Why did Grigori Rasputin always have one of his hands touching the center of his chest?

by guilcol

Here's a few examples. Is there a symbolic reason or could it have been compulsive behavior? Thanks.

Illisakedy1

As a followup: What exactly is this pose?

The hand near his stomach seems to be doing a similar gesture to the other photos, but I'm mostly interested in the hand he has raised.