Imposition of Hands

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A symbolicalceremony by which one intends to communicate to another some favour, quality or excellence (principally of a spiritual kind), or to depute another to some office. The rite has had a profane or secular as well as a sacred usage. It is extremely ancient, having come down from patriarchal times. Jacob bequeathed a blessing and inheritance to his two sons Ephraim and Manasses by placing his hands upon them (Genesis 48:14) and Moses onJosue the hegemony of the Hebrew people in the same manner (Numbers 27:18, 23). In theNew TestamentOur Lord employed this rite to restore life to the daughter of Jairus (Matthew 9:18) and to give health to the sick (Luke 6:19). The religious aspect of thisceremony first appeared in theconsecration of Aaron and his sons to the office ofpriesthood. Before immolating animals in sacrifice thepriests, according to theMosaic ritual, laid hands upon the heads of the victims (Exodus 29;Leviticus 8:9); and in the expressive dismissal of the scapegoat the officiant laid his hands on the animal's head andprayed that thesins of the people might descend thereon and be expiated in the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21). The Apostles imposed hands on the newlybaptized, that they might receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost in confirmation (Acts 8:17, 19;19:6); on those to be promoted to holy orders (Acts 6:6;13:3;1 Timothy 4:14;2 Timothy 1:6;Matthew 13); and on others to bestow somesupernatural gift or corporal benefit (Acts,passim). In fact this rite was so constantly employed that the "imposition of hands" came to designate an essentialCatholic doctrine (Hebrews 6:2).

To understand clearly the extent to which the imposition of hands is employed in theChurch at present it will benecessary to view it in its sacramental ortheological as well as in its ceremonial orliturgical aspect. In confirmation, the imposition of hands constitutes the essential matter of the sacrament, not however that which precedes the anointing, but that which takes place at the actual application of thechrism (S.C. de Prop. Fide, 6 Aug., 1840). In the sacrament ofHoly orders it enters either wholly or in part, into the substance of the rite by which most of the higher grades are conferred. Thus in theordination ofdeacons according to the Latin rite it is at least partial matter of the sacrament; in conferring thepriesthood there is a threefold imposition, viz.: (a) when the ordainingprelate followed by thepriests, lays hands on the head of the candidatenil dicens; (b) when he and thepriests extend hands during theprayer, "Oremus, fratres carissimi", and (c) when he imposes hands at giving power to forgivesins, saying "Accipe Spiritum Sanctum". The first and second of these impositions combined constitute in theLatin Church partial matter of the sacrament, thetraditio instrumentorum being required for the adequate or complete matter. The Greeks, however, rely on the imposition alone as the substance of the sacramental rite. In theconsecration ofbishops the imposition of hands alone pertains to the essence (seeC;O).

The ceremonial usage is much more extensive. (1) Inbaptism thepriest signs the forehead and breast with thesign of the cross, lays hands on the head during theprayer, "preces nostras", and again after theexorcism, beseechingGod to send down the light oftruth into the purifiedsoul (cf. Rom. Rit.).Tertullian mentions imposition being used in conferringbaptism in his own day (de Bap., VI, VII, &c.). (2) In penance the minister merely raises his hand at the giving ofabsolution. The ancientordines (cf. Martene, "De antiqua ecclesiæ disciplina",passim), record this custom. (3) In extreme unction there is no imposition of hands enjoined by therubrics, although in theprayer immediately before the anointing the words "per impositionem manuum nostrarum" occur. Possibly the imposition is contained in the unctions as it is in the administration of confirmation. (4) Apart from thesacraments the rite is also employed in almost all the variousblessings ofpersons and things. Abbots and virgins are thus blessed (cf. Roman Pontifical and Ritual). (5) In the reconciliation of public penitents and the reception of schismatics,heretics, andapostates into theChurch, hands were formerly, and still are, imposed (cf. Duchesne, "Christian Worship", pp. 328, 435,St. Cyprian,De Lapsis 16). (6) Those obsessed byevil spirits are similarlyexorcized (cf.Roman Ritual, Titus, x, cl). (7) Therubrics of themissal direct the celebrant to hold his hands extended during most of theprayers. At the pre-consecrationprayer, "Hanc igitur oblationem", he also holds his hands over theoblata. This action seems borrowed from the oldLevitical practice, already noticed, of laying hands on the victims to be sacrificed, but curiously it has not been proved to be very old. Le Brun (Explication de la Messe, iv, 6) says he did not find therubric in anymissal older than the fifteenth century.Pius V made itde præcepto (cf. Gihr, "la Messe", II, 345). The significance of the act is expressive, symbolizing as it does the laying ofsin upon the elements ofbread andwine which, being changed into the Body and Blood ofChrist, become thus our emissary or scapegoat, and finally the "victim of our peace" withGod. Nothing can better show the relationship that has always existed betweenprayer and theceremony that is being considered, than this expressive sentence fromSt. Augustine, "Quid aliud est manuum impositio, quam oratio super hominem?" (De Bap., III, xvi, 21).

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