Our Father posture

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No, that is not the proper posture for the faithful.

This is not something that is determined at the parish level.

Stand with your hands folded or holding your prayer book… if you cannot do that, simply put arms down, resting on the pew in front of you, etc.
 
Thank you Fr. David.
Most of our Parishioners assume the usual hands folded in prayer position.
 
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jgaw1234 said:
It seems to me that it entered the Church when there was a large conversion of Episcopalians coming in over homosexuality in the Anglican church. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely happy for their company int the liturgy but some things got transferred that shouldn’t have.
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I’ve heard it came from the Catholic Charismatic Movement, which makes more sense to me. Episcopalians run the range from low church to high church. Regardless of where they fall I do not see them doing this. In the Protestant world this would be more of a Pentecostal thing.
 
Why unfortunate?

If you don’t want to hold hands don’t.

I have never had anyone not accept the fact that I may not want to hold hands. No one has ever grabbed my hand and forced me (I hear that often on CAF). This is such a non-issue.

We, especially in the US Church, have much bigger fish to fry, I’m not sure why this is even on the radar.
 
Our postures are part of our prayer. The Altar Servers are there to help us know what position to take during each part of the Mass 🙂
 
It doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things.

The only thing we as lay people should not do is imitate the postures of the priest.
 
Technically, what most people are doing is not the orans position, although I would suppose there are some that indeed do so. But the rubric is that the priest extends his hands out to the side, and notice that they do so with their palms outward and their fingertips pointing somewhat upwards–think praying over someone or blessing them.
Most of the laity I’ve noticed have their arms with their elbows close to their sides and the palms facing upwards–think petitioning. This is also a pretty common form for prayer in many different religions.
Holding hands is definitely not confused with the orans position, and the only argument against that is that it is not folding the hands.
As a deacon, when I am on the altar, I fold my hands. When in the pew with my wife, we generally hold hands. As I told a priest once when discussing this–when your wife of over 35 years holds out her hand for you to take, you take it!
 
ajfrab said:
Most of the laity I’ve noticed have their arms with their elbows close to their sides and the palms facing upwards–think petitioning. This is also a pretty common form for prayer in many different religions.
Holding hands is definitely not confused with the orans position, and the only argument against that is that it is not folding the hands.
As a deacon, when I am on the altar, I fold my hands. When in the pew with my wife, we generally hold hands. As I told a priest once when discussing this–when your wife of over 35 years holds out her hand for you to take, you take it!
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I used to do what you describe - leave my elbows at my sides and cup my hands together (sort of like receiving Communion), palms up, right in front of me.
I stopped doing that in college, as did most of my family around that time.

Now, I just fold my hands in front of me if I am at Mass alone. But my husband likes to hold hands, so we do that when we are at Mass together. I prefer to keep my hands folded in front of me, but it’s really not a big deal and certainly not anything to cause a commotion over at Mass. I just wish the bishop would say something.
 
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Cecilia_Dympna said:
Don’t shout at me, I’m trying to understand. Why does it matter so much? Why does posture during the Our Father matter? Thank you.
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It matters because of the principle behind the action.

The orans gesture is specifically a priestly gesture. It’s worth nothing that in Catholic liturgy, the deacon is specifically prohibited from using this posture during the Mass.

This differs from the “hands folded” or “hands joined in prayer” gestures because neither of those gestures are reserved to the priest. Likewise, it is different from other postures people might assume, such as placing the hands on the back of the pew, or holding a missal, or standing with ones hands simply straight down, etc. etc.

The orans position is reserved to the one presiding—and at Mass that can only be a priest.

That’s what makes it different.
 
CilladeRoma said:
Why unfortunate?

If you don’t want to hold hands don’t.

I have never had anyone not accept the fact that I may not want to hold hands. No one has ever grabbed my hand and forced me (I hear that often on CAF). This is such a non-issue.

We, especially in the US Church, have much bigger fish to fry, I’m not sure why this is even on the radar.
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That certainly does happen in places.

So, for those places, it is an issue.

If it’s not being done where you are, so much the better. I’m happy to hear that. But do know that the posts claiming it happens are genuine.
 
CilladeRoma said:
It doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things.

The only thing we as lay people should not do is imitate the postures of the priest.
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Well, that’s exactly the point.

The orans posture is the posture that belongs only to the celebrant. It’s used a small number of times at Mass, and the Our Father is one of those time.
 
jgaw1234 said:
It seems to me that it entered the Church when there was a large conversion of Episcopalians coming in over homosexuality in the Anglican church. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely happy for their company int the liturgy but some things got transferred that shouldn’t have.

Their understanding of communion was in a community and fellowship while the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist in unity is that there is one sacrifice from East to West and we all partake of that one bread with one Creed.
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I don’t know about this … I started seeing it in the early 1990s.

I think it has much more to do with the Charismatic Movement
 
I think many use the orans posture simply out of ignorance and doing what they see their neighbor doing.
 
JamalChristophr said:
I think many use the orans posture simply out of ignorance and doing what they see their neighbor doing.
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Agreed. Sometimes I attend Evening Prayer before a 5:15 PM daily mass.

I always find it interesting to see the overwelming majority of people not using the orans posture during the Our Father at the Liturgy of the Hours, but then the same people use the orans posture during the Our Father at Mass.

If you always pray the Our Father (outside of Mass) using the orans posture, then I’m cool with you using it during mass. But if you don’t pray the using the orans posture outside of mass, why do it during mass?

🤔
 
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Next time you get on an elevator, stand facing away from the doors. Watch how other people react to you.
 
Cecilia_Dympna said:
Thank you for your replies. Why do some care so much over other people holding hands during the Our Father or shaking hands during the sign of peace. If you don’t want to, then don’t.
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Decorum. One could be excessively concerned about it but simply caring isn’t wrong.
 
I’ve personally had one time when someone got “upset over it”. Pastor instructed the Rel Ed teachers to instruct their RE students on the proper postures for Mass, including teaching the kids that Orans/Hand Holding during the Our Father was not the proper posture. Believe me, one parent got very upset!
 
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