As is
evident from the Holy Scriptures, bows, kneeling and prostrations were employed
during prayer even in the Old Testament. The holy Prophet King David refers to bowing
down to God or to His temple in many of the psalms, for example: "Bow down
to the Lord in His holy court" (Ps. 28:2); "I shall bow down toward
Thy holy temple in fear of Thee" (Ps. 5:8); "O come, let us worship
and fall down before Him" (Ps. 94:6); "Let us go forth into His
tabernacles, let us bow down at the place where His feet have stood" (Ps.
131:7), etc.
About
kneeling, it is known that the holy Prophet Daniel, for example, thrice daily
"knelt upon his knees, and prayed and gave thanks before his God"
(Dan. 6:10). Full prostrations are also mentioned in the books of the Old
Testament. For example: the Prophets Moses and Aaron besought God, "having
fallen on their faces" (Numbers 16:22), to be merciful to the children of
Israel who had grievously sinned. In the New Testament also, the custom of
performing kneelings, prostrations and, of course, bows had been preserved and
still had a place at the time of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
sanctified this Old Testament custom by His own example, praying on bended
knees and failing down upon His face. Thus, we know from the Holy Gospels that
before His passion, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He "kneeled down, and
prayed" (Matt. 26:39), "fell on the ground and prayed" (Mark
14:35). And after the Lord's ascension, during the time of the holy apostles,
this custom, of which the Holy Scriptures also speak, existed unchanged. For
example, the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen "knelt down,"
and prayed for his enemies who were stoning him (Acts 7:60); the Apostle Peter,
before raising Tabitha from the dead, "knelt down, and prayed" (Acts
9:40), etc. It is an indisputable fact that, as under the first successors of
the apostles, so even in much later periods of the existence of the Church of
Christ, kneelings, bows and prostrations upon the ground were always employed
by true believers at domestic prayers and at the divine services. In antiquity,
among the other bodily activities, kneeling was considered the outward
manifestation of prayer most pleasing to God. Thus, St. Ambrose of Milan says:
"Beyond the rest of the ascetic labors, kneeling has the power to assuage
the wrath of God and to evoke His mercy" (Book VI on the Six Days of
Creation, ch. 9).
The
canons concerning bows and kneelings now accepted by the Orthodox Church and
set forth in the books of the divine services, and particularly in the Church
Typicon, are observed in monasteries. But in general, Orthodox Christian laymen
who have zeal are, of course, permitted to pray on their knees in church and to
make full prostrations whenever they wish, excepting only those times when the
Gospel, Epistle, Old Testament readings, six psalms and sermon are read. The
Holy Church lovingly regards such people, and does not constrain their devout feelings.
However, the exceptions with regard to Sundays and the days between Pascha and
Pentecost apply generally to everyone. According to ancient tradition and a
clear church law, kneeling must not be performed on these days. The brilliant
solemnity of the events which the Church commemorates throughout the period of
Pentecost and on Sundays precludes, in and of itself, any external
manifestation of sorrow or lamentation over one's sins: for ever since Jesus
Christ, "blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against
us, ... nailing it to His Cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers,
He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col.
2:14-15)—ever since then "there is, therefore, no condemnation to them who
are in Jesus Christ" (Rom. 8:1). For this reason, the practice was
observed in the Church from the earliest times, beyond a doubt handed down by
the apostles, whereby on all these days, in that they are consecrated to the
commemoration of the glorious victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death, it
was required to perform the public divine service brightly and with solemnity,
and in particular without kneeling, which is a sign of repentant grief for
one's sins. The second century writer Tertullian gives testimony concerning
this practice: "On the Lord's Day (i.e. Sunday) we consider it improper to
fast or to kneel; and we also enjoy this freedom from Pascha until
Pentecost" (On the Crown, ch. 3). St. Peter of Alexandria (3rd cent.—cf.
his Canon XV in the Rudder), and the Apostolic Constitutions (Book II, Ch. 59)
also say the same thing.
Subsequently,
the First Ecumenical Council found it necessary to make this legally binding by
a special canon obligatory for the entire Church. The canon of this council
states: "Since there are some persons who kneel in church on Sundays and
on the days of Pentecost, with a view to preserving uniformity in all parishes,
it has seemed best to the holy council for prayers to be offered to God while
standing" (Canon XX).
In Canon
XC of the Council of Trullo, held in conjunction with the Sixth Ecumenical
Council, we read: "We have received it canonical from our God-bearing
Fathers not to bend the knee on Sundays when honoring the resurrection of
Christ. Since this observation may not be clear to some of us, we are making it
plain to the faithful, that after the entrance of those in holy orders into the
sacrificial altar on the evening of the Saturday in question, let none of them
bend the knee until the evening of the following Sunday, when, following the
entrance after the lamps have been lit, again bending knees, we thus begin to
offer our prayers to the Lord. For, inasmuch as we have received it that the
night succeeding Saturday was the precursor of our Savior’s rising, we commence
our hymns at this point in a spiritual manner, ending the festival by passing
out of darkness into light, in order that we may hence celebrate the resurrection
together for a whole day and a whole night." John Zonaras, explaining the
canon, says: "Various canons have made it a law not to kneel on Sundays or
during the fifty days of Pentecost, and Basil the Great also supplied the
reasons for which this was forbidden. This canon decrees only with regard to
Sunday, clearly indicates from what hour and until hour to kneel, and says: ‘On
Saturday, after the entrance of the celebrants into the altar at vespers, no
one may bend the knee until vespers on Sunday itself, when, i.e., again the
entrance of the celebrants takes place: for we do not transgress by bending the
knee and praying in such a manner from that time on. For Saturday night is
considered the night of the day of resurrection, which, according to the words
of this canon, we must pass in the chanting of psalms, carrying the feast over
from darkness to light, and in such manner celebrate the resurrection for the
entire night and day" (Book of the Canons With Interpretations, p. 729).
There
appears in the Church Typicon a direction concerning how the priest must
approach and kiss the Gospel after reading it during the all-night vigil for
the resurrection: "Do not make prostrations to the ground, but small bows,
until the hand touches the ground. For on Sunday and feasts of the Lord and
during the entire fifty days between Pascha and Pentecost the knee is not
bent," (Typicon, ch. 2).
Nevertheless,
standing at the divine services on Sunday and on the days between Pascha and
Pentecost was the privilege of those who were in full communion with the
Church; but the so-called "penitents" were not dispensed from
kneeling even on those days.
We will
close with these words from the famous interpreter of the Church canons,
Theodore Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch: "Preserve the canonical decrees,
whereever and however they should be phrased; and say not that there are
contradictions among them, for the All-holy Spirit has worded them all"
(Interpretation of Canon XC of the Council of Trullo).
Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/kneeling.aspx
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