New Translation - orans position?

[DaveBj]

Point of information: is the orans position a specific position of the hands, with the palms pointing in a specified direction, the fingers held in a certain way, etc.? Because if the orans position is a defined hand position, and the laity are holding their hands in some other way, they cannot be said to be imitating priestly gestures.

(Not that this would affect me in one way or another; I am a hand-folder.)

 

[thistle]

It doesn’t say take off your pants and dance around like a leprechaun either. So are you going to do that next Sunday then??

Not the clown Mass thing again!!!

The priest doesn’t currently do that either!

We are talking here about real arm postures which are used by the priest and whether they are permitted to be used by the priest only or also by the faithful at Mass. What does your comment have to do with that.

 

[FAB]

The problem is that although they say it is not prescribed they do not say it is forbidden which causes confusion.
I really don’t understand. It would be very simple to say in the GIRM that the faithful should not adopt the orans or half-orans position, or hand holding during the Lord’s Prayer. Then everyone would be clear on this.
Some might argue that the GIRM states what to do therefore by default anything else is not allowed. That would be fine except in the case of the Lord’s Prayer the GIRM does not say what the faithful should do.
Surely a simple instruction in the GIRM would sort all this out and avoid the thousands of heated arguments we have in these forums over this.

The bottom line always comes to the statement that the priest may not add or take from liturgy or words to that extent. The orans position by the people is or the people and was started and continues with out any instruction from the clergy. The Bishops in their collected wisdom with the revisions of the missal and in the GIRM decided not to address the practice which is a form of approval. There are specific gestures for the laity in the GIRM, but it also does not prevent the faithful from using reasonable guessers which add to the worship as well as personal devotional act.
The answer is if one does not want to do it , just keep your hands in prayer, be Christian and stop complaining how others wish to express their praise the the Lord.