Gestures at Mass: Signs of Unity or of Private Inclination?

Fr Dennis Smolarski SJ advocates for gestures in the liturgy to be guided by the Church’s teachings on the Mass rather than by imitation of others. He invites us to consider adopting gestures that express the common worship of the community of faith, rather than an individual’s personal preference.

Rev Dennis C. Smolarski, SJ, received MDiv. and STM degrees from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and holds a PhD in computer science. He is currently on the faculty at Santa Clara University in California. Father Smolarski has had a long-time interest in Western and Eastern rite liturgy and worship, and possesses an indult to celebrate the liturgy also in the Byzantine rite. He is the author of several books on liturgy, including Q&A: The Mass (Liturgy Training Publications, 2002) and How Not to Say Mass: A Guidebook on Liturgical Principles and the Roman Missal, rev. ed. (Paulist Press, 2003).