Upraised Hands at Lord’s Prayer: Is there a rule?

Question: I’m confused: Some people say that the Church forbids the congregation to pray the Lord’s Prayer at Mass with their hands out (the orans posture), while others claim it is allowed. Can you enlighten us?

Answer: The orans (or orantes) posture — praying with the hands extended and the palms turned upwards — has a long tradition in the Catholic Church. It is depicted in early Christian art, particularly in the catacombs, where it represents the deceased’s soul interceding for their loved ones.

Orans is a Latin word, meaning “one who is praying or pleading”. In recent decades, the posture has been adopted by some congregants at Mass during the communal recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Some Catholics argue that at this point in the liturgy, the posture is reserved for the priest only. They suggest that because the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) prescribes the posture only for the priest, with no reference to the laity, congregants are precluded from adopting it.

They may also cite the Vatican’s 1997 “Instruction on Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests”, which warns that deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful may not “use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant”. The orans posture is not mentioned in that document, but those who argue against its use by the laity consider it to be usurping the priest’s function.

However, nowhere does the Catholic Church specifically prohibit the laity from praying the Our Father in the orans posture, nor does it prescribe any particular posture for the laity when praying the Our Father, other than that they must stand (GIRM paragraphs 43 and 160). There is no mention at all about the position of their hands, neither governing the orans posture nor the holding of hands. (The latter is considered by some to be intrusive, and in the post Covid-era may no longer be suitable or desirable in view of public health concerns.)

The question of whether the absence of instruction implies permission is the subject of ongoing debate, in which both sides of the argument have a tendency to state their interpretation of the liturgical rules with unfounded certitude.

Guidance from bishops

But there are indications of the Church’s mind on the matter. More than two decades ago, the Vatican granted the request of some bishops’ conferences, including Italy’s, to allow congregants to adopt the orans posture during the Our Father.

Last year the bishops’ conference of the Philippines — the country with the world’s third-highest Catholic  population — issued a ruling to clarify the question of the proper gesture during the Lord’s Prayer in the liturgy. They noted that at Mass, the Our Father “is a prayer of both presider and the faithful. It is not only a presidential prayer.” Therefore, the laity may adopt the orans position or hold hands, if they wish, though nobody may be compelled to do so.

In a July 2023 letter to his archdiocese, Cardinal José Advincula wrote: “Let us respect the decision of the faithful on the gestures they take, whether raised or joined hands or holding each other’s hands. This should be done in harmony with the nature of the prayer and in deference to others who are present in the celebration. Therefore, it is not proper to prohibit the raising of hands in praying the Lord’s Prayer and equally, it is not proper to demand from the faithful to raise their hands in this part of the Mass. The faithful are to be respected with the decision they make on this matter.”