While reading through many different Catholic works, certain ideas and words often make me say, "Wow! That's pretty cool!" I had a moment like this a few days ago when reading the following from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Number 275. So I thought to myself, "Why not post it on my blog? I'm sure other people would be interested in hearing this as well." And now I will post this on my blog for you:
A bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them...
A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.
When I came to the seminary, I was told that it is a pious practice to bow your head when these names were spoken, but I had never known that this was outlined in the GIRM. I think this is pretty awesome. And I know that most Catholics have never heard this. We bow, genuflect, and perform other gestures to give an outward sign to an inner belief; when we genuflect to Jesus in the tabernacle, we show Jesus that we believe he is there and he deserves our recognition and reverence. When we bow our heads at the name of Jesus, the Trinity, Mary or a Saint, we show them a special devotion and honor.
It is important to not forget why we make the sign of the cross, why we genuflect, why we bow, why we fold our hands and why we perform the actions we do. I have heard many people say that they never received a proper catechisis on the Liturgy of the Mass. I offer you the GIRM as a good starting point; if you've ever wondered what happens at a certain time in the liturgy, or why we do it, check out the GIRM and start learning! Another good book for this purpose is the Catechism of the Catholic Church (both are free online, too!). These aren't necessarily works that you will read cover-to-cover, but you can if you want.