Q: At Mass, should the congregation hold hands during the Our Father prayer?
Christine Seapy
Saint Thomas More Catholic Church, Norman
A: In short, no.
The goal of the Church’s liturgy is to bring unity to worship so that the Body of Christ may worship “In spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24).
In the Mass, the communal recitation of the Our Father is itself a sign of unity.
Gestures and postures also communicate this unity. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal reads, "For the sake of uniformity in gestures and bodily postures during one and the same celebration, the faithful should follow the instructions which the deacon, a lay minister, or the priest gives, according to what is laid down in the Missal.” (GIRM 43)
Before the Our Father, the Roman Missal instructs: “he [the priest] extends his hands and, together with the people, continues:” (The Order of Mass, 124) There is a gesture given for the priest, but none for the people. In fact, the placement of the prepositional phrase “together with the people” after the conjunction “and” seems to emphasize that the extended hands is uniquely for the priest.
There is no gesture indicated for the people during the Our Father, and since the Missal is to be a means of unity for the Church, none should be unlawfully imposed upon them.
Nonetheless, when couples, families or communities hold hands during the Our Father out of common practice and simple good will, they do not sin or offend God. However, many report that hand-holding can be a distraction for various reasons and thus may hinder the active participation which the liturgy strives to foster. I suspect, in time, such an innovation will naturally fade from use.
Father Zachary Boazman
Associate Director of the Secretariat for Divine Worship
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