Where did holding hands and/or raising arms during the Lord's Prayer come from?

[jmcrae]

Good question.
If no one can give me an Official Church link stating regarding practices during the Lord’s Prayer, I will send an email to my Pastor and Bishop regarding the practice as it relates to GIRM.

Be careful with that kind of thing. Save the big guns for the big problems. You don’t want to waste all your ammunition on something that most people don’t care that much about.

 

[stephraim]

This is not really true. In fact, no position at all is prescribed for the congregation’s hands during the Pater Noster, including the palms-together “praying hands” position.

That’s true. In fact, only the celebrant’s and “concelebrants(’) and other ministers(’)”* hand positions are prescribed.

*Cf. Ceremonial of Bishops, no. 107

 

[ANNE_2]

That’s true. In fact, only the celebrant’s and “concelebrants(’) and other ministers(’)”* hand positions are prescribed.
*Cf. Ceremonial of Bishops, no. 107

It is prescribed in “GIRM Chapter III Duties of the People of God” that:
**" ** 95. In the celebration of Mass the faithful form a holy people, a people whom God has made his own, a royal priesthood, so that they may give thanks to God and offer the spotless Victim not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, and so that they may learn to offer themselves.83 They should, moreover, endeavor to make this clear by their deep religious sense and their charity toward brothers and sisters who participate with them in the same celebration.

Thus, they are to shun any appearance of individualism or division, keeping before their eyes that they have only one Father in heaven and accordingly are all brothers and sisters to each other.

1. Indeed, they form one body, whether by hearing the word of God, or by joining in the prayers and the singing, or above all by the common offering of Sacrifice and by a common partaking at the Lord’s table. This unity is beautifully apparent from the gestures and postures observed in common by the faithful. "

People who clasp their own hands probably do so for self preservation, so the guy next to him does not grab his hand - but that is only a guess.
Where did this arms in the air, and holding hands come from?
I can’t find it in any searches.

 

[pismopal]

I don’t enjoy hand holding but once it starts in a parish it will take on a life of it’s own as the tendency of worshippers is to do as others do…no matter. What actually floors me is the same people every Sunday who rush out after Holy Communion week after week…sorry…just had to complain.

 

[Barbkw]

These “hands up” and “hands off me” threads always brighten my day.

 

[cradlecatholic5]

***I’m 50 plus and we held hands as teenagers (ever since the late 60s or early 70s). ***

Barb, I’m the same era and we have been also.

 

[odile53]

I brought a non Catholic friend to an OF Mass, where people were doing the hand hold thing during the Lord’s Prayer, and some people were moving their hands higher during the last part of the prayer. This friend later told me that the effect was similar to “the Wave” you see in sports stadiums.

Another friend of mine (actually, a second cousin who is in Alcoholics Anonymous) tells me that they conclude AA meetings with the Lord’s Prayer (the Protestant version.) They hold hands during the recitation of the prayer. He said that this practice predated the use of hand holding at Mass (he’s been sober about forty years.)

I wonder if some Catholic AA people brought their handholding to Mass, and the habit stuck and caught on.

I’ve always wondered about the orans position as well. I thought that was just for the celebrant? When people in the pews do it, it looks contrived to me, kind of like they wish they were priests, too. Okay, if so, discern your vocation and seek admittance to a seminary!

Personally, I wish they’d dispense with both the hand holding and the handshake at the Pax. The handshake thing has always seemed artificial and contrived to me.

But then again, I’m one of those people who likes OF Masses on weekdays, where you don’t have all the folderol, the banal contemporary hymns. Just the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, pure and simple, without the “frosting.” I never did like frosting on cakes, anyways. And since there’s plenty of room, nobody’s sitting close enough to each other to either shake hands or hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer.

Mom always said I would have made a good hermit!

 

[Redratfish]

From what I’ve seen it comes down to person preference. There are various ways to both support holding hands, and not holding hands.

If you do not wish to hold hands, simply fold your hands in front of you.

If you wish to hold hands, do not force those who do not want to. Offer your hand, but do not feel miffed if it is not taken.

 

[Whitacre_Girl]

pay attention to what you yourself are supposed to be doing, without worrying about what everyone else is doing.

This should be a banner at the top of the page for all threads in this section.

 

[Irish_Hare]

This article from Zenit addresses the question:

It is true that there is no prescribed posture for the hands during the Our Father and that, so far at least, neither the Holy See nor the U.S. bishops’ conference has officially addressed it.

The argument from silence is not very strong, however, because while there is no particular difficulty in a couple, family or a small group spontaneously holding hands during the Our Father, a problem arises when the entire assembly is expected or obliged to do so.

The process for introducing any new rite or gesture into the liturgy in a stable or even binding manner is already contemplated in liturgical law. This process entails a two-thirds majority vote in the bishops’ conference and the go-ahead from the Holy See before any change may take effect.

Thus, if neither the bishops’ conference nor the Holy See has seen fit to prescribe any posture for the recitation of the Our Father, it hardly behooves any lesser authority to impose a novel gesture not required by liturgical law and expect the faithful to follow their decrees.

While there are no directions as to the posture of the faithful, the rubrics clearly direct the priest and any concelebrants to pray the Our Father with hands extended – so they at least should not hold hands.

One could argue that holding hands expresses the family union of the Church. But our singing or reciting the prayer in unison already expresses this element.

The act of holding hands usually emphasizes group or personal unity from the human or physical point of view and is thus more typical of the spontaneity of small groups. Hence it does not always transfer well into the context of larger gatherings where some people feel uncomfortable and a bit imposed upon when doing so.

The use of this practice during the Our Father could detract and distract from the prayer’s God-directed sense of adoration and petition, as explained in Nos. 2777-2865 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in favor of a more horizontal and merely human meaning.

For all of these reasons, no one should have any qualms about not participating in this gesture if disinclined to do so. They will be simply following the universal customs of the Church, and should not be accused of being a cause of disharmony.

The practise is not to be found in my local parish, except the odd time. In fact, I’ve only seen it done once: this Easter. I did not take part in the hand-holding. I think it is treating the congregation like school children. It also detracts from the prayer, since we are all so focussed on our hand-holding selves and our feelings, rather than Our Father in heaven. It’s just one more novelty introduced into the Mass. It should be resisted firmly. I simply kept my hands joined and ignored the lady beside me. To show there was no ill feeling, I did make a point of offering her the sign of peace at the due time.

 

[ANNE_2]

This article from Zenit addresses the question:

The practise is not to be found in my local parish, except the odd time. In fact, I’ve only seen it done once: this Easter. I did not take part in the hand-holding. I think it is treating the congregation like school children. It also detracts from the prayer, since we are all so focussed on our hand-holding selves and our feelings, rather than Our Father in heaven. It’s just one more novelty introduced into the Mass. It should be resisted firmly. I simply kept my hands joined and ignored the lady beside me. To show there was no ill feeling, I did make a point of offering her the sign of peace at the due time.

Thank you for the Zenit article.