Laity raising right arm in blessing

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johnnykins:
I don’t know. But since anything seems to go, I suggest that the entire congregation engage in the “Wave” beginning at the right front of the church, going around the church 3 times (to honor the Trinity) and ending in 3 “hooah” cheers to demonstrate our siblinghood with an extended passing of the Peace. Milk and honey service to conclude.
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This may be the funniest post I’ve ever read.

Peace.
John Ennis
 
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chicago:
I don’t see why priests can’t just say, “I invite you to join me in prayer” to the congregation, without having to ask everybody to extend a hand in “blessing”. This would accomplish the same thing and since the priest does stand in the place of the congregation (as well as Christ) he is effectively joining us, anyway via his blessing. That solves all.
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our priest said " please bow your heads and pray …"
 
My parish does the hand raising blessing thing too. I wasn’t wild about it. I guess my intuition was correct. 😦
 
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Celia:
My parish does the hand raising blessing thing too. I wasn’t wild about it. I guess my intuition was correct. 😦
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This sounds like a Charismatic gesture. If you go into Pentecostal or Charismatic services, this is often how the congregation joins in prayer especially if for someone or a group in particular. It’s a sign of unity of prayer.

I’m not saying it’s appropriate for a Catholic Rite, I’m too new to this. 🙂
 
my understanding is that as a general rule in the latin rite, liturgical prayers and blessings proper to a layman are done with the hands palms-together (normal prayer stance) and extended hands, gesturing, and the orans (arms outstretched, priest’s “our father” position) are reserved to clergy.
 
My parish did this for the Candidates and at the First Scrutiny for the Elect. It wasn’t done at the Seond Scrutiny.

It seemed a little foreign to me, but I thought it might be symbolic of the entire parish reaching out to pray for those being addressed.

I wish I had that RCIA book six months ago.
 
Jeanette L:
This sounds like a Charismatic gesture. If you go into Pentecostal or Charismatic services, this is often how the congregation joins in prayer especially if for someone or a group in particular. It’s a sign of unity of prayer.
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Yes, I would agree. Also a sort of an extention in “praying over” people by a “laying on of hands”.
 
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MrS:
our priest said " please bow your heads and pray …"
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Whch is what I think is most appropriate. And what I often end up doing while everybody else throws their arm up in the air to have Scotty beam up their cosmic energy to get transferred to the priest and people getting blessed.
 
sigh…we do this too, in fact the whole scrunties rite…looks different this year.
  1. We have the dialogue reading of the gospels.
  2. The priest will place his hands on their heads, then
    Sister will go behind the priest, and do the same thing…
    placing her hands on their heads…then they turn, and
    the sponsers, follow suit with the laying on of hands.
  3. The priest ask us to raise and extend own hands, as
    he prays.
 
Andrea -

I feel your pain. We recently moved, but the parish we used to belong to sounds a lot like yours. My husband and I were actually confirmed there, and during the RCIA scrutinies, not only did the congregation extend their hands in blessing (something that parish does a lot of), but people sitting near us were “invited” to lay hands on us in blessing as well. I might have been more upset about the whole thing, if it weren’t for the fact that I was in my first trimester and was dizzy/nauseous/generally incapacitated most of the time. After we had moved, I realized that the only thing to do is to pray that the people in power in the parish recognize the error of their ways.

God Bless,
Mary Jo
 
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johnnykins:
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frommi:
What’s uncharitable is to make arguments like yours that twist logic and lead to divisions in the Church.
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Woo hoo…now I have enough power to lead to divisions in the church…

Let’s be realistic…thinking that extending hands in blessing is not a bad thing, or done with bad intentions is not what leads to divisions in the church.

But I feel quite gratified to know that I carry such weight on an internet message board
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Andrea, I’m glad you started this thread. This happened at my parish, and I held out my arm, thinking it was part of the rite, but I looked back behind me at my friend, who is very knowledgeable about what you are/aren’t supposed to do at Mass, and I noticed she wasn’t holding her arm out. I asked her about it, and she shook her head and said it was a Protestant gesture and not part of the rite.
This is one thing I hadn’t seen addressed or discussed in any of the Catholic publications I read, which is why I was ignorant on the subject, as I’m sure many others are. It’s a shame we can’t safely assume any more that what’s being done in the liturgy is correct.
 
For Pete’s sake ! Just because it isnt strictly prohibted doesnt mean you can do it. Do whats written there! If the Vatican was to list ever little insignigicant liturgical abuse to include on the ‘What not to do’ portion of the GIRM, St Pius V would have started it and we would still be working on it.

Take the GIRM as a literal document and apply it thats all. Same liberals make the argument about abortion in the US Constitution as a ‘living document’ and ‘it isnt prohibited’.
 
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johnnykins:
I don’t know. But since anything seems to go, I suggest that the entire congregation engage in the “Wave” beginning at the right front of the church, going around the church 3 times (to honor the Trinity) and ending in 3 “hooah” cheers to demonstrate our siblinghood with an extended passing of the Peace. Milk and honey service to conclude.
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I don’t know whether to :rotfl: or :crying: But God Bless you for this quote!
 
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A.Pelliccio:
For Pete’s sake ! Just because it isnt strictly prohibted doesnt mean you can do it. Do whats written there! If the Vatican was to list ever little insignigicant liturgical abuse to include on the ‘What not to do’ portion of the GIRM, St Pius V would have started it and we would still be working on it.

Take the GIRM as a literal document and apply it thats all. Same liberals make the argument about abortion in the US Constitution as a ‘living document’ and ‘it isnt prohibited’.
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There’s nothing about scrutinies in the GIRM
 
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frommi:
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johnnykins:
Woo hoo…now I have enough power to lead to divisions in the church…

Let’s be realistic…thinking that extending hands in blessing is not a bad thing, or done with bad intentions is not what leads to divisions in the church.

But I feel quite gratified to know that I carry such weight on an internet message board
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Reread my comment - you don’t have the power - your arguments do:

“What’s uncharitable is to make arguments like yours that twist logic and lead to divisions in the Church.”

Arguments like the one you are making most certainly have led to divisions - some people think they or the priests can do anything in the Mass. You don’t think that nuns giving homilies has been divisive? You don’t think changing the words of consecration has been divisive? Read this thread - you can’t tell it’s divisive? Reread loads of the threads here and tell me there is no divisiveness due to the abuses of the liturgy - all of which are supported by arguments like yours.

What right do those who think like you have to make these innovations? Because they’re not prohibited??? Because they think they are not aliturgical - despite what others think?

People who think like you are tearing the very fabric of the Church. People who think like you are most uncharitable because you are unjustly tampering with things you have no right to tamper with. You are substituting your idea of what Mass should be for the Church’s. You are aggregating to yourself the right to do what you think is appropriate at the expense of the Church and everyone else.

No, these arguments you profer are dangerous, uncharitable and have torn at the fabric of the Church for too long.

Be sure, I’m not attacking you. I am attacking your arguments.
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johnnykins:
I don’t know. But since anything seems to go, I suggest that the entire congregation engage in the “Wave” beginning at the right front of the church, going around the church 3 times (to honor the Trinity) and ending in 3 “hooah” cheers to demonstrate our siblinghood with an extended passing of the Peace. Milk and honey service to conclude.
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LMAO! Good stuff there!
 
Yeah, my parish otherwise seems pretty orthodox and old fashioned but they do like their gestures. Orans or hand holding is the norm during the our father and the hand extended blessing was done both during the scrutinies and any time that the children leave for children’s liturgy.

It’s uncomfortable to do these gestures but just as uncomfortable not to when the entire congregation is participating in them. If not expressly prohibited and not something seriously odd and unorthodox, would this be a time to follow St. Augustine’s advice to St. Monica, ie. “When in Rome…”:confused:
 
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