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Dear Catholic Exchange:
I am bothered by the recent trend in some parishes to hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer. This action bothers me, yet I feel compelled to do it. When did this trend start, and is it considered proper and part of the rubrics of the Mass?
God bless,
Kathryn Talbot Hamilton
Dear Kathryn,
Peace in Christ! While the gesture itself is not expressly prohibited for individuals, the priest may not lead the assembly to this gesture. The Church describes holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer as “a liturgical gesture introduced spontaneously but on personal initiative; it is not in the rubrics” (Notitiae, vol. 11 (1975)). It might be argued that the gesture is allowable if not imposed on others, but for the priest to purposefully lead the assembly to this gesture is contrary to the rubrics of the Mass. Further, the Church has clearly stated that holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer must not substitute for expressing the sign of peace:
Query: In some places there is a current practice whereby those taking part in the Mass replace the giving of the sign of peace at the deacon’s invitation by holding hands during the singing of the Lord’s Prayer. Is this acceptable?
Reply: The prolonged holding of hands is of itself a sign of communion rather than of peace. Further, it is a liturgical gesture introduced spontaneously but on personal initiative; it is not in the rubrics. Nor is there any clear explanation of why the sign of peace at the invitation— “Let us offer each other the sign of peace”—should be supplanted in order to bring a different gesture with less meaning into another part of the Mass: The sign of peace is filled with meaning, graciousness, and Christian inspiration. Any substitution for it must be repudiated (Notitiae, vol. 11).
Holding hands, then, is not a prescribed part of the Church’s rubrics for the Mass. Yet, while no one should be coerced to hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer or assume any other particular posture, the Church conveys that the faithful—at their own spontaneous initiative—may legitimately hold hands at this time, as long as the holding of hands here does not substitute for the sign of peace. The same liturgical principles would apply to other postures advocated during the Lord’s Prayer, such as raising one’s hands as the priest does. This is known as the orans posture.
However, the Church will promulgate a revised Sacramentary in the near future. (The Sacramentary is the book that a priest uses to celebrate Mass.) According to the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, “the recently approved revised Sacramentary does provide for the use of the orans gesture by members of the assembly during the Lord’s Prayer.” It should be noted that one effect desired by the U.S. Bishops in proposing the use of the orans posture is that it puts to rest the issue of holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer:
The Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy expressed a strong preference for the orans gesture over the holding of hands since the focus of the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer to the Father and not primarily an expression of community and fellowship.
Some have also asked whether a priest may leave the sanctuary to hold hands with the congregation during the Lord’s Prayer. The U.S. Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy answered negatively on this issue in its February/March 1976 (vol. 12) Newsletter: “The practice where the priest moves out into the nave of the church, among the faithful to offer personally to them the pax [sign of peace] is basically a return to the clericalism of the past, oblivious of the reality of the liturgical assembly.” In addition, in ruling that laypeople should not enter the sanctuary to pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Church has conveyed that priests should also not do likewise, i.e., leave the sanctuary to pray the Lord’s Prayer with the congregation:
Surely the Eucharistic celebration is more clearly a communal one when all the members of the liturgical assembly participate. Nevertheless each person ought to have and to retain his own place and his own proper role: “In liturgical celebrations each person, minister, or layman who has an office to perform, should carry out all and only those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the norms of the liturgy” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 28).
“In celebrating the Eucharistic liturgy, it is the celebrant alone, as presider, who may remain at the altar. The assembly of worshipers takes its place in the church apart from the presbytery since it is served by the celebrant or by the concelebrants and other ministers” (Notitiae, vol. 17 (1981)).
I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”
United in the Faith,
Amy Barragree
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
