At my first few Divine Liturgies, standing rather than kneeling during consecration came as a particular shock. So this week we will go through various postures of prayer and other prayerful actions during the Divine Liturgy, and why we do them.
Standing During Divine Liturgy
First of all, what does standing mean for us during the Divine Liturgy? Well, first it signifies our participation in the resurrection. Second, standing shows that we are attentive to God. And third, it shows we are ready to follow His will. In the East we use leavened bread, or risen bread, for the Eucharist, as a symbol of it being the resurrected Christ. So also we stand for consecration of the Eucharist to express our own participation in Christ’s resurrection. (Christ our Pascua, 627).
This call to stand is actually rooted in the Early Church, and not just in the East.
Emphasis is added for ease of use in the following quotations. First there is Tertullian (A.D. 155-220) who wrote “We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lord’s day to be unlawful. We rejoice in the same privilege also from Easter/Pascua to Pentecost.” (De Corona, Chapter 3). The First Council of Nicæa proclaimed the same thing in Canon 20, “For as much as there are certain persons who kneel on the Lord’s Day and in the days of Pentecost, therefore, to the intent that all things may be uniformly observed everywhere (in every parish), it seems good to the holy Synod that prayer be made to God standing.“
So there you go! Byzantine practice of standing during Divine Liturgy on Sundays is an ancient practice that has been preserved! When we attend a Roman liturgy, I still really enjoy and appreciate the reverence of kneeling. But I also appreciate the attentiveness of standing in the East.
So What About Kneeling?
Kneeling is very much a penitential sign in the East. It is signifies submission and humility. This is of course most appropriate for confession, and penitential seasons of the church. However, it is also a position for intercessory prayer. And so the church community kneels together on Pentecost to pray intercessory prayers for the world.
One particular time for kneeling is during the Great Fast, at Presanctified Liturgy, which you can read a bit about in our article on Great Lent. We do not consecrate the Eucharist during the week days of the Great Fast, and the liturgy takes on an entirely penitential nature. There is a lot of kneeling during this liturgy!
Bowing: Pokin/Metania
There are two purposes for bowing in the church. One is an expression of reverence, and the other is penitential. Small bows are usually for times of reverence, and during these we bend from the waist and make the sign of the cross. Some occasions for small bows include: after consecration, and for venerating icons, and other holy objects such as relics.
Another sign of reverence that is common is kissing. We kiss the Gospel, as well as icons and relics. This is a sign of the love we have for God. It is also an act of worship for Christ, and an act of veneration for the saints.
Large bows, which are also called great bows or prostrations, are generally more penitential in nature. We do these during Great Lent, Presanctified Liturgies, Holy Week, and during commemorations of the Holy Cross. And the prostration takes on the following form:
First, we make the sign of the cross. Then, we bring ourselves down to the ground, by kneeling, putting our hands on the ground, and then touching (or nearly touching) our head to the ground. During this part of the act we recognize our sinful nature and humble ourselves before God. Then we rise from the ground, remembering that through the cross we have been freed from our sins and that we join Christ in His resurrection. Typically, we make three prostrations at a time.
What We Do With Our Hands
The positioning of our hands is also greatly symbolic. Making the sign of the cross three times, for example, in honour of the most Holy Trinity.
Another positioning of our hands is over our heart. Here typically we place our right hand over our left in the shape of a cross. This is the position for receiving a blessing, and therefore being open to God’s grace. This is also the position we take for receiving the Eucharist. In this instance we are being receptive to receiving God’s life within our whole selves.
Keeping our arms by our sides is also significant. According to Christ our Pascua “Leaving the arms hanging alongside the body is an expression of openness and readiness to accept the will of God” (628). If we don’t need to hold the book during Divine Liturgy, we have our arms by our sides as we say “Lord have mercy” and therefore are open to His will in fulfilling the petitions we ask of Him.
Finally, there is a gesture reserved for the priest. During the Cherubic Hymn and the Our Father, for example, the priest lifts up his hands. This symbolizes the lifting our hearts and minds to God.
The Byzantine Life
Thank you for checking out this week’s article. Check out our articles on the use of leavened bread, or on liturgical colours, or the Byzantine Rosary.
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