June 11, 2013      Martin Mallon  (Ireland)      Martin's previous articles                        

                                           ORANS  POSITION 

Elizabeth Harrington’s article of June 2 raised the question of the correct bodily position for prayer. 

In his book, Your Life in the Holy Spirit, The Word Among Us Press , Maryland , USA , 1995, Professor Alan Shreck quotes Fr Kilian O’Donnell as explaining that, in the early Church:  

The posture of standing with arms outstretched and palms open was customary when the community entered into the prayer of praise, in contrast to the penitential prayer made on one’s knees. (Page 205)  

Shreck goes on to point out that:  

...in the catacombs, few, if any, figures are portrayed kneeling in prayer, while many frescoes show the orans with upraised arms, praising God.  (Page 205)  

It is clear that penitential praying on knees was not really a major factor in the first couple of hundred of years of the Church. Shreck then quotes Origen, a church father of the third century, explaining “in his treatise On Prayer that bodily posture reflects the disposition of the soul.” Origen concludes:  

And although there are a great many different positions for the body, he should not doubt that the position with the hands outstretched and the eyes lifted up is to be preferred before all others, because it bears in prayer the image of characteristics befitting the soul and applies it to the body....Kneeling is necessary when someone is going to speak against his own sins before God, since he is making supplication for their healing and their forgiveness. (Page 205)  

So, according to the early church, the best way to pray is “with the hands outstretched and the eyes lifted up”. This way “is to be preferred before all others”.

Why do so many Christians today have difficulty with this method of prayer, especially when we consider that “it bears in prayer the image of characteristics befitting the soul and applies it to the body”?  

The early church was full of the Holy Spirit, it was full of joy as can be seen in the Acts of the Apostles. This helps explain the position of prayer adopted of praising God with joy; didn’t David dance and sing with this same joy, the Holy Spirit, in the Old Testament.  

So when did this all change? When did our joyful church, full of joy at Jesus’ resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and continuously ever since, become a sorrowful and penitent church on its knees most of the time? When it became the official Church of the Roman Empire the rot set in and it is still in the process of being removed. The idea of Christians as woeful sinners, offending God, who could only receive God’s mercy with the assistance of the clergy gave the institutional church a huge amount of power and control. It is unlikely this theology could ever have gained control if the church had not become the official state church of Rome with its resulting temporal power and wealth. The persecuted church was more alive and full of joy before Constantine adopted it for his own purpose of having his empire united under one religion.  

The loss of the Papal States helped to restore the church, although this process has been hindered by the claim of papal infallibility and the Curia’s unofficial extension of this infallibility to itself since the First Vatican Council.  

The Second Vatican Council pointed the way forward, but the Roman Curia has been fighting a strong rearguard action with the help of a couple of conservative Popes. However, now, with the example of Pope Francis, hopefully the people of God can get off their knees, believe in and spread the Good News; remembering that it is Good, joyful and happiness inducing news. This is not mournful news, we have been invited by Jesus to live with Him for ever and He has sent the Holy Spirit, our Counsellor and Advocate, to strengthen, encourage and guide us. Alleluia!

 (See Wikipedia: Orans)

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