[Arthur McGowan]

Handholding during the Our Father is completely improper. 1) There is no basis for it in Tradition. 2) It duplicates the Sign of Peace. In a parish that practices holding hands during the Our Father, there should be no Sign of Peace.

[pittsburgh gop guy]

GO LATIN MASS!

And don't worry about this new-age hippie crap!

[floydibanezer]

I've never really been comfortable with it. I personally don't like the sign of peace either.

[american colleen]

That is strange! They don't hold hands during the Our Father in my parish, but a lot of people open their arms up like the priest does... what is that all about? Seems like a charasmatic leftover of the 70s...

What do I know, I still receive Holy Communion on my tongue.

[Shethink13]

It's a phony-baloney, plastic-banana type gesture. Goes right along with the stripping down of the beautiful artwork in older churches and making them look more "ecumenical", or changing the lyrics of hymns so they are gender neutral. Pathetic.

[areafiftyone]

I personally hate the "Peace be with you" handshake. I find it annoying.

[afraidfortherepublic]

There have even been people making Shirley Maclaine type gestures during Mass.

My goodness, what is a Shirley McClaine type gesture? I don't know if they are doing that in my church because I don't know what to look for.

[Russell Scott]

I grew up in the Catholic church, and didn't have a clue who Jesus was until I accepted him as my personal Lord and Savior at 19. Not during my 15 years in the Catholic church did they once give an altar call. I find the whole organization sadly lacking in even the fundamentals taught in the Bible. Any organization that doesn't "walk in the Holy Spirit, is going to fulfill the lusts of the flesh." In my opinion, the Catholic church has replaced Christ with a bunch of ritualistic nonsense.

Read Matthew 23, I believe quite of few of the Master's words were directed at large religious organizations like the Catholic church.

[Dajjal]

When the priest says "Peace be with you" I answer "Et cum spiritu tuo" and promptly kneel down, lowering my head in meditation on the Eucharist, thereby avoiding the whole chaos. I figure that gesture is in itself a "sign of peace" to any and all concerned.

Yes, holding hands _is_ queer.

[BlueAngel]

I don't like holding hands and avoid it, if possible. Especially if the person next to me has just sneezed.

The peace sign, I believe, is a disruption and distraction just when we should be thinking of and preparing to receive the Eucharist. Oh well, I miss the Latin Mass and the old ways. I grew up in the fifties and sixties.

[kellynla]

This might help you. www.latinmass.org There is a listing of Catholic Churches which celebrate Mass in Latin.

[Texas_Jarhead]

I'm not Catholic although some in my family are. Why does holding hands present a problem? In church we hold hands and pray or sing. At all family gatherings we all hold hands when we say grace. We call it Christian fellowship. I admit, as an adult it might take some getting use to but why the insecurity? Especially in God's house with brothers and sisters of the faith. I'm just curious. Is there some taboo against holding hands that I am not aware of? THanks in advance.

[Redbob]

"... as a child in the seventies, the iconoclasm, the felt banners, and guitar Masses didn't make much of a difference to me."

As a child of the '50's and '60's, the guitar masses and the childish banners and flags that looked as if they were made in Miss Peach's kindergarten class annoyed me no end;
when I visit the in-laws and attend Catholic church with them, I find things haven't changed a bit - I still feel as if I've somehow wandered into some '60's hippie love-in, and I can't wait to get out.

Mass at my Episcopal church is identical to the Catholic masses I was brought up with, except for the lack of Latin (why did we use Latin, anyway?) and the fact our priest has a wife and kids!

[demsux]

Yep, I hear ya. We hang out with another Catholic couple and the husband makes us hold hands during prayers before dinner.

At first I was uncomfortable with it...now I just look for an attractive female to sit on the other side of me from my wife.

Works at Mass too.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

We have small kids (a toddler and a baby) so we always take a short pew in front where they don't have a pew in front of us to kick and bother people.

This has two benefits. One, we don't tick off other parishoners and two, there ain't room for anyone else in our pew as it only seats 3-4 and thus we are holding hands with our kids. Problem solved.LOL

[Conservababe]

I am a fallen-away Catholic. I fell away before all the nonsense began, with the guitar mass and the hand shaking. As a southern woman, I will tell you, that I shake hands with no one, as I was never instructed that it was mannerly to do so, as a lady. I nod and say the appropiate words when introduced or greeted. Nothing annoys me more than to have a perfect stranger hold out his/her hand to me, as if I were a man. And it would be also true if I attended mass, still.

But I do remember my devout Catholic mother saying that she was annoyed by the hugging and hand shaking during mass in her later years, as she was in frail health, and did not want to be exposed to any more germs than was generated by the hacking and coughing of the congregation.

Besides, I think it is a silly gesture.

[inkling]

I'm a non-Catholic who recently attended a Catholic funeral and I had two questions. (Please take no offense, I'm just unfamiliar with the practices):

1. Speaking of "Shirley MacLaine hand movements," the priest and several of the parishioners would do this odd deal with their hands. They had their palms up and outstretched, then they moved their hands around in circles while saying "Hallelujah." A Catholic woman I attended with leaned over and said, "I hate this weird hand thing. It's so gay." What is that and is it a new deal?

2. Several people in front of me were wearing these brown cloth things over their chests and backs. Sort of like two-way bibs with markings on them. Some had "IHS" and others had small crosses. One lady would turn the garment around at various points in the service so that different sides would face forward. These people seemed to be long-time church attendees and very committed. What are these deals?

Just two innocent questions from a non-denominational Christian :-) Thanks!

[Theresa]

What is THE POINT of holding hands? I refuse to do it. A firm, brief handshake is one thing. But the prolonged holding of the hand of a person other than my husband's is too intimate of a gesture for me and I am sure many others. Yes we are all Christians but why does that mean we have to LOVE holding hands with each other?

When I first went back to the church that was my first question in the Re-membering meeting. When did we start holding hands? I was told that we do it because it is the Our Father and we hold hands to demonstrate that we are childen of the same Father. Back then I did not know what to make of it. But the way I am now I would have asked the lady if she made that explaination up IN HER HEAD because it sure is not in the missal!

[Unam Sanctam]

I'm not creeped out, but I loathe this practice. I feel it an imposition of enforced intimacy. It is also exclusive, since the non-touchy feely types are either made to feel uncomfortable by holding hands, or look like unsociable jerks if they don't. And don't tell me that it is uncharitable not to hold hands. There are lots of ways of showing charity, and why is this particular public way the method enforced?

[sockmonkey]

In "Ecclesiae de Mysterio", a 1997 document which dealt with the use of non-ordained faithful in sacred ministry. A Portion of article six reads:
In eucharistic celebrations deacons and non-ordained members of the faithful may not pronounce prayers, especially the eucharistic prayer, with its concluding doxology, or any other parts of the liturgy reserved to the celebrant priest. Neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant. It is a grave abuse for any member of the non-ordained faithful to "quasi preside" at the Mass while leaving only that minimal participation to the priest which is necessary to secure validity.

The evidence that shows that holding hands during the Our Father, or any part of Holy Mass, is ILLICIT, is found in the journal Notitiae, Rome's official interpretation of the GIRM. Holding hands was addressed in 1975.
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.