Outline:
Preamble:
- Actions can help us partake in and reflect on our prayer and the service
- Our actions need to have meaning
- Simplicity is often best (see in how worship reforms most often cull extraneous elements)
Actions:
- Crossing oneself
- A sign of taking God's blessing in ourselves
- Occurrences:
- Start of the service
- Reminder of God's presence as we start the service
- Before the Gospel
- Sign of taking in God's Word
- During the Absolution
- Sign of the forgiveness of our sins
- Eucharistic Prayer when we ask the Holy Spirit to come upon us
- Sign of the Spirit entering in
- Final Blessing at the end
- Taking in the Blessing we receive
- Always make the sign of the cross over just oneself
- Only the Celebrant makes the sign of the cross over others
- Absolution
- Blessing
- Note: all a priest needs to do to bless is to touch the object. The sign of the cross is when the object cannot be held.
- The case with a large group
- Ancient sign of the Holy Spirit coming over the elements is the Celebrant's hands coming together over them
- Some do the sign of the cross during the Benedictus
- Comes from the notion of Jesus entering into Jerusalem
- Many discourage this practice
- Jesus has already been present in the service
- Jesus is also not yet present in the elements until after the Eucharistic Prayer
- Some sign when mentioning the dead
- Should not do unless you believe in Purgatory
- Purgatory is a Medieval invention
- Idea was you had to purge yourself of sin before entering Heaven
- Antithetical to the idea of Grace
- Jesus alone makes us worthy to stand before God
- Jesus alone does the work of our Salvation
- Standing
- “Standing was the universal posture for prayer until late in the Middle Ages and continues to be the posture in Eastern churches” -Marion Hatchett
- Reminder of our active part in prayer
- In general, stand when the Celebrant does
- Orans Position
- Standing with arms outstretched
- Sign of prayer
- Earliest prayer posture in the church
- Will see the Celebrant use whenever praying
- Lets people know that we are praying
- With an East-facing altar, Celebrant will turn
- A sign we are all praying together and in the same direction
- Otherwise, the Celebrant will not look at the people
- Shows the Celebrant is speaking to God, not us
- Anyone can use this form of prayer
- In fact, using orans is encouraged
- Pray standing as a sign we are a resurrected people
- Kneeling
- Comes from Feudal periods
- You knell before the king with your hands together seeking his favor
- Made its way to the church as a sign of respect to God
- Can be used for all times of prayer
- Most appropriate for the Confession
- Note: Not everyone is able to knell. If you cannot, it is appropriate to continue sitting, use a solemn bow, or simply bow your head. Only do what you are able to do for your prayer.
- Bowing
- Sign of respect to God
- Can bow just the head or bend from the waist (Solemn Bow)
- Appropriate to do whenever Jesus' name is mentioned
- Philippians 2:10- "At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow."
- Only need to bow at the altar at the start of the service and at the end
- Solemn Bow
- A bow made by bending 90 degrees from the waist
- Appropriate especially for the Confession
- Also especially appropriate for the Great Amen (end of Eucharistic Prayer)
- Can use when don't have a kneeler to use
- Genuflection
- When you kneel with one knee bended
- Typically reserved for the Sacrament
To learn more about what we do in the Eucharistic service, click here