complete dependence upon him for our very existence.

This attitude makes us more free, because it situates us in the truth of our human finiteness.

We recognize that God is everything for us and that without his merciful love, we are, literally, nothing.

To be on our knees, near the floor, somehow nourishes this attitude of humility (humus) and of interior stillness, so essential for adoration.

Adoration, proskynein in Greek, calls for a posture of kneeling and prostrating oneself. To bend our knees before God is to recognize humbly that everything comes from him.

It communicates the prayer of the Prophet Daniel (6:11): “Even after Daniel heard that this law [against praying to God] had been signed, he continued his custom of going home to kneel in prayer and give thanks to his God in the upper chamber three times a day, with the windows open toward Jerusalem.”

Tags:
CatholicismPrayer
Aleteia exists thanks to your donations

Help us to continue our mission of sharing Christian news and inspiring stories. Please make a donation today! Take advantage of the end of the year to get a tax deduction for 2024.

2025-Aleteia-Pilgrimage-300×250-1.png
Daily prayer
And today we celebrate...




Top 10
See More
Newsletter
Get Aleteia delivered to your inbox. Subscribe here.