Okay, I could use some advice. My parish, which I live about five blocks from, is a bit over-zealous during the Our Father. Not only do people hold hands, but they actually attack you. They go across the aisles, between the pews from back to front, and into the the crying room. For a couple of reasons, some a bit personal, I am very uncomfortable with this practice and try to avoid it. In the past I have simply stood with my hands folded in front of me to pray. I felt this seemed natural and did not try to be offensive about things. I have also tended to stand up just a bit slowly, putting up my kneeler very quietly (since I also feel that it is ugly hearing all that banging while the priest is introducing the prayer) so that all the worst of the reaching around is over when I finally make it up. However, upon occasion I have been met with a hand in my face which I felt I should hold so as not to be overtly rude, even though I feel sticking a hand in somebody’s face during a prayer is certainly rude in the first place.
This does often work, or at least minimizes the impact of this activity on me. However, several times I have been treated in a way which I think amounts to assault. If treated this way in a store I would likely have threatened charges. One time, when the Church was rather empty, a woman came charging at me from twenty feet away while I was standing up and began scraping at my arm with her nails. I had to fight with everything I had not to tell her to get her lousy hands off of my person. After Mass I found that she had left long raking marks on my arms! Another time I was almost pushed over by someone trying to get me to take their hand. And yet again very recently another woman began raking at me with her nails. The only humor in all of it is that in all of these cases those people refused to exchange the peace with me!
What can I do? I am now leaving the Church during the Our Father. It is the only way I can focus on the Mass and avoid what I feel likely to be a physical assault during the worship. I am convinced because the Church will not address this crazy behaviour it is getting way out of hand and is being used now as a forum for spiritual bullying. Has anyone else here been faced with having to work around these things, and has anything else worked which I may not be trying?
Many thanks for any advice,
Patrick
