Nobody folds their hands at mass anymore?

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Domnall said:
Religious congregations and orders that wear a scapular are known for lacing their hands underneath the scapular during Mass. They taught these gestures to the faithful.

Why anyone in the world would care that someone else’s hands at Mass weren’t folded “properly” is beyond me.
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This is what our faith has come to, micro-managing people’s hands. We all have so little else to worry about…

If someone tried to tell me how to hold my hands at Mass I would immediately suggest that they might like to take a long walk in the woods.

-Tim-
 
My wife and I fold our hands when in prayer and en route to partake of communion and return to our seats. 🙂
 
TimothyH said:
**This is what our faith has come to, micro-managing people’s hands. **We all have so little else to worry about…

If someone tried to tell me how to hold my hands at Mass I would immediately suggest that they might like to take a long walk in the woods.

-Tim-
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Sad isn’t it?

People are so concerned about what other people are doing. Why? 🤷

I just don’t get it.
 
I learned that while in grade school with Sister policing us at Mass.
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👍

I can relate. While going up and back from Holy Communion, I always do.
 
maryjk said:
Sad isn’t it?

People are so concerned about what other people are doing. Why? 🤷

I just don’t get it.
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People confuse piety and holiness. They think piety is holiness.

Holiness is a decrease in sin and an increase in virtue. Holiness is our primary vocation. Every person is called by God to be holy. Holiness is what we will be judged on.

People think genuflecting and making the sign of the cross, bowing to the altar, using holy water and chanting are what makes one holy but they are not. These are pious acts but they don’t make someone holy. Piety can help us by holy anb these can can even be acts of worship. There is nothing wrong with that. It is good to do these things. But they are not the same as holiness.

The path to holiness is detachment from self, cooperation with the grace we receive through frequent reception of the sacraments, the interior life of prayer and penance, and faithfulness to the small things which God places before us each day.

People confuse piety and holiness, and don’t understand which is more important.

-Tim-
 
Why does it matter?

What matters is what is in people’s hearts and minds when they pray. How they hold their hands is a very trivial matter, just an outward display. Do prayers mean more if a person is folding their hands? No, they don’t.

It doesn’t matter.
 
I realize not everyone can do this, for physical reasons (poor balance, crippled leg(s), etc. I don’t think it is necessary or required. I do think it is reverent, however.

I don’t think this is “micro-managing” however. This was a post from a Junior Member seeking the answer to his friend’s question.
 
Folded hands is a simple jesture to remind oneself to keep attention to what is going on.
Praying the rosary uses the hands to keep them busy so as not to distract the mind in prayer.
Folded hands mean attention of the body as well as the mind.

In addition it is done as an act of respect to being in God’s house, for he is holy, it helps us to remember that.

Nobody is criticising others if they don’t. But this is merely about why some do it. What is going on in the heart is reflected in our exterior postures. The same is reflected in kneeling and standing.

Just some thoughts.
 
I agree, it is a gesture of respect, reverence, as is genuflection, kneeling, etc… I am unable to kneel unless in a pew where I can grab the back of the pew in front of me to get up again due to a crippled leg. At our Parish Center, we have folding chairs and no kneelers. So, when some kneel on the carpet (over a concrete flooring), I stand, with my hands in an attitude of prayer to indicate my reverence. I tried kneeling there once (as several other handicapped persons did), but we found we were unable to get up again unless someone else (or two!) in the row helped us up! So, we now stand reverently. Those who cannot stand for more than a moment or two, sit, with their hands clasped in an attitude of prayer. All are acceptable, so long as it is reverent and respectful.
 
judynurse said:
I realize not everyone can do this, for physical reasons (poor balance, crippled leg(s), etc. I don’t think it is necessary or required. I do think it is reverent, however.

I don’t think this is “micro-managing” however. This was a post from a Junior Member seeking the answer to his friend’s question.
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Thank you for answering and understanding my question.

Wow, what a can of worms I seemed to have opened! Never said I was worried or cared or was “so concerned” what others were doing or that ALL Catholics do or don’t do this or that it was somehow pious or holy or right or wrong. Just responding to a passing comment from a friend (a non-Catholic btw) and wondering if there was a time during mass when it is appropriate to have hands folded. Sorry I came here to even ask!

A friend made a comment that sparked a minor curiosity that’s all.
 
Wow, there are a lot of people on here attacking the OP. It sounded like he was just asking a question, and everyone comes at him with the “you shouldn’t be watching other people at Mass” rebuttal. It didn’t sound like he was denigrating people who don’t fold their hands, but was rather just finding out if there was a proper posture during Mass. And note that it was a friend of his that pointed this out to him, so it wasn’t like he was sitting at Mass staring at everyone condemning them for bad hand placement.

So, to actually answer the OP’s question, there are no set rubrics for how one must hold his hands during Mass, as long as one is not doing anything distracting (waving them around aimlessly is probably not recommended). And no, it’s not a universal thing, but just varies from parish to parish. Who knows, you may even notice a difference between a daily Mass and a Sunday Mass at the same parish.
 
larsont7 said:
Wow, there are a lot of people on here attacking the OP. It sounded like he was just asking a question, and everyone comes at him with the “you shouldn’t be watching other people at Mass” rebuttal. It didn’t sound like he was denigrating people who don’t fold their hands, but was rather just finding out if there was a proper posture during Mass. And note that it was a friend of his that pointed this out to him, so it wasn’t like he was sitting at Mass staring at everyone condemning them for bad hand placement.

So, to actually answer the OP’s question, there are no set rubrics for how one must hold his hands during Mass, as long as one is not doing anything distracting (waving them around aimlessly is probably not recommended). And no, it’s not a universal thing, but just varies from parish to parish. Who knows, you may even notice a difference between a daily Mass and a Sunday Mass at the same parish.
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THANK YOU!!! 👍
 
larsont7 said:
So, to actually answer the OP’s question, there are no set rubrics for how one must hold his hands during Mass, as long as one is not doing anything distracting (waving them around aimlessly is probably not recommended). And no, it’s not a universal thing, but just varies from parish to parish. Who knows, you may even notice a difference between a daily Mass and a Sunday Mass at the same parish.
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It’s also not a universal thing in the sense that other sui iuris Churches don’t necessarily consider the folding of one’s hands to be an explicit sign of respect or reverence. For example, in some of the Eastern Churches, one’s hands being at their side is a sign of preparedness to combat Satan.

Anyway, I don’t really think the holding of one’s hands gauges their respect. Many people also do not fold their hands anymore at their place setting at table. I don’t think that necessarily means they’re being disrespectful, just that society has perhaps moved away from the gesture’s usage.
 
[edited]Some men seem unsure whether to just nod at me or shake hands at meeting them as they would do with another man. Not sure why. That’s why I said “wonder why?” I guess they sometimes feel awkward with their hands, whereas women can usually be holding onto a purse or a child. Different ways from when I grew up during WWII. If you were born in the 60’s or later, perhaps you don’t see the problem,[edited] especially since you are a guy, not an old lady like me.
 
[edited] What I’m trying to express is that women use their hands more, particularly in talking. For instance, many people say (truly or not) that Italians are more expressive with their hands when talking. So am I. Most women use expressive gestures more when speaking – especially to one another – than men are in general. The discussion on the thread is whether folding the hands during Mass is habitual in many communities, although not required. Those of us who grew up in the Church, pre-Vatican II, are more likely to have been trained in this way. Most men are less expressive with their hands in public (politicians and salesmen excepted - LOL). They are more reserved in mixed company. Women, on the other hand, are more expressive with their hands in public, because we grew up being that way, having learned from watching our mothers, aunts, grandmas, who did so.
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I always fold my hands at Mass, it’s an ancient sign of respect during an attitude of prayer. Pictorial representations of people at prayer going back a good thousand years shows that this has been the custom.

Locally, few at church do this though except the priests, deacons and some servers during Mass. I found that others started to fold their hands too through example at Mass. Some people feel self-conscious about it but if they see others doing it, some will start also - this goes for guys also. I fold my hands too when walking out for Communion.
 
TimothyH said:
The path to holiness is detachment from self, cooperation with the grace we receive through frequent reception of the sacraments, the interior life of prayer and penance, and faithfulness to the small things which God places before us each day.
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FWIW, some other languages use the same word for saint and holy.
 
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