Sustulit exutas vinclis ad sidera palmas: Thus Virgil, to quote only one, relates how the traitorous Sinon lifted his hands towards heaven after they had been freed from the cords with which he had been bound: There are innumerable allusions to this practice in the Classical writers of Greece and Rome. There is one gesture which we find in the oldest religions, as well as among the Jews and early Christians, namely, that of extending the arms and of lifting the hands towards heaven, or towards the divinity to which supplication was made. For that reason gestures play a very important role in our religious functions and, because in the course of time all ceremonies have a tendency to become rigid and formal, not to say conventional, we must know their origin and meaning, so that they should never degenerate into a soulless mummery. The Liturgy of the Church neglects none of those things which may be of assistance in our worship of God. We have but to watch ourselves attentively, and we shall soon find by personal experience that any strong feeling or emotion tends to reveal itself by some outward action or gesture. At times the gestures of an Italian, or an Oriental, are so expressive or descriptive of that which forms the subject of conversation, that a deaf man should not find it impossible to guess at that which is being discussed by watching the gesticulations of the interlocutors. Now, if even the more stolid Northerner frequently accompanies his speech with gestures of hands and arms and other movements of the body, such dramatic actions are far more commonly witnessed in the South. The natives of these countries are, broadly speaking, more lively and demonstrative than the inhabitants of our colder northern latitudes. The Liturgy of the Catholic Church was formed in the East and in the southern countries of Europe. Shop: Roman Catholic "RC" Brand Original White Logo Collection Premium Tee | Multiple colors and sizes available!
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