Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

This page will offer a question and answer each month about the Mass or the Faith.

Q: Do you know why we fold our hands?

A: The traditional gesture of folding one’s hands, either with fingers interlocked or palms flat against each other, is a borrowing from social etiquette. It evolved among the German people in the Middle Ages, during the Age of Feudalism. When people took an oath of allegiance to the local lord, they placed their joined hands between those of the lord as a sign of submission and subjection. This origin adds meaning to a very traditional prayer gesture.