Can Catholics pray with Protestants?

[oxford]

That’s very well put.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Waldensians

I have. It’s pretty tame.

I have noted that PBEs (Protestants/Baptists/Evangelicals), if pressed, will concede that almost all Western pre-Reformation Christians were in some way part of the Roman Church, and their reasoning is something along the lines of “there were true Christians within Roman Catholicism in spite of Rome’s errors [sic]”.

It seems as though they basically dismiss the period ca. 400-1400 as “the Dark Ages” and that very little which took place during this time is of any concern or interest to them. They are of the mentality that “the Reformation made us free and enabled true Christianity finally to flourish and be preached to the world”. This is very closely akin to the American idea that “when the Revolution came, people were free at long last to have a claim upon life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and America is a shining city on a hill for the rest of the world to admire, to emulate, and to come to for a better life”.

 

[JonNC]

It might be accurate to say that Baptists could regard themselves as “Christians who later became Protestants, when Protestantism became a thing”.

Protestant became a “thing” in 1529, with the issuing of the formal protest at the 2nd Diet of Speyer. The Tony Peck piece, however, does relay some of the sad truth of that era.

 

[RyanBlack]

My understanding was that Baptists consider themselves heirs to a two-thousand-year history of persecution, martyrdom, simple Christian witness, and a pure Christianity that, in their eyes, Roman Catholicism is not — in other words, “there have always been Christians who were essentially just like us, and who were no more conformed to Roman Catholicism than they were forced to be by an all-powerful church and state — then, in the fullness of time, the Reformation came and we were finally free”.

I think this is a fair characterization of how some Baptists think, but certainly not all. Protestants in general saw themselves as returning to a pristine form of Christianity that the medieval Church had corrupted. Because Protestants never had one central, authoritative body that acts like a magisterium, Protestants have divided over what exactly is that pristine faith. So while Baptists generally believe their beliefs and approach to worship have more closely restored the ancient faith than other Protestants, they still, generally, see themselves as Protestant.

 

[CarmeliteKnight]

Whip out your rosary and see if they still want to pray with you.

 

[TC3033]

Interesting (name removed by moderator)ut. I’ve never prayed the rosary…I’m not Catholic…but pray on the regular with my wife and kids who are Catholic.

They don’t seem to have a problem praying with Dad.

 

[CarmeliteKnight]

Well God love you. I’m mostly reffering to the reactions of protestants when you are eager to pray with them but when you whip out a rosary they suddenly don’t want to pray with you anymore.

It’s from the common misinterpretation of Matthew 6:7 and how they see the rosary and praying to mother Mary as “vain repetitions”.

And thats great you pray the rosary with your family. You are one step closer at becoming a Catholic like them. God speed.

 

[oxford]

It just isn’t usual for them based on their Mariology (Protestant beads are based on rosary beads but don’t have anything Marian in it). Anglo-Catholics do but they’re a minority.
However, it’s not necessarily something they’re against, even if they don’t prefer to do it. If I do become an Anglican, I sure as hell am still going to be praying the rosary with my close friend as I did with her when I was Catholic And I’m sure there’s a decent amount of people who would do the same, such as the husband above.

 

[TC3033]

It’s from the common misinterpretation of Matthew 6:7 and how they see the rosary and praying to mother Mary as “vain repetitions”.

Interesting - For me it’s more I’m not Catholic, have never prayed the Rosary and don’t know how…so I can’t really pray with you if your intent is to pray the Rosary.

And thats great you pray the rosary with your family.

I don’t though…said it in my previous post.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

My husband prayed the rosary with me a couple times when I was praying for the souls of his deceased parents. I had to say the rosary “in a group” to get the indulgence for his parent, and he was the only “group” around (the other option of saying it in a church didn’t work because the churches were closed and locked for the day at the time we were doing this).
He didn’t know how to say the Hail Mary obviously, so I put the prayer up on a laptop for him. He could say the Our Father and I think the Glory Be.

I realize the main reason he went along with this was “to humor his wife - happy wife, happy life”, the same way he would sometimes go along to Mass or Adoration with me for the same reason, but I like to think he benefited in some way from doing it, even if his main reason wasn’t spiritual.

 

[TULIPed]

I’m mostly reffering to the reactions of protestants when you are eager to pray with them but when you whip out a rosary they suddenly don’t want to pray with you anymore.

Interesting. Do Catholics “whip out a rosary” every time they pray, or are there times that you pray without the Rosary?

Protestants might sometimes pray saying “Dear Lord, thank you for your grace, through which we are able to have a relationship with you regardless and in spite of our works…” However, if I were praying together with Catholic brothers and sisters, knowing this would be uncomfortable (and maybe even offensive) for them, I wouldn’t pray such a thing.

“20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”

 

[CarmeliteKnight]

I’ve never prayed the rosary…I’m not Catholic…but pray on the regular with my wife and kids who are Catholic.

I thought you made it sound like you did pray the rosary with your family. I must have read it wrong. You should join them! A family that’s prays the rosary together stays together!

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[CarmeliteKnight]

Maybe it’s just me but I like holding my rosary whenever I pray, even if it is just a simple prayer. Besides I always try to encourage them to pray the rosary in hopes they do end up praying it and converting to the one true faith. The ones that aren’t afraid of it at least.

 

[TULIPed]

Ah - I see. I misinterpreted your post! Apologies. Yeah, nobody should freak out if you are holding your rosary while praying - I agree.

 

[oxford]

It’s a very powerful prayer for Catholics in their spiritual tradition, but it’s definitely not the only one. When I was Catholic, every night I’d take my rosary out and pray with it in my hands, but I didn’t limit it to just the rosary. There’s plenty of other non-Marian prayers used by Catholics, my favourites then were the Divine Mercy prayers and the Sacred Heart Prayers. I really doubt anybody would be offended by prayers directly to God, I’m not aware of anything that makes use of Marian prayers in every prayer session mandatory.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

While this is true, I would note that the Eastern Orthodox are not considered Protestants, just so people are aware who might not be familiar with East/ West topics.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There’s plenty of other non-Marian prayers used by Catholics, my favourites then were the Divine Mercy prayers and the Sacred Heart Prayers. I really doubt anybody would be offended by prayers directly to God,

Most Protestants will be fine with any prayer that involves Jesus or God the Father, and many of them (not all) are okay with praying to the Holy Spirit also.

You might get some pushback if the prayer is not Scripture-based or involves repetition. The Divine Mercy chaplet for example involves a lot of repetition. Some (not all) Protestants see this as contrary to Jesus’ scriptural teaching against “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7). Some Protestants also really dislike rote prayers and think that all prayer should be either reading from Scripture or speaking from the heart in a free form to God.

You might also get pushback if the prayer is perceived as “too Catholic”. The Sacred Heart could fall in that category for Protestants, although I’ve heard of other Protestants who liked it.

“Protestants” come in many different denominations, so the types of objections you’d get from a Baptist likely wouldn’t be the same ones you’d get from an Anglican, etc.

 

[Kullervo]

Thanks for the answer, but are you saying it wasn’t the same before V2?

The Church was much more conservative before Vatican 2. I don’t think that she would appreciate that her member prays with heretics, but than again who knows. Maybe it wasn’t a problem even before V2.

 

[Kullervo]

and how they view us as well!

I don’t know. I saw not a insignificant number of Protestants saying that we aren’t even Christian, which is obviously absolutely ridiculous. Even the most aggressive atheist recognizes that we are Christians and an educated one should see that we (as well as the eastern Churches) are the original Christians.

 

[Hodos]

I don’t see why we wouldn’t pray together.