Clenched Fist or Opened Hands? (Excerpt from The Orthodox Way)
On the walls of the catacombs in Rome there is sometimes painted the figure of a woman praying, the Orans. She is gazing towards heaven, her open hands raised with palms upwards. This is one of the most ancient Christian ikons. Whom does she represent—the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church, or the soul at prayer? Or perhaps all three at once? However it is interpreted, this ikon depicts a basic Christian invocation or epiclesis, of calling down or waiting upon the Holy Spirit.
There are three main positions that we can assume with our hands, and each has its own symbolic meaning. Our hands may be closed, our fists clenched as a gesture of defiance or in an effort to grasp and to hold fast, thus expressing aggression or fear. At the other extreme our hands may hang listlessly by our sides, neither defiant nor receptive. Or else, as a third possibility, our hands may be lifted up like those of the Orans, no longer clenched but open, no longer listless but ready to receive the gifts of the Spirit. An all-important lesson upon the spiritual Way is understanding how to unclench our fists and to open our hands. Each hour and minute we are to make our own the action of the Orans: invisibly we are to lift our open hands to heaven, saying to the Spirit, Come.
Comments