Bowing and genuflecting

The Name of Jesus and the Holy Trinity

Whenever the Name of Jesus is said or sung, we should always remember to bow our head.  We should also bow in honour of the Holy Trinity when we say the “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit”.  Bowing in this way is not only an outward act of reverence to God, but it actually helps to make us reverent in ourselves.

In the Creed: “and was incarnate”

We bow in the Nicene Creed at the words which tell how Our Lord left Heaven and brought himself down to our level by becoming Man (a Human Being).  In this way we show him how unworthy we are that he should have done this for us.

The altar and Blessed Sacrament

When we pass in front of an altar in a church, we bow as an act of reverence to Our Lord, because the altar is his Throne at the Eucharist.  But when Our Lord is present on the altar in the Blessed Sacrament, we genuflect, that is, we go down on one knee as an act of adoration.  And we also genuflect when we pass the place where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.