LOTH prayed in public without a priest or deacon

[Red_James]

I have been praying the LOTH with family and friends on solemn occasions in our home. We have tried our best to follow the Rites for Celebration in Common (Chapter 5) of the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours. I have several questions which Chapter 5 of the instructions fails to mention some of my questions.
I am going to assume that when the Our Father is recited at Morning and Evening Prayer that the lay leader has his hands folded (not in the orans posture)?
At the end of the hours, when the Concluding Prayer is read/sung, does the lay leader say the words “Let us Pray” before reciting the prayer? Secondly, what would be the correct posture for the lay presider when he says the prayer? Would his hands be folded or would he extend his hands (the orans posture)?

 

[pianistclare]

A bowed head or folded hands is fine. WHen we pray it in the office we just sit around a table and pray.
You should not obsess over this. Just PRAY.

 

[OraLabora]

If the Our Father is recited, you do not say “let us pray” before the collect. The Our Father and collect are one prayer.

 

[OraLabora]

Those conclusions for morning and evening prayer are for celebration with a priest or deacon.

 

[JohnLilburne]

“At the end of the hours, when the Concluding Prayer is read/sung, does the lay leader say the words “Let us Pray” before reciting the prayer?”

My understanding is that the lay leader does say these words. In the Divine Office (approved in 1973 for England) it has on page “[8]”.

“The concluding prayer is prefixed with Let us pray when said at The Office of Readings, Prayer During the Day and Night Prayer. At Morning and Evening Prayer it is said after the Lord’s Prayer, without introduction.”

So, depending on the prayer, it is said or not said. But there is no suggestion that it is said, or not said, depending on whether there is a lay leader or an ordained leader.

On page “[14]” of this book it gives the different blessings, depending on whether the leader is lay or ordained.

“Secondly, what would be the correct posture for the lay presider when he says the prayer? Would his hands be folded or would he extend his hands (the orans posture)?”

My understanding is that the orans posture is not mentioned in the General Introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours (GILH). It is mentioned in Ceremonial of Bishops, Part III, “Liturgy of the Hours and Celebrations of the Word of God.”

“205 The Lord’s Prayer is sung or said by all, and, if the bishop so decides without an introductory invitation.
With hands outstretched, the bishop sings or says the concluding prayer. All reply, Amen.”

In the Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest (2 June 1988 Congregation for Divine Worship) it has:

“39. A layperson who leads the assembly acts as one among equals, in the way followed in the liturgy of the hours when not presided over by an ordained minister, and in the case of blessings when the minister is a layperson (“May the Lord bless us . . .”; “Let us praise the Lord . . .”). The layperson is not to use words that are proper to a priest or deacon and is to omit rites that are too readily associated with the Mass, for example, greetings - especially “The Lord be with you” - and dismissals, since these might give the impression that the layperson is a sacred minister.” Footnote 33: See GILH, no. 258: DOL 426, no. 3688; see also The Roman Ritual, Book of Blessings, nos. 48, 119, 130, 181.”

(DOL is a book Documents on the Liturgy 1963-1979, which includes the GILH.)

Book of Blessings n. 130 is a blessing for a married couple. It has “A lay minister concludes the rite by signing himself or herself with the sign of the cross and saying …”. This contrasts with n. 129 “A minister who is a priest or deacon concludes the rite by first blessing the couple and saying, with hands outstretched toward them.” There are also different prayers for the lay minister.

So what is the correct posture for a lay leader for the concluding prayer? The instructions are not particularly clear. But my interpretation would be not to use the orans posture, since there is not direction to do so in the GILH. It is not clear that the instruction to do it in the Ceremonial of Bishops applies to a lay leader.

 

[Red_James]

The thing which I was referring to, which I incorrectly named as the concluding prayer, was the Collect that precedes right before the Conclusion. My question was about the posture for the Collect for a layman. I apologize for my ignorance on the terminology.

 

[porthos11]

I have been praying the LOTH with family and friends on solemn occasions in our home. We have tried our best to follow the Rites for Celebration in Common (Chapter 5) of the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours. I have several questions which Chapter 5 of the instructions fails to mention some of my questions.
I am going to assume that when the Our Father is recited at Morning and Evening Prayer that the lay leader has his hands folded (not in the orans posture)?
At the end of the hours, when the Concluding Prayer is read/sung, does the lay leader say the words “Let us Pray” before reciting the prayer? Secondly, what would be the correct posture for the lay presider when he says the prayer? Would his hands be folded or would he extend his hands (the orans posture)?

At Morning and Evening Prayer, the words “Let us pray” are never said, regardless of who is presiding. For those Hours, the leader goes straight to the closing Collect. “Let us pray” is said at the Office of Readings, Daytime Prayer, and Night Prayer.

Laity always say the collect with hands folded.

 

[JohnLilburne]

So what is the correct posture for a lay leader for the concluding prayer? The instructions are not particularly clear. But my interpretation would be not to use the orans posture, since there is not direction to do so in the GILH. It is not clear that the instruction to do it in the Ceremonial of Bishops applies to a lay leader.

Some additional parts from the Ceremonial of Bishops which make a stronger case for the lay person not using the orans posture:
Chapter 4 of the Ceremonial of Bishops is titled “General Norms”. It has near the beginning of the chapter “Before describing the individual rites, it seems advisable to state some general norms that have proved valid by long use and that should be followed”. Section V is headed “POSITION OF THE HANDS”. It begins:
“Raised and outstreched hands
104. Customarily in the Church a bishop or presbyter addresses prayers to God while standing and with hands slightly raised and outstreched. …”
Another part of this is:
“Joined hands
107. Unless the bishop is holding the pastoral staff, he keeps his hands joined: [footnote 80. “Hands joined” means: “Holding the palms sideward and together before the breast, with the right thumb crossed over the left” (Caeremoniale Episcoporum, ed. 1886, I, XIX, 1) when, vested, he walks in procession for the celebration of a liturgy; when he is kneeling at prayer; when he moves from altar to chair or from chair to altar; when the liturgical books prescribe joined hands.
Similarly, concelebrants and ministers keep their hands joined when walking from place to place or when standing, unless they are holding something.”
So the orans posture is described as for a bishop or priest (i.e. presbyter). And the default position, when standing without holding something, is hands joined.