What are we really doing when we stand, sit, kneel, process and venerate the Cross in Holy Week? What do these postures and gestures mean and how do they bring us closer to God?
Our liturgies are rich in movement and gesture and we carry them out with ease. But is it too easy? How conscious are we of the intrinsic meaning of these gestures and postures? Do they help us enter into a closer relationship with God? Or do we stand, sit, keel because that’s just what we’ve always done?
In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict warns that without understanding, liturgies will become merely ritual. Everything in liturgy has a meaning, nothing in liturgy is done by accident.
The Catechism reminds us; ‘In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place. As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to communicate with others, through language, gestures, and actions. The same holds true for his relationship with God.’ CCC1146.
We all need ongoing formation in the liturgy to grow and deepen our relationship with Christ; focusing on the postures and gestures contained in the rich liturgies of Holy Week would be a fresh way to approach and help us see our worship in a new light.
Processing
Christians have been processing since the 4th century when Constantine legalised public worship and the first large churches were built. Modelled on the secular basilicas of the day, the central aisle formerly used for the emperor to process down in all his grandeur, was now the processional route for the bishop, presbyters, deacons, acolytes, readers and choir. Each of the Liturgies of Holy Week has a significant procession: Palms on Palm Sunday, Holy Oils and The Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday, Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, and the Paschal Candle on Holy Saturday. Then there are the usual processions of Entrance, Gospel, Offering of the Gifts and Communion.
Processions move us from one place to another. This element of drama and use of space emphasises a theme, helps create a sacred space and unites us as a worshipping community.
In Egeria’s great 4th century account of the Holy Week liturgies in Jerusalem, she gives an account of the Palm Sunday procession which takes place in the early evening.
The bishop and all the people rise from their places and start off on foot down from the summit of the Mount of Olives. All the people go before him with palms and antiphons all the time repeating ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ Everyone is carrying branches , either palm or olive and they accompany the bishop in the very way that the people did when once they went down with the Lord.
In the Middle Ages, a life size wooden donkey carrying Christ, known as a ‘palmesel,’ became part of the procession particularly in Germany. This was always a procession intended for participation. Drama and props help us recreate the event; they help make us a people of joy, celebrating and honouring Christ. But the words of the Gospel bring the past into the present; we are both commemorating and re-living. As we walk with our palms, we have the opportunity pray and praise God and contemplate on the events of the coming week. The short journey of the procession also mirrors the big journey of life that we are all on; we pray for the strength to live a good Christian life as we journey in hope towards eternal life.
The Holy Thursday procession of the Blessed Sacrament also evolved during the Middle Ages. Initially the Sacrament was moved to a place of reservation without any ceremony. A Twelfth Century Pontifical says that a junior Cardinal-deacon took the Lord in a pyx to a suitable place, walking under a canopy and led by cross and candles. The ‘Pange Lingua’ written by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century was sung, originally intended for the feast of Corpus Christi. It soon became the hymn of choice for the Holy Thursday procession and was officially prescribed in 1516. When we sing it today (in Latin or English) we are joining with the voices of our predecessors through the centuries.
This is a procession we watch; servers, candles and incense all add to the drama which helps us immerse ourselves in the solemnity of the liturgy.
Standing
‘Standing’ is the oldest posture of prayer and dates to the Old Testament. When Christian worship moved from the house church to formal buildings, standing at Mass became the norm till about the time of the Reformation when pews were introduced. When we stand, it is a sign that we are ready; to worship, to listen to the Word of God, to profess our faith, to pray, to receive a blessing. Antonio Donghi says: ‘The standing assembly expresses the living relationship by which it is united to God, and it exhibits that the people are aware that their lives are an upward course toward the fullness of communion with God in glory.’
When we stand for the General Intercessions on Good Friday (which date to at least the 5th century) or the renewal of Baptismal Promises, we are reminded that we are praying and professing our beliefs together as a worshipping community. Whenever we stand at Mass, we are standing before God, prepared, alert and ready.
Sitting
In the Early Church, sitting was the normal position for preaching and teaching. In the gospels. when Jesus preached or taught, his disciples and followers sat to listen to him.
The bishop would always sit to speak to the assembly, hence the throne (cathedra) being an important symbol of his office. When we sit, we should try not to treat it as a rest or a break. We sit to listen and contemplate, such as at the first part of the Liturgy of the Word, the homily and the Offering of the Gifts. But we are not observers. In a rested position, we can concentrate and ponder on the words we hear and the actions we see. We have additional opportunities to do this during the presentation of the Oils on Holy Thursday and the initiation ceremonies on Holy Saturday.
Kneeling
In the days of the Early Christian Church, kneeling was a sign of humility, sorrow, and petition originating from both the Old and New Testaments. Even Jesus knelt down in the Garden of Gethsemane before his death.
When people approached the emperor to ask favours, they did so kneeling. It became associated with penance and repentance; so much so, that the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) banned kneeling on Sundays and during the Easter Season because it wasn’t an appropriate posture for celebration.
Kneeling at Mass is associated with reverence, worship and adoration; we kneel for the Eucharistic Prayer and before receiving Communion. During Holy Week we kneel at the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday, for silent prayer during the prayers of Intercession, the Showing (unveiling) of the Cross on Good Friday and the Litany of the Saints at the Easter Vigil. It is also traditional to kneel for a short time during the Passion after the words ‘He gave up his spirit’ when the entire assembly offers prayers of sorrow and sadness but also thanks and praise.
Sign and Veneration of the Cross
The sign of the cross has been used from the first days of the Church. In the 2nd century, Tertullian wrote: At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign.
More than any other, this sign identifies us as Christians. It prepares and focuses us; it sums up who we are and what we believe. But we should take care that is doesn’t become a meaningless gesture. Romano Guardini calls it the holiest of all signs and gives us the best advice which would be perfect for a focus during Lent and Holy week: Make a large cross, taking time, thinking what you do. Let it take your whole being-body, soul, mind, will, thoughts, feelings… consciously feeling how it includes the whole of us, our thoughts, our attitudes, our body and soul, every part of us at once, how it consecrates us and sanctifies us.
The veneration of the Cross dates to the time of Helena (4th century) who is reputed to have discovered the true cross upon which Christ died.
Egeria wrote a detailed account of the Good Friday liturgy in Jerusalem, where some pilgrims were less than reverent: The faithful come up one by one to the table. They stoop down over it, kiss the wood and move on. But one occasion one of them bit off a piece of the holy wood and stole it away, and for this reason the deacons stand round and keep watch in case anyone dares to do the same again.
The Veneration of the Cross is the only time during the year when we offer a kiss. Kneeling or bowing at the Cross, we offer an intimate, unique and powerful gesture to the Lord who died for our sins.
We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your holy cross you have saved the world.
Prostration
At the start of the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday, the sanctuary is bare, the tabernacle is empty and the door is open; this sets the tone for a stark and solemn liturgy. It begins with the most dramatic posture of all, when the priest lies face down in front of the altar for a short time and we all pray in silence. With its origins dating before the 6th century, it expresses deep sorrow and reverence. It needs no words. We kneel as a church in mourning and reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for us.
A new Gesture
A change in the latest edition of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) invites us to make a bow immediately before we receive Communion. (The previous edition referred to ‘an appropriate sign of reverence.’) This is a simple bow of the head made immediately before we receive. It doesn’t seem to have been universally adopted. It is a mark of deep respect for the Bread of Life and is especially fitting on Holy Thursday.
Resources
Words and Gestures in the Liturgy – Antonio Donghi.
Sacred Signs – Romano Guardini.
Egeria’s Travels – John Wilkinson.
https://watch.formed.org/the-elements-of-the-catholic-mass
The bow before Receiving Communion (video).
Processions in the Mass (video).
