The Mass
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The Mass (Divine Liturgy)
This is the highest form of worship in the Catholic Church which is an eternal presentation in unbloody fashion the sacrifice of Calvary which opened the gates of heaven to us all, which made Heaven accessible again to God's sinful creatures.
NOTE: The Eastern Catholic (and Orthodox) brethren refer to the Mass as the Divine Liturgy. Here the term is used interchangeably. -
During the Lord's Prayer (Our Father): Holding hands and use of the orans gesture (hands held upward with palms facing forward
by Terry Garrity, CAA President
Use of the orans gesture is prohibited and holding hands is questionable--but what constitutes an orans gesture requires some parsing and charity must prevail no matter what. Popular expressions of personal piety enjoy fairly wide allowance in the Mass.Still, holding hands during the Lord's Prayer is a topic creates an enormous amount of heat--but very little light when it's brought up. Everything called for legislatively in the Mass is done for a very specific reason. Sacrosanctum Concilium 22.3: “no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” But is holding hands a change to the liturgy if done by the people? I don't think so.But holding hands is a sign of unity, BUT the Lord's Prayer isn't a prayer of unity. It's brief praise and mostly prayer of petition. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) calls for a COMMON GESTURE to indicate unity and a mix of holding and not holding hands would seem to contradict that. My guess is that your priest lets "disunity of practice" persist so that he's not breaking the eggs he's often walking on.Some words of wisdom from [quite hardnosed] Latin Mass Fr. Zuhlsdorf, owner of [wdtprs.com] of which I'm a fan 95 percent of the time:"I can picture myself with a Mass kit on a crate with candles in the London Underground during the Blitz. As I say Mass, horrible booms tremble through the ground and echo in the tube tunnels as bombs rain down from German airplanes. Loose tiles fall and children cry. People who have never met are holding hands."Perhaps let charity prevail here accommodating a little untoward liberty.Separately but common at Mass the orans gesture (holding hands upward with palms facing out) is specifically prohibited by the people legislatively(1). The orans gesture is one in which the meaning (symbolism) is that of the priest praying on behalf of the people. So the people engaging the orans gesture really doesn't make sense. And the people are unambiguously forbidden to mimic the actions of the priest; BUT, most people hold their palms upward, which really isn't a properly executed orans gesture, so there's that. Again, Father Zuhlsdorf:"...during the Our Father the faithful are not to use the so-called “orans position” (“praying position” with hands extended, open), which is the proper hand position of the priest celebrating the Mass. Even worse is when they hold that position after the Our Father through the (Protestant) addition that follows. The orans position is reserved for a certain liturgical role (read: priest – not even deacons). That position of extended hands is not appropriate for the lay faithful in the pews."I think hands clasped in traditional prayer is the best approach to praying the Our Father because 1.) it is within the Liturgy of the Eucharist. 2.) It is leading to and because of it's proximity to Holy Communion. 3.) That makes worship more vertical (God-focused) and less communal (horizontal, people centered) approaching the most individual act a Catholic carries out in his/her life. It is more harmonious with the Lords' Prayer being one of worship and petition, not a prayer of unity (again, holding hands is a sign of unity).I am a big supporter of pious practices not forbidden by Canon law or the GIRM but I can also explain what I do during Mass in very specific terms (e.g. the bowing of the head at the name of Jesus). Finally, I just clasp my hands in prayer during the Lord's Prayer unless someone grabs my hand, which happened before Covid sometimes, but not since. Like receiving Communion on the tongue, it's what I have always done and what I will always do until the day I die._______(1) Instruction On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests, put out by the Vatican on August 15, 1997, we read:"In eucharistic celebrations deacons and non-ordained members of the faithful may not...use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant. (ICP Practical Provisions 6 §2).Credit: Catholic 365, The Faithful Are NOT To Use the Orans Posture During the Our Father (https://www.catholic365.com/.../the-faithful-are-not-to...) accessed 8/3/2024.How do I explain that the Mass is not a “re-sacrificing” of Jesus?
by Steve O'Keefe, Staff Apologist
To understand what is going on in the Mass, one first has to understand the notion of “participation”. Participation refers to how God allows us, as members of the body of Christ, to share in a prerogative which is proper to Himself. One example would be our status as children of God, which we receive from Christ in baptism [Gal 3:26]. Another example: Saint Paul says we become “co-heirs” with Christ to the kingdom of Heaven [Rom 8:17]. A third example; Paul says we become “co-laborers” with Christ in the work of salvation [1Cor 3:9]. So participation is the way God allows us to join in what Jesus does.
One of the things Jesus does is offer Himself to the Father as the sacrifice for our salvation. This sacrifice took place outside Jerusalem in 33AD, but we learn in the Bible that the presentation of this sacrifice before God takes place in eternity. The book of Revelation gives us a vision of this. John sees the worship which takes place in Heaven, and at its center is the Lamb of God standing wounded on an altar [Rev 5:6]. This is an image of Jesus eternally presenting
His sacrifice before God on our behalf. It is why the letter to the Hebrews says, “Jesus lives forever to make intercession for us” [Heb 7:25].
At the Last Supper, Jesus showed His disciples how the Church would participate in that eternal presentation of the one sacrifice [1Cor 10:16]. Through the Eucharist, the Lamb of God is made present on the altar during the Mass. So the Mass is not a re-sacrifice of Jesus, it is our participation in the eternal presentation of that single sacrifice. [CCC 1368]