Q: For readers approaching the sanctuary in order to go to the ambo: They have already given either a profound bow or a genuflection when in the Entrance procession they approach the sanctuary before going to their pew. (They “mirror” what the presider does.) After the Collect, when the reader leaves his/her pew to approach the sanctuary in order to go to the ambo, do they again give a profound bow to the altar or a simple bow, or to the tabernacle if it is in the sanctuary?
When completing the reading, do they bow to the ambo, or the altar — profound bow or simple bow?
Some of our international presiders, even the Mexican and Filpino, are teaching the readers to make a profound bow to the altar, the presider and the tabernacle when approaching or leaving the ambo.
A: See my response here: http://paulturner.org/reverence-for-the-altar/
I understand this to mean that a reader leaving the pew and returning to the pew after the reading makes a profound bow to the altar and only to the altar each time. No reverences are made to the tabernacle during mass, and no reverences are ever made to the ambo.
The altar is the center of focus for the celebration of the mass. And by the way, the reader or deacon who holds the book of the gospels makes no reverence upon entering the sanctuary. He or she goes immediately to the altar and places the book there.