Orans
headcovering
and praying in the orant posture.jpg)
Orans, a loanword from
History
The orans posture is widespread in the art of the
Late Bronze Age. It was in origin a gesture of supplication or submission shown towards a deity (or the image of a deity) upon entering a temple.[5]
The orans position is seen throughout the
Psalms (such as Psalm 134:2–3, Psalm 28:2, Psalm 63:4–5, Psalm 141:2, Psalm 143:6).[6] It has been argued that the gesture was adopted by Early Christianity from Second Temple Judaism.[7] References in the New Testament are 1 Timothy 2:8, and Hebrews 12:12–13.[7] The biblical ordinance of lifting hands up in prayer was advised by many early Christian apologists, including Marcus Minucius Felix, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian.[1][2] Christians saw the position as representing the posture of Christ on the Cross; therefore, it was the favorite of early Christians. Some scholars also assert that the deference this pose exhibits—with the outstretched hands showing a sort of submission to a religious power—is intertwined with Roman ideas of pietas; this encapsulates notions of family values, civic honor and charitable behavior.[8][9]
In
canon, and the Lord's Prayer in the gesture of orant; in the Maronite Church's Holy Qurbana, the congregation together with the priest lift up their hands in the orans posture during various parts of the liturgy, such as the anaphora and Lord's Prayer.[11][3]
The orans gesture survived the Reformation and was preserved in the liturgy of the Lutheran and Anglican Churches.
The orans posture experienced a revival within Pentecostalism and Charismatic Christianity under the umbrella of the contemporary worship movement of the mid-20th century.[10][12][13]
Depictions in art
Virgin Mary
in the Orans positionOrans was common in early
Jews and Gentiles, and indeed the iconographic type of the Orans was itself strongly influenced by classic representations. But the meaning of the orans of Christian art is quite different from that of its prototypes.[15] It is possible that medieval representations of a diminutive body, figure of the soul, issuing from the mouths of the dying were reminiscences of the orans as a symbol of the soul. Other theories imply a less metaphorical view, instead arguing that the heavily feminine iconography of orans sheds light on the state of female involvement in the early Church.[8]
Numerous Biblical figures, for instance, depicted in the
St. Cecilia speaks of souls leaving the body like virgins: Vidit egredientes animas eorum de corporibus, quasi virgines de thalamo ("He saw their souls coming out of their bodies, like virgins from the chamber"), and so also the Acts of Sts. Peter and Marcellinus.[15] Other academic opinions, however, disagree with the metaphorical nature of the above theories; citing the large amount of female orans figures and their common characteristics, they argue that the prevalence of non-male figures indicates unacknowledged female leadership in the early church.[8][17] While writings focusing female leaders is rare in early Christianity, scholars look to art to provide a more holistic picture; in particular, women appearing to supervise eucharist—in orans position—in catacomb iconography leads some to propose the existence of female leadership in the church.[8][17]
This represents a less metaphorical lens than that of the feminine orans representing the soul.
The earlier orantes were depicted in the simplest garb, and without any striking individual traits, but in the fourth century the figures become richly adorned, and of marked individuality, an indication of the approach of historic art. One of the most remarkable figures of the orans cycle, dating from the early fourth century, is interpreted by Wilpert as the Blessed Virgin interceding for the friends of the deceased. Directly in front of Mary is a boy, not in the orans attitude and supposed to be the
Christ.[15]
The Platytéra, a
Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Sign which is standing in the orans gesture, usually placed on the half-dome above the altar of Byzantine-style churches, and facing down the nave
.
Some orans-type Eastern Orthodox icons of the Virgin Mary
-
Orans (catacombs of Rome), first half of IV c. -
Orans of Kyiv. Mosaic. XI c. -
Orans in Kyiv Saint Sophia cathedral. -
Our Lady of the Sign icon. Veliky Novgorod. First half of XII c. -
Inexhaustible Chalice icon. Serpukhov. XIX c.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8308-7917-5.
Because early Christians were Jewish, they naturally lifted their hands in prayer, like the veiled orans figures in the catacombs. The apostle Paul advised the earliest Christians, "I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing" (1 Tim 2:8) and early church literature indicates the widespread practice of this prayer position. In the first through third centuries, Marcus Minucius Felix, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian either advised Christians to lift up hands in prayer, or at least mentioned the practice.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8028-0846-2.calls "lifting holy hands" in prayer (a gesture stretching from the orans pictures in the catacombs to modern Pentecostalism), in penitential or submissive kneeling, in reverential genuflections, in the ascetical practices suggested by the apostle Paul's athletic imagery (1 Cor. 9:24-27; 1 Tim. 6:6-16; 2 Tim. 4:7f).
The piety shows itself in the informal signing of one's body with the sign of the cross, in what 1 Timothy 2:8
- ^ a b c d e f g "Why do we extend our arms when praying the Our Father and at other times during the Maronite anaphora?". Living Maronite. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
This is sometimes referred to as the Orans posture. The posture is explicitly directed by the presently used Maronite Qorbono. The posture has in its origins an association with prayer. It can be found in the Old Testament. In Psalm 141 we pray: "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice." The posture is referred to in the New Testament at 1 Timothy 2:8, in the instructions concerning prayer: "I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument;" We see the posture in the early Church catacomb icons as depicted here. The icon perhaps gives us the best indication of why the posture is presently used in the Maronite Mass.
- ^ a b Dawood, Bishoy (8 December 2013). "Stand, Bow, Prostrate: The Prayerful Body of Coptic Christianity: Clarion Review". Clarion Review. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
Standing facing the East is the most frequent prayer position. The person praying usually holds his or her hands outwards in the 'orans' position, which is a common Christian position of prayer, frequently portrayed in ancient Christian art, including in Coptic iconography. At other times, hands may be kept down to the sides or held together as a sign of standing in humility before God. Some people choose to hold a cross in their hands as they stand in the orans position; in this case, the sign of the cross traced over the body ends with kissing the cross.
- ^ David M. Calabro, "Gestures of Praise: Lifting and Spreading the Hands in Biblical Prayer", in David Rolph Seely, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, and Matthew J. Grey (eds.),Ascending the Mountain of the Lord Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament (2013).
- ^ Byrum, Enoch Edwin (1904). "Ordinances of the Bible: Showing the Ordinances that Have Been Abolished, and Those Still in Vogue". Gospel Trumpet Company. p. 114.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8146-1036-7.
This Jewish gesture of prayer was apparently adopted by Christians for private as well as communal prayer.
- ^ a b c d Cohick, L. H., & Hughes, A. B. "Christian Women in Catacomb Art." Christian women in the patristic world: Their influence, authority, and legacy in the second through Fifth Centuries, 65-88. Baker Academic. 2017.
- )
- ^ a b Stephen Burns, SCM Studyguide to Liturgy (Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd, 2006), 62.
- ^ "Liturgical Gestures." New Catholic Encyclopedia. second edition, volume 8. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 646-650. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 February 2012.
- ^ Paul Harvey and Philip Goff, The Columbia documentary history of religion in America since 1945 (Columbia University Press, 2005), 347.
- ^ Larry Witham, Who shall lead them?: the future of ministry in America (Oxford University Press, 1 July 2005), 134.
- ISBN 978-0-536-41910-1.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ a b c d Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Wilpert "Ein Cyklus christologischer Gemälde aus der Katakombe der Heiligen Petrus und Marcellinus" (Freiburg, 1891);
- ^ a b Torjesen, K. (2020). The Early Christian Orans: An Artistic Representation of Women's Liturgical Prayer and Prophecy. In Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity (pp. 42-56). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Orans". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
