And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God; and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Nehemiah 8:6
One of the hallmarks of Orthodox worship is that we use all of our senses to worship. We see icons. We hear chanting, reading and sermons. We taste Holy Communion and Antithoron. We smell incense. We touch icons when we venerate them. And we touch God and are touched by God in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
Our hands are a very important part of worship. First, we use our right hand to make the sign of the cross frequently. We make the sign of the cross upon entering the church, before and after venerating an icon and throughout our services. It is customary to make the sign of the cross whenever we hear the name of the Holy Trinity. Other add the cross to coincide with the name of the Virgin Mary. We make the sign of the cross before and after the reading of the Gospel, before and after receiving Holy Communion, when the Gifts pass us at the Great Entrance, and on any petition where we feel like making it.
The hand of the priest or bishop is used to bless us. That might be a common blessing, such as when the priest says “Peace be with you all” and blesses the congregation. It might also be an individual blessing, such as when we go to a priest and ask Him to bless us and He makes the sign of the cross over us. In the sacramental life of the church, there are frequent and personal blessings offered through the hand of the priest. For instance, the priest makes the sign of the cross several times over the man and woman who are being married. When we go to confession, the priest will place his stole over the head of a person who has confessed and then placing his hand over the stole, he will make the sign of the cross over the head of the penitent (the person going to confession). This is significant, because the stole of the priest represents he authority of the priestly office. The priest, by virtue of his priestly office, is allowed to pray the Prayer of Absolution over the penitent, asking God to forgive the person’s sins. This is why the priest never just puts his hand on a person’s head, but rather the stole first rests over the head and the priest’s hand goes above that.
Through the sacrament of the priesthood, the hand of God is imparted through the hand of the priest, and by virtue of ordination, the priest is emboldened to have his hand represent God’s hand, which is why the priesthood is so noble and at the same time so difficult, because who is worthy to have their hand stand in the place of God? No one.
Raising our hands to God in worship is something that is foreign to many Orthodox Christians. It is a normal part of worship in other denominations. There is some debate as to whether people should raise their hands to imitate the priest, who raises his hands during the Divine Liturgy when he says “Let us lift up our hearts.” Some people feel comfortable doing that and others do not. However, if you feel to raise your hands, there is nothing wrong with that. Raising our hands at that point of the service denotes a sense of surrender, that we are offering our hearts and by extension our lives to God in surrender.
It is also common for the priest to raise his hands when he offers and “ekphonisis,” or phrase of praise to the Holy Trinity following a set of petitions, such as “For to You belong all glory, honor and worship, to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.” It is also good to raise our hands to God during our private prayers and devotions.
Hands are used throughout our experience of worship, whether it is a hand that lights a candle, holds a liturgical book, or makes the sign of the cross. The hand of the priest holds the censer, the Gospel, the Holy Gifts, and the spoon which is used for distribution of Holy Communion. The hands of altar boys carry liturgical implements from the altar. During Holy Week, there are hands that carry the Tomb of Christ, hands that decorate icons, make prosphora, clean the church, and set things up for services.
The hands in the icons of male saints generally are making the sign of blessing, reminding us that a big part of our lives is to bless God by blessing others. In the icons it reminds us that we have the blessing of God through the blessed lives of the saints. In other icons, such as the icons of female saints, but even in the icons of male saints, hands hold banners, Scriptures, scrolls, Bibles and other things used to glorify God. Finally, in Orthodox iconography, hands are often painted proportionately large, to remind us that our hands are meant to be used for good works.
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is terrible, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom He loves. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted. Psalm 47
Our hands and the hands of others figure prominently in Orthodox worship and prayer.
