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[[Image:OurLadySignOranta.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Theotokos Oranta]]
'''Orans''' (Latin, praying), (or '''Oranta''') is a representation of a person in a bodily attitude of [[prayer]], usually standing, with elbows close to the sides of the body and with the hands outstretched to the side and upward, usually represented as a female figure with extended arms.

The custom of praying with outstretched, raised hands is ancient, common to both Jews and Gentiles. That the orans position of upward stretched arms with the palms of the hands facing upward was commonly used by Christians is evident in its early appearance in the wall paintings in the catacombs of Rome and is still used in communal and private prayer by both [[clergy]] and [[laity]].
[[Image:St Nick DC Altar.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Our Lady of the Sign - Apse of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, DC]]
This position of prayer is represented most frequently in Orthodox Christian [[iconography]] in the icon of Our Lady of the Sign. This depiction of the [[Theotokos|Virgin Mary]] as ''Wider than the Heavens'', known as the Platyteria, is an orans type presentation that is often seen placed in the [[apse]] of Greek and Slavic styled [[church]]es, behind the [[altar]] and over looking the [[nave]] of the churches.

==See also==
*[[icons of the Theotokos]]

==Sources==
*[[Wikipedia:Orans]]
*[[Wikipedia:Platytera]]
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11269a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Orans]

==External link==
*[http://tars.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/panagia.html The Virgin Orans Great Panagia]

[[Category: Spirituality]]
[[Category: Liturgics]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 '''Orans''' (Latin, praying), (or '''Oranta''') is a representation of a person in a bodily attitude of [[prayer]], usually standing, with elbows close to the sides of the body and with the hands outstretched to the side and upward, usually represented as a female figure with extended arms.
-The custom of praying with outstretched, raised hands is ancient, common to both Jews and Gentiles. That the orans position of upward stretched arms with the palms of the hands facing upward was commonly used by Christians is evident in its early appearance in the wall paintings in the catacombs of Rome and is still used in communal and private prayer by both [[clergy]] and [[laity]].
+The custom of praying with outstretched, raised hands is ancient, common to both Jews and Gentiles. That the orans position of upward stretched arms with the palms of the hands facing upward was commonly used by Christians is evident in its early appearance in the wall paintings in the [[catacombs]] of Rome and is still used in communal and private prayer by both [[clergy]] and [[laity]].
 [[Image:St Nick DC Altar.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Our Lady of the Sign - Apse of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, DC]]
 This position of prayer is represented most frequently in Orthodox Christian [[iconography]] in the icon of Our Lady of the Sign. This depiction of the [[Theotokos|Virgin Mary]] as  ''Wider than the Heavens'', known as the Platyteria, is an orans type presentation that is often seen placed in the [[apse]] of Greek and Slavic styled [[church]]es, behind the [[altar]] and over looking the [[nave]] of the churches.

Orans - Revision history

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