www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Problem With Pews

Actually, I have been to Fr. Rutler's parish and he has had some icon murals installed. For all of his Roman mindset, he is very patristically-oriented.
In the Latin rite, the periods for kneeling were briefer than they now are in the United States. One knelt on the floor, men perhaps on one knee. I have seen handkerchiefs used to keep one's knee clean.
I lived in Poland for a while. Services were crowded, crowds even poured outside the front door. In those instances, only the elderly sat (on a smaller number of seats with kneelers provided than in the new built churches) inside the church, most people stood.
Who says there is no kneeling in the East? I go to a pewless church and there are occasions when there are full metanie (kow-tows). The West Coast is so influenced by the original Russian praxis that the two Antiochian churches in my metropolitan area are pewless!
However, if pews were removed from nave-shaped churches, there would be way, way too much room. On the plus side, when building new churches, they do not have to be so large if there are no pews. One wonders what an added, unnecessary expense pews are, both in their cost and in the additional space required to house them.

Point for Consideration:

Kneeling has different meanings in the East and West.

In the East kneeling is a sign of repentance. One kneels and prostrates during Lent because it is a time to focus on repentance. One stands on Sundays because of the joy of the Resurrection.

In the West kneeling is a sign of humility before the Lord. One shows humility before the greatness of the Lord by falling to his knees.