What do you do during the Our Father at Mass (besides pray)

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I’m just curious as to what everyone does. Feel free to share your thoughts

God bless
-Jeanne
 
I voted “Keep hands folded in prayer”. We’ve never introduced any other practice in my parish, the only time I’ve ever seen it done is at a special Mass for pilgrims to Lourdes. I tried it, and it felt strange, not right somehow.:o
 
If I’m serving (most of the time), I never assume the orans posture. When I’m in the congregation (rarely), I occasionally hold hands only with family and close friends, never orans though.
 
I just stand there with my hands folded or behind my back. I can’t vote yet. Most people here don’t do the hand-holding or orans thing though. Some do, but just a few. It seems to be mostly 30-something women.
 
I don’t keep my hands together. I’m either holding the book or holding my son.
 
I voted “other.” If I am going to be honest, I think that I twirl my hair, play with my sweatshirt tie, or put my hands in my pocket. I guess I need to work on that… :eek::eek:

We never held hands in my parish growing up. I must say, I still don’t do that and I feel strange if I am actually holding somebody’s hand…
 
I hold hands most of the time, but only because it is customary at the Parish we belong to. I really would prefer not to…🤷
 
my brother sent me two bamboo backscratchers, the kind with little hands, so I can hold them out on both sides if I find myself in a parish where I am being assaulted by hand-holders.😉

now if I am at an AA meeting, scout camp or VBS at a non-Catholic church and they hold hands for the OF, I am happy to comply:thumbsup:
 
I always keep my hands folded and my eyes closed. Most people are quite good at my parish and do the same.
I think the only people who should be extending their hands in the orans position are Priests and Bishops. And I really don’t like the holding hands thing.
 
My hands are on the pew in front of me. I think it was a way for my parents to keep an eye on our hands when I was a child 40 years ago. Its just natural now with my eyes closed.
 
I usually fold my hands in prayer, even if I’m visiting a parish where 99% of the people hold hands. Personally, I can’t abide the holding of hands and I find it obnoxious. No offense to any people that like to do that, it’s just my opinion.

God Bless,
Pakesh
 
I keep my hands folded, but I see a variety of postures at my parish.

Some do hold hands, but it’s usually just families, or people who know each other (i.e. not trying to get the stranger next to them to hold hands as well).

Quite a few use the orans position as well, and I must admit to having mixed feelings about it. It seems weird to me when someone just uses the orans position for the Our Father and nothing else. It seems much less odd if that’s the person’s preferred hand position for many prayers. There are a few people I know who pray that way a lot (I think they follow a charismatic spirituality), so I’m less bothered to see them pray the Our Father that way.
 
Where/when did the holding hands originate? Has it slowly evolved from evangelical/charismatic converts into the Church? Or are there instances historically where it’s been done by Catholics themselves?

It’s hard to criticize it, although I personally don’t prefer it. Seems like an ad-lib to the missal. I like the notion of an outward display of parishioner unity, but I just think that the norms of the rubrics that all of us already accomplish in unison at Mass is plenty satisfactory for this display. Why the need to add to it?

Anyone have any suggestions for helping one’s family understand why I would want to cease doing this, even though we’ve been doing it for the past several years?

Does Rome have nothing to say about it?
 
SteveGC said:
Where/when did the holding hands originate? Has it slowly evolved from evangelical/charismatic converts into the Church? Or are there instances historically where it’s been done by Catholics themselves?

It’s hard to criticize it, although I personally don’t prefer it. Seems like an ad-lib to the missal. I like the notion of an outward display of parishioner unity, but I just think that the norms of the rubrics that all of us already accomplish in unison at Mass is plenty satisfactory for this display. Why the need to add to it?

Anyone have any suggestions for helping one’s family understand why I would want to cease doing this, even though we’ve been doing it for the past several years?

Does Rome have nothing to say about it?
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I read an opinion somewhere that I liked, the writer said that holding hands gives a sense of communion with the people around you, when really we should be focusing our minds not on the people around us but on the divine person, our Lord Jesus Christ, who’s body and blood we are moments away from receiving thus we will be in total communion with him.

Also communion is a personal thing. We as individuals come to be strengthened and nourished by our God so why moments before that happens should we be interacting with the people around us instead of focusing our minds solely on the tremendous gift we are about to receive: the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, God incarnate ?
 
For the past few years the majority of the people in my parish have been holding hands in a chain or hold palms open like the priest. I feel like I missed the memo. When did it become okay to gesture like the priest?

I hold my hands folded in prayer.
 
FAH said:
I read an opinion somewhere that I liked, the writer said that holding hands gives a sense of communion with the people around you, when really we should be focusing our minds not on the people around us but on the divine person, our Lord Jesus Christ, who’s body and blood we are moments away from receiving thus we will be in total communion with him.

Also communion is a personal thing. We as individuals come to be strengthened and nourished by our God so why moments before that happens should we be interacting with the people around us instead of focusing our minds solely on the tremendous gift we are about to receive: the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, God incarnate ?
Click to expand...
Agreed, and yet the argument in rebuttal (not from me) would likely be that we perform the “Peace” even closer to communion than the Lord’s Prayer, and the Peace is obviously attentive to those around us, so why is that not criticized as is holding hands (outside of the fact that it’s actually a part of the general instructions, of course)?

I guess a response to that would be that we are sharing Christ’s peace, not our own. We are emphasizing that Christ in us extends peace to all around us. Emphasis still on Christ. Nevertheless, I’ve heard the argument before. Still would like to know the origins of this “practice”.

Thoughts?
 
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