Kneelers are mandated by liturgical law in the West.
The laity at Mass are not bound by any specific rubrics. There simply are none. They may stand, kneel, sit, as they please. Certainly, no one should feel guilty for not kneeling on account of painful knees! No bishop has the right to mandate (as many have done) that people NOT kneel at the Ecce Agnus Dei or after Communion.
So are you trying to tell me that before Vatican II, the laity wasn't expected to kneel at the consecration? They could "do as they pleased"?