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The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, has restored its Communion rails. (photo: Courtesy of National Shrine of The Divine Mercy)
By Joseph Pronechen, National Catholic Register, April 6, 2025
Joseph Pronechen is staff writer with the National Catholic Register since 2005 and before that a regular correspondent for the paper. His articles have appeared in a number of national publications including Columbia magazine, Soul, Faith and Family, Catholic Digest, Catholic Exchange, and Marian Helper. …
A growing number of Catholic parishes in the U.S. are restoring altar rails, renewing reverence and transforming the faithful’s experience of the Holy Eucharist.
Every Sunday at St. Anne Church in Richmond Hill, Georgia, the Hilleary family — mother Michelle, father Brian and five children — receives Communion at the altar rail.
“It creates a more sacred space. And it draws your attention to the sacred,” Michelle Hilleary told the Register.
“It sets apart the sanctuary,” observed her 15-year-old daughter, Malia.
That wasn’t always the case.
When St. Anne’s was built in 2016, there was no Communion rail. Today, a redwood altar rail — installed in July 2024 — now surrounds the sanctuary.
St. Anne’s is among churches new and old returning these altar rails for the reverent reception of Communion. …
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