The Vocabulary of Prayer - Walking

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Articles and movies have explored the spiritual dimension of walking this road.

However one does not have to go to Spain to enter into the spiritual experience of walking. Every year, the entire Church is invited to enter on a journey on the vigil of Easter. The Church gathers in the silence and darkness that follow upon Good Friday.

Vatican Council II used an image of the Church as a pilgrim people: Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an exile in the desert, was already called the Church of God. So likewise the new Israel which while living in this present age goes in search of a future and abiding city is called the Church of Christ. (Lumen Gentium #9)

A new fire is kindled and the Paschal Candle is lighted from it, a sign of our risen Lord. That burning candle then leads us all.  The LORD preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light. (Exodus 13:21)

The oft repeated command of Jesus in the gospels is: “Follow me.” We follow Christ into the church building, the sign of the heavenly Jerusalem, illuminated by the light that each of us bears, the light of Christ that enlightens each of us.

The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and to it the kings of the earth will bring their treasure. During the day its gates will never be shut, and there will be no night there. (Revelation 21:23-24)

The darkness of a world in need of Christ, the light of Christ entrusted to each of us, the power of that light when we walk together, the vision of peace as we gather around the Lord’s table to share in the wedding feast of the Lamb.  (Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed* are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:9)

The Easter Vigil procession is not merely a matter of getting from one place into our usual place it church. It is a summary of our Christian faith. It is an invitation to see in our walking behind the Paschal Candle an image of discipleship lived out in daily life. It is an invitation to pray.

The Vocabulary of Prayer – Ritual Gestures

Probably, our most common ritual gesture is signing one’s self with the cross. Like any action that is repeated often, it is easily done in a rote manner.

This act is rooted in our baptism. When an infant is brought to church to be baptized, the priest together with the parents and godparents mark the child’s forehead with a cross as the priest says: We claim you for Christ with the sign of the cross.

The sign is repeated in Confirmation when the bishop signs the forehead of the one being confirmed and says “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

This added notion of sealing has its roots in the book of Revelation: Then I saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the Israelites. (Revelation 7:2-4)

The idea of seal is rooted in the practice of sealing official documents with a signet ring which left an impression. The seal of the Holy Spirit imprints in us a likeness of God.

The hymn “Lift High the Cross” has these same ideas: “the new-born servants of the Crucified bear on their brows the seal of him who died.”

When we begin our prayer by signing ourselves with the cross, we are, as it were, identifying ourselves to the God we are praying to as one of his own, as one who is a member of the Body of Christ.

Signing the forehead of an infant or child is a fine practice for parents when they put their children to bed or send them off on a trip.

I think that it is also an appropriate act when infants or young children accompany their parents in the communion procession. It is a sign that this person belongs to Christ. (This is quite different, in my mind, to inviting non-communicants to “receive a blessing.)

This ritual gesture is rich in meaning even before we add any words to the act.

The Vocabulary of Prayer - Bowing

The older rite of the Mass (pre-Vatican II) had many occasions when bowing was called for and very specific directions on the type of bow. There are fewer calls for bowing in our current rite.

Bowing is another way in which we engage our body in our prayer. I grew up at a time when we were taught to bow our heads at the name of Jesus. It is something I still do – automatically, without any need to think about it. And I am happy to have that habit of reverencing the name of the Lord. This bow is a simple bow of the head.

There is a deeper bow, head and shoulders, which I make when entering or leaving church and when I pray the Holy, Holy, Holy. This also is a sign of reverence for the altar, the cross, and the transcendent mystery of God.

And there is the profound bow from the waist. I do this when “I confess to Almighty God that I have sinned…”

One bow that is less common is touching one’s forehead to the ground while kneeling. This is the common prayer position for Muslims when saying their daily prayers. It has its roots in the Old Testament:

Ezra opened the scroll so that all the people might see it, for he was standing higher than any of the people. When he opened it, all the people stood. Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!” Then they knelt down and bowed before the LORD, their faces to the ground. (Nehemiah 8:5-6)

We also find it in the Gospels:

They (the magi) were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. (Matthew 2:10-11)

Attending to such bodily actions can enrich our prayer.

The Vocabulary of Prayer - Posture

Our posture is another resource for our prayer. It is easy to pay little attention to posture; we simply stand, sit, or kneel at the proper times.

However, there are different ways of standing. There is a difference in simply “standing around” and standing up to greet someone. In the first case, one can simple be “killing time.” In the second our body is part of our communication with the person we are greeting.

Standing is the posture of a free person. The first Ecumenical Council of the Church decreed that it was forbidden for Christians to kneel to pray on Sundays because that was the day of the resurrection.

We stand in the presence of important people. At Mass, we stand to greet Christ in the Gospel. If we are attentive to our posture, our standing is an acknowledgement of the presence of Christ in the Gospel that is about to be proclaimed to us.

When we sit for the first two readings, we can simply sit down or we can sit and focus our attention on the word of Scripture.

We do not spend as much time kneeling in prayer as we once did. But it is still an important posture of prayer, a posture that recognizes the transcendence and greatness of the God to whom we pray.

Another, less common posture is prostrating our self on the floor. It is a dramatic gesture which the liturgy calls for in two instances. At ordinations, the entire assembly calls upon as the saints and those to be ordained are prostrate on the floor of the sanctuary. On Good Friday, the ministers enter in silence and prostrate themselves before the altar in silent prayer.

Although it is customary to depict St. Clare holding the ciborium with the Eucharist, at the convent in Assisi where she lived, she is said to have prostrated herself in prayer before the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle as she prayed for the deliverance of Assisi from the mercenaries that were marching on the city.

Saint John Paul II’s secretary has said that he would find John Paul prostrate in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Our bodily posture is meant to be part of our prayer and will be, much more so if we attend to it.

The Vocabulary of Prayer - Hands

When we pray, our bodies are meant to be part of that prayer. Perhaps the most natural bodily expression of prayer is the use of our hands.

It is very common for people, when they pray before a meal to join hands as an expression of community, of our desire to be more deeply related to one another. This has also become common practice in many places when we pray the Lord’s Prayer at Mass. It is physical witness to our belief that we are one family, God’s daughters and sons gathered around the Lord’s Table to be nourished with the shared Bread and Cup of Life.

The tradition folded hands has its roots in feudalism. It is still the gesture used by a priest at his ordination. He kneels before the bishop who ordains him and who takes the priest’s hands in his own as the priest promises obedience and respect. When we pray with folded hands, we figuratively invite the Lord to take our hands in his.

We can also pray with open hands, a sign of offering. We come before the Lord with open hands and the Lord fills them with the Bread of Life.

Another gesture with our hands is with hands lifted up and outstretched. This position is the mirror image of Jesus outstretched hands on the cross. It is an invitation to the Lord to bring to greater perfection the image of Jesus in us.

There is a painting by Giovanni Bellini in the Frick Collection in New York which depicts St. Francis praying with his hands extended.

The manner in which we use our hands can help us to focus our prayer.