Questions of Faith

I’ve been reading that the priest should be the only person to use the “orans posture” while praying the Our Father during Mass. But, I have noticed that many people in the congregation do it, also. What is the correct posture for the lay faithful to use while praying the Our Father during Mass?
 
In his book, The Spirit of the Liturgy, the late Pope Benedict XVI when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, described the “orans posture” as “the oldest gesture of prayer in Christendom.” Depictions of it can be found on the walls of Rome’s ancient catacombs.

Orans is a Latin word that means “one who is praying or pleading.” This prayer posture involves standing with the elbows close to the sides of the body, with the hands outstretched sideways, and with palms up. It symbolizes being open to God. Today, the orans position is still used in parts of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran liturgies, Pentecostal and charismatic worship.

The early Christians saw the position as representing the posture of Christ on the Cross. Until the ninth century, the entire congregations adopted this posture for celebrating the Eucharist. By the 12th century, the joining of hands began to replace the orans posture as the preferred position for prayer. It continued to be used at certain parts of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches’ liturgies. In the Catholic Mass, it occurs at the orations, (the collect, the prayers over the gifts, and the prayer after Communion) the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Lord’s Prayer.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website states, “No position is prescribed in the Roman Missal for an assembly gesture during the Lord’s Prayer.” No “rule” or guidelines exist; however, it has become common in some congregations for the faithful to adopt the orans posture. The priest, by contrast, is directed specifically in the rubrics to adopt the orans posture during the Our Father. That is where there seems to be a conflict.

If the orans position in the Mass has come to symbolize the priestly prayer for the congregation, then the rubrics of the Mass should no longer call for the priest to extend his hands during the Our Father as if he is praying for the congregation. He should instead be directed to join his hands as he does for all other prayers said with the congregation. During the Our Father, he is praying not for the congregation but along with them as in the Gloria and the Creed when he joins his hands.

If the priests do not assume the orans position during the Our Father, the laity will not imitate him. If the church changes the rubrics of the Mass to direct the priest to join his hands during the Our Father, priestly symbolism will again be consistent through the entire Mass. The people will come to imitate that gesture, and the orans issue will be resolved rather quickly.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says, “A common bodily posture, to be observed by all those taking part, is a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community gathered together for the Sacred Liturgy” (par. 42.2). What we should want to do in the liturgy is to all have the same bodily position (in as far as possible recognizing limitations imposed by physical disabilities, etc.). This shows that we are all members of the one Mystical Body of Christ united under the priest and under Christ the head.

The reason that this matter is rarely addressed has to do with pastoral sensitivity. If some people are innocently praying in the orans position or even holding hands, the priest is not going to go out of his way to embarrass them or cause them to feel uncomfortable for praying that way. Their action, while not liturgically correct, is probably not a distraction to anyone around them.

A priest might feel required to address such a situation if the people were being instructed by others to use the orans posture or if it were so widespread that those who chose not to do so were made to feel uncomfortable. Many other rubrics of the Mass are not being followed. If a congregation is sincerely praying the Lord’s Prayer using the orans position, go with the flow!