Yes, well this of course goes back to Apostolic times. In the deuterocanonical Gospel of St. Peter we read that subsequent to the Resurrection the Apostles were getting restless waiting for the Holy Ghost (He was still a Holy Ghost back then – the Holy Spirit thing is of more recent vintage). Philip suggested that they all stand in a circle holding hands and wish real hard and it would come to pass.
Enthused by his idea he grabbed Peter’s hand - to get the ball rolling, as it were. Peter wasn’t having any of this, being a manly man and packing a sword. He saith unto Philip: “Phil old son (there was a bit of prehistoric Irish in Peadar), if you don’t let go of my hand I’ll knock your block off!” – or whatever was the Aramaic equivalent expression at the time. Translations can be defective.
And so it came to pass that hand-holding was frowned upon in the Church from earliest times. That is, until the 1960s when young people and liturgists (which may be repetitious) with little regard for tradition – or even Tradition – sought to be innovative.
Yes, well this of course goes back to Apostolic times. In the deuterocanonical Gospel of St. Peter we read that subsequent to the Resurrection the Apostles were getting restless waiting for the Holy Ghost (He was still a Holy Ghost back then – the Holy Spirit thing is of more recent vintage). Philip suggested that they all stand in a circle holding hands and wish real hard and it would come to pass.
ReplyDeleteEnthused by his idea he grabbed Peter’s hand - to get the ball rolling, as it were. Peter wasn’t having any of this, being a manly man and packing a sword. He saith unto Philip: “Phil old son (there was a bit of prehistoric Irish in Peadar), if you don’t let go of my hand I’ll knock your block off!” – or whatever was the Aramaic equivalent expression at the time. Translations can be defective.
And so it came to pass that hand-holding was frowned upon in the Church from earliest times. That is, until the 1960s when young people and liturgists (which may be repetitious) with little regard for tradition – or even Tradition – sought to be innovative.
Well, I’m glad that’s over now.