Laying on of Hands

IMPOSITION OF HANDS. - A liturgical rite of rich symbolism and frequent use in the Church. In Greek the technical term for designating it is

χειροτονία (from the verb χειροτονεῖν), which replaced the generic expression ἐπίθασις τῶν χειρῶν. The original meaning of the terms χειροτονεῖν, χειροτονία is: "to elect by raising the hand"; afterward they were used as equivalents of "to constitute, to establish someone in an office"; only later, in ecclesiastical language, do they mean both the election of the sacred ministers and the ordination by means of the i. of h., and both acts together. A similar ideological evolution took place for the other term χειροθεσία (from the verb χειροθεστῆν). This one, however, will serve rather to designate the i. of h. different from that which the bishop performs in conferring the Sacred Orders.

I. THE RITE AND ITS ORIGIN

Although the expression "laying on of hands" suggests an application, a material and physical contact of both hands, nevertheless from the documentation it emerges first of all that it was not always both hands that were imposed. Latin writers speak more often of the hand in the singular: cf. Tertullian, De Baptismo, 8: "Dehinc manus imponitur"; St. Cyprian in his Epist., 74, 1: "Ut manus imponatur in poenitentiam"; whereas the use of the plural is more common both in the New Testament documents (cf. Mt. 19, 13, 15; Mk. 10, 16; Acts 8, 17; 19, 6; Hebr. 6, 2; I Tim. 4, 14; 5, 22; II Tim. 1, 6) and among the Greek writers. As regards physical contact, moreover, it is ordinarily presupposed or explicitly indicated by the New Testament, patristic and liturgical texts alike. Thus in Lk. 18, 15 it is openly stated that the children were brought to Jesus "ut eos tangeret"; and in the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua, concerning the consecration of bishops, it is prescribed: "Manibus caput eius tangant": PL 56, 887. There are, however, no lack of cases in which this contact does not occur, the laying on of hands being reduced to a simple extension of them. Such, for example, is the imposition for the dismissal of the catechumens as described by the Peregrinatio Etheriae (ed. C. Geyer [CSEL, 39], p. 72), which is performed by the bishop with a single extension of the hands over all those present.

The laying on of hands is usually accompanied by a prayer. It serves to indicate the particular meaning that is intended to be given to the rite, the specific purpose that is meant to be achieved by it. This prayer is already mentioned in certain New Testament texts as associated with the laying on of hands: cf. Acts 6, 6; 8, 15-17; 13, 3. Tertullian, moreover, De Baptismo, 8, writes: "Manus imponitur per benedictionem advocans et invitans Spiritum Sanctum"; St. Cyprian, Epist., 73, 9: "Per nostram orationem ac manus impositionem"; Eusebius, Hist. eccl., I, 13, 18; VII, 11, speaks of χειρῶν εὐχαί; and St. Augustine, De Baptismo, 3, 16, 21, defines the laying on of hands outright thus: "Manus impositio... quid est aliud nisi oratio super hominem?". It is from this prayer, considered in its primitive meaning of a formula of blessing (cf. Mk. 10, 16: "Imponens manus super parvulos, benedicebat eos"), that there originates the use, frequent in Christian antiquity, of designating the laying on of hands by the term "benedictio" as a part for the whole. And accordingly, with regard to Holy Ordination, St. Leo the Great, Epist., 9, 1, writes: "A ieiunantibus sacra benedictio conferatur"; and the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua prescribe, for the consecration of a bishop: "Uno super eum fundente benedictionem"; for the ordination of a priest: "Episcopo benedicente et manus super caput eius tenente"; for a deacon: "Episcopus qui eum benedicti": PL 56, 887-88.

As for the origin of the rite of the laying on of hands, recent scholars of the comparative history of religions, having ascertained its use in various pagan religious environments, have believed they found it in the Greco-Roman ceremonial; from this the laying on of hands would have passed first to the Jewish religion and then to the Christian one (cf. F. C. Conybeare, Myth, magic and morals. A study of christian origins, London

1910, pp. 32-25). Nevertheless, from the recognized universality of the use of the laying on of hands among various religions, it is not legitimate to conclude to necessary influences or to a mutual dependence, unless this be historically proved. The easy symbolism of the rite suffices to explain the spread of the use: analogously to what occurs with the rite of ablution, which many religions use to signify interior purification. Indeed, the Angelic Doctor writes, Sum. theol., 3ᵃ, q. 84, a. 4, ad 1: "Cum manus sit organum organorum, ut dicitur 3 De Anima, omnia opera attribuantur manibus". It is therefore obvious that the laying on of hands is the spontaneous and hence commonly adopted symbol for indicating either the transmission of virtue or the application of power; and it is to this fundamental symbolism that the uses which the laying on of hands has had in the different religions are connected. Nevertheless it is historically certain that the Church derived the rite of the laying on of hands, enriching it with new meanings, from the Jewish ceremonial, through the use that Jesus and the Apostles made of it.

II. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

It is found used: a) as a rite of blessing: Gen. 48:14-20, Jacob thus blesses Ephraim and Manasseh: "Extendens manum dexteram, posuit super caput Ephraim... sinistram autem super caput Manasse"; Lev. 9:22 it is said of Aaron: "Extendens manus ad populum, benedixit ei... b) As a rite of consecration to God, either of persons: Num. 8:10 it is established with regard to the Levites: "Cumque levitae fuerint coram Domino, ponent filii Israel manus super eos"; or of the victims for sacrifice: Ex. 29:10-11: "Imponent Aaron et filii eius manus super caput vituli, et mactabis cum in conspectu Domini"; Lev. 16:20-21, for the sacrifice of the scapegoat it is prescribed: "Offerat hircum viventem, et posita utraque manu super caput eius, confiteatur omnes iniquitates filiorum Israel"; other examples ibid. 1:4; 3:2; 4:4, 24, 29, 33; 8:14, 18, 22; 16:21; Num. 8:12; II Par. 29:23 etc. This laying on of hands upon the victim, according to the nature of the sacrifice, was performed either by the high priest (cf. Lev. 16:21), or by ordinary priests (cf. ibid. 4:4; 8:14, 18, 22), or by the Levites (cf. Num. 8:12), or by the elders of the people (cf. Lev. 4:15), or by the whole assembly present (cf. II Par. 29:23) or generally by him on whose initiative and for whose benefit particular sacrifices were offered (cf. Lev. 1:4: holocaust; ibid. 3:2, 8, 13: peace offering; ibid. 4:4, 24, 29, 33: sin offering). c) As a rite of investiture or conferral of power: Num. 27:18-20, when God commands Moses to appoint Joshua as his successor, he says to him: "Tolle Josue... et pone manum tuam super cum"; and indeed Moses, obeying the divine command, did so: "Impositis capiti Josue manibus...". It is well known, moreover, that the members of the Sanhedrin were ordained with the laying on of hands (cf. J. Z. Lauterbach, Ordination, in The Jewish encyclopedia, IX, pp. 428-29). d) As a rite of oath, it is indicated in Dan. 13:34, where it is said that before pronouncing their accusations against Susanna, the two judges "posuerunt manus suas super caput eius".

III. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

During the years of his public life Jesus frequently imposed his hands. First of all to heal the sick: Mk. 6:5 says in a general way that during his stay at Nazareth, the Lord "paucos infirmos impositis manibus curavit"; also in Lk. 4:40, regarding the various sick people brought to Jesus on the occasion of his visit to Capernaum, it is said with a general expression: "At ille singulis manus imponens curabat eos." There are then many particular cases, reported by the Evangelists, in which Jesus accomplishes the healing by imposing his hands: cf. ibid. 13:13: healing of a woman bent double; Mt. 8:3; Mk. 1:41; Lk. 5:13: healing of a leper; Mk. 5:23, Jairus, with regard to his sick daughter, thus begs Jesus: "Filia mea in extremis est, veni, impone manum super eam ut salva sit"; also those who present a deaf-mute to the Lord so that he may heal him (ibid. 7:32) beg Jesus "ut imponat illi manum ». One therefore understands the admiring remark of the inhabitants of Nazareth about the power of healing exercised by Jesus through the i. o. h., reported as follows (ibid. 6, 2): « Unde huic... virtutes tales quae per manus eius efficiantur? ». Finally, Jesus himself foretells (ibid. 16, 18) concerning his disciples: « Super aegros manus imponent et bene habebunt ».

But Jesus also used the i. o. h. to bless: Mt. 19, 13 says that children are brought to the Lord « ut manus eis imponeret et oraret ». And welcoming this desire, Jesus, as we read in Mc. 10, 16, clasps the little ones to his breast « et imponens manus super illos, benedicebat eos »; according to Lc. 24, 50, Jesus, before ascending into heaven, blessed the Apostles by stretching out his hands over them: « Elevatis manibus suis, benedixit eis ».

Following the example of Jesus, and in accordance with the promise he made, the Apostles too used the i. o. h. to heal the sick: in Act. 9, 12.17, it is narrated that Ananias restored Paul's sight « imponens ei manus »; ibid. 28, 8 we read that Paul healed the father of the governor of Malta « cum... imposuisset ei manus »; ibid. 5, 12 it is said, in a generic form, that many wonders were wrought among the people « per manus Apostolorum »; ibid. 19, 11 we read that God worked extraordinary miracles « per manum Pauli ».

But it is especially as a rite of blessing or of consecration that the i. o. h. is used by the Apostles. It is by imposing hands that they give the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized; cf. ibid. 8, 17.19: communication of the Holy Spirit to the Samaritans by Peter and John; ibid. 19, 7: Paul gives the Holy Spirit to the converts of Ephesus. It is by imposing hands that they ordain the ministers who are to be their coadjutors or successors in the administration or government of the new Church: cf. ibid. 6, 6: ordination of the first deacons; ibid. 13, 3: consecration of Paul and Barnabas; I Tim. 4, 14; II Tim. 1, 6: consecration of Timothy as bishop. And it is this use of the i. o. h., made from the beginning by the various Apostles, in different places and at different times, yet without any shadow of discussion or doubt, that already sufficiently demonstrates how it was in dependence on an explicit will of Jesus that the Apostles, in giving the Holy Spirit (Confirmation) and in appointing ministers for the government of the Church (Order), used the rite of the i. o. h.

It seems furthermore that the Apostles also imposed hands for the reconciliation of sinners (Penance). This opinion is founded on the words of St. Paul in I Tim. 5, 22: «Manus cito nemini imposueris, neque communicaveris peccatis alienis»: words that are referred not to the Ordination of sacred ministers, since the Apostle spoke of these in ch. 3, but rather to the reconciliation of sinners, of whom he treats for the greater part of ch. 5, in relation to the manner Timothy must use in repressing the various disorders or abuses that had occurred in the Church. Finally, it is held, with good foundation, that for Extreme Unction, according to the text of Iac. 5, 14, the Apostles used the i. o. h. together with the anointing. And the hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that Origen, In Lev., hom. 2, 4, in place of «orent super eum» of the text of St. James, reads «imponant ei manum».

IV. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IN ANCIENT LITURGY

Handed down by Christ to the Apostles, and frequently used by them, the imposition of hands holds particular importance in ancient liturgy, in which it performs a function of the very first order. Indeed, it is employed as a frequent gesture of blessing, so that, as has been said, the term "blessing" is in antiquity often synonymous with the imposition of hands. It is also used for exorcisms: and therefore Origen, In librum Iesu Nave, hom. 24, 1, speaks of "exorcistarum invocationes, orationes, ieiunia... et exorcistarum manus impositione vehementius imposita super immundos spiritus." But it is especially through the use that was made of the imposition of hands in the administration of all the Sacraments that its importance is manifested, so much so that it was considered, in Christian antiquity, as the liturgical gesture par excellence.

In fact, with regard to Baptism, it was with the imposition of hands that admission to the catechumenate first took place: "Imposita universis manu, catechumenos fecit," writes Sulpicius Severus of St. Martin, Dial., 2, 4. It was with the imposition of hands that the catechumens were dismissed at the end of the first part of the Mass: cf. Canones Hippolyti, can. 99: "Doctor imponat catechumenis manum antequam illos denuttat." During the days of immediate preparation for Baptism, impositions of hands were frequent: "Manus impositione crebra examinati," say the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua, can. 23, on this point. Finally, it was in the very act of administering Baptism that the imposition of hands was renewed; this is evident from the Traditio Apostolica of Hippolytus (ed. R. Connolly, The so-called Egyptian Church Order and derived documents, Cambridge 1916, p. 185), in which it is said that for each of the interrogations on faith in the individual Persons of the Trinity and during the triple immersion the priest "manum suam capiti baptizando imponat...; manum habens in caput eius impositam baptizet semel..."

Confirmation, continuing the practice of the Apostles, was conferred with the imposition of hands. Tertullian therefore writes, De Baptismo, 8, that after Baptism "manus imponitur per benedictionem invocans et invitans Spiritum Sanctum"; and De resurrectione carnis, 8: "Cero manus impositione adumbratur ut et anima Spiritu illuminetur."

To the imposition of hands an anointing was soon added: but, at first, only in order to render more evident and more perceptible the effect of communicating the Holy Spirit, proper to Confirmation, given the very well-known biblical symbolism of oil and anointing to indicate the Person and action of the Holy Spirit, already noted by St. Augustine, Contra Maximum Arianum, 2, 16, 3: "Spiritum Sanctum Scriptura, nomine olei exultationis, figurata ut solet locutione, significat."

The imposition of hands in the celebration of the Eucharist is attested by the Traditio Apostolica of Hippolytus (ed. cit., p. 176) and by the writings that derive from it. In that work, in fact, with regard to the bishop who is being consecrated, it is said that he must recite the Eucharistic prayer "imponens manum in oblationem..."

In Penance the imposition of hands was the rite that customarily accompanied the absolution of penitents. In the correspondence of St. Cyprian, mention of this rite is frequent, on the occasion of the controversy over the reconciliation of the lapsed: Epist., 16, 2: "Cum in minoribus peccatis ingant peccatores poenitentiam iusto tempore... et per manus impositionem... ius communicationis accipiant, nunc... ad communionem admittantur... nondum manu eis ab episcopo et clero imposita»; Epist., 17, 2: «Nec ad communionem venire quis possit nisi prius illi ab episcopo et clero manus fuerit imposita»; cf. Epist., 15, 1; Epist., 18, 1; Epist., 19, 2, etc. St. Jerome, Adv. Luciferianos, 5, thus describes the priest's ministry of reconciliation: «Sacerdes imponit manum subiecto... atque ita eum... altario reconciliat». Furthermore, for those who were subject to public penance, the i. of h. was the gesture with which they were dismissed, after having participated in the portion of the Eucharistic liturgy granted to them: cf. St. Augustine, Sermo 232, 7, 8: «Abundant hic poenitentes: quando illis imponitur manus, fit ordo longissimus». Also for the particular reconciliation of heretics, Pope St. Stephen, Epist. Cypr., 74, 1, in the 3rd century, presents the i. of h. as the traditional rite: «Si qui a quacumque haeresi venient ad vos, nihil innovetur nisi quod traditum est, ut manus illis imponatur in poenitentiam».

For the use of the i. of h. in Extreme Unction, the testimony of Origen has already been cited. Another testimony can be found in the twofold expression «benedicere et tangere chrismate» which, with regard to this Sacrament, occurs in the letter of St. Innocent I to Decentius, bishop of Gubbio (Denz-U, 99); it seems in fact, according to what has been said, that the term «benedicere» must there be understood as a synonym of «manum imponere».

Regarding the sacrament of Order it is very well known how the i. of h. was, in Christian antiquity, the rite of Ordination for bishops, presbyters and deacons. It was only in the early Middle Ages that, in order to express more clearly the power conferred by the individual Orders, the Church added to this rite the so-called tradition of the instruments, that is, the handing over of those objects that were to serve the newly ordained for the use of the power received in Ordination.

In Matrimony, although there are no formal testimonies for the use of the i. of h., many authors are inclined to admit it, because of the noted equivalence of the terms «benedictio» and «impositio manus». In the celebration of Matrimony, in fact, according to Tertullian, Ad uxorem, 2, 9, such a «benedictio» was required, as he writes: «Unde sufficiamus ad enarrandam felicitatem eius Matrimonii, quod Ecclesia conciliat, et confirmat oblatio, et obsignat benedictio?». And this equivalence of the two terms, for Matrimony, is confirmed by the fact that the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua (PL 56, 887-89) use the word «benedicere» not only for the ritual of the sacred Ordinations, which certainly require the i. of h., but also for Matrimony; whereas for the minor Orders, for which the i. of h. is not used, this word does not occur.

V. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IN MODERN LITURGY

The evolution, through the centuries, of the liturgical rites has seemed to diminish the ancient importance of the laying on of hands. In fact, in some rites it has now disappeared entirely; in others it is made less evident by the introduction of new ceremonies. In reality the laying on of hands is still in use, besides in certain blessings (cf. Pontificale Romanum, Benedictio Abbatis), also in some exorcisms; the formula, however, that the bishop uses in ordaining exorcists: « Habete potestatem imponendi manus super energumenos » is rather a remembrance of the ancient Ritual for performing exorcisms.

With regard to the Sacraments, for Baptism, the Roman Ritual preserves the laying on of hands in the preparatory rites; it occurs twice in the ordo for the Baptism of children (cf. Ordo Baptismi parvulorum, nn. 5, 9), while for adults it is also employed in the exorcisms that precede the administration of the Sacrament (cf. Ordo Baptismi adultorum, nn. 17, 19, 21).

In Confirmation, besides a first imposition or extension of the hands that occurs at the beginning of the rite, there is a second which is performed together with the anointing of the forehead, according to what is prescribed in the new edition of the Roman Ritual, Appendix, De Confirmatione: « Imposita manu dextera super caput confirmandi, producit pollice signum Crucis in fronte ».

In today's celebration of the Eucharist there is a laying on of hands before the Consecration at the prayer « Hunc igitur oblationem », which the priest, according to the rubric, must recite « tenens manus expansas super oblata ». It recalls in some way the ancient laying on of hands in use in the consecration of the Eucharist.

The laying on of hands of the ancient liturgy for the administration of Penance is recalled in the prescription of the Ritual, Absolutionis forma communis, n. 2, that the priest must keep his right hand raised: « Dextera versus paenitentem elevata », while he recites the prayer « Indulgentiam, absolutionem etc. ».

In the administration of Extreme Unction, the ancient gesture of the laying on of hands in the Roman Ritual, Ordo ministrandi sacramentum E. U., n. 7, is only recalled in the prayer that precedes the anointing of the sick person, in which it is said: « Extinguatur in te omnis virtus diaboli per impositionem manuum nostrarum ».

The laying on of hands is still in use in the ordination of deacons, of priests and of bishops, although various other rites are associated with it, among which the one of the « tradition of the instruments » holds greater importance, historically and doctrinally.

In the ritual of the celebration of Matrimony, no laying on of hands is any longer found.

VI. DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION

It is commonly admitted by theologians that the imposition of hands, although of very ancient use in the administration of the Sacraments, has nevertheless never constituted an essential element of their rite, with the exception of Confirmation and Order. Some have wished to extend this exception also to Penance, as if, in this Sacrament, in antiquity the imposition of hands had been an essential part of the rite. This, however, is easily denied, both on historical grounds, which show how sometimes the ancient Church reconciled sinners without the liturgical rite of the imposition of hands; and on theological grounds, founded on the judicial nature of the sacrament of Penance, which does not require such a liturgical rite.

With regard to the sacraments of Confirmation and Order, it is nevertheless debated whether the imposition of hands, which is found in their administration, has preserved or not, through the centuries and down to the present day, that character of essential element of the rite which it had in the apostolic era and in the earliest times of the Church: when, together with the concomitant formula of prayer, it constituted the whole materiality of the sacramental rite. For many centuries the question has keenly engaged scholars. Since, in fact, in the 3rd century, an anointing with oil was added to the imposition of hands of Confirmation; and in the 9th-11th centuries, a "tradition of the instruments" was added to the imposition of hands of Order, it is debated whether these new rites have, by the will of the Church, either prevailed so as to claim for themselves the role of the sole essential element of the sacramental sign, or shared that role with the permanent imposition of hands, or whether they were instead merely accidental rites. The discussion widens by reason of the controversial theological opinions that it calls to mind, both on the manner of the determination of the sacramental rites by Christ, and on the power of the Church in such rites.

Referring for a broad treatment of the controversy to the entries ORDINE; SACRAMENTI, here it will suffice to note that, as regards Order, after the constitution Sacramentum Ordinis of Pius XII, dated 30 Nov. 1947, it must be held that the imposition of hands, setting aside the historical question of the previous value of the "tradition of the instruments," is now the only essential element which, together with the prescribed formula of prayer, constitutes the whole rite of Ordination. For Confirmation, the imposition of hands remains still, as before, an essential element of the sacramental rite, together, however, with the added anointing with chrism. Such imposition of hands, however, is understood to be not that which occurs at the beginning of the liturgical function for the administration of Confirmation, since it is not required for the validity of the Sacrament, but rather that which is associated with the anointing with chrism, according to the ancient teaching of the Church, renewed in the present prescription of the CIC, can. 781 § 2, whereby in the administration of Confirmation "unctio ne fiat aliquo instrumento, sed ipsa ministri manu capiti confirmandi rite imposita."

Francesco Carpino

VII. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IN ANCIENT CHRISTIAN ICONOGRAPHY

In theological or liturgical works on the laying on of hands, taking into account the various purposes of the gesture, five distinct rites have come to be distinguished: of blessing, of healing, of ordination, of Confirmation, and of reconciliation. Following in part a path of its own, that is, using the gesture as a figurative sign of particular concepts, ancient Christian art employs it as a rite of blessing, of healing, of the conferral of supernatural graces, of the Holy Spirit, and of reconciliation.

For this reason the laying on of hands takes its place in the historic depiction of the patriarchal blessings, from which it receives precisely its precise and fundamental meaning of blessing, and in the scenes of the various healings worked by Christ (paralytics, the lame man, the blind, the woman with the hemorrhage; Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pl. 212, 2). It is never used, however, on behalf of the possessed, who are freed by the simple gesture of a word or a command. The laying on of hands is found again in the scenes of the creation of man raised to supernatural life, in various representations with eucharistic meaning (the feeding of the crowds in the desert, the blessings of the loaves and fishes — the only objects touched by Christ's hand! — Habakkuk with food for Daniel; id., ibid., pls. 113, 1; 115, 2; 212, 2) or alluding to immortality. As a rite of the Holy Spirit it is encountered in the scenes of Baptism, where it must be considered a post-baptismal rite. As a judicial or absolution rite it is clearly illustrated by the scenes of Susanna falsely accused (Wilpert, Pitture, pl. 14, 2), or, with the opposite meaning, of the faithful before the divine tribunal after death. In the representations of Christ's miracles, the laying on of hands, besides the gesture of the word, had its counterpart in the use of the wonder-working rod; the latter, however, is never used on behalf of living beings.