Can one pray in tongues while in mortal sin?

[Christianus_Dei]

I know it constitutes total seperation from God, but the first time I prayed in tongues, or at least I believe I did, I was crying out to God for help and forgiveness while in mortal sin.

 

[david_friol_1]

I know it constitutes total seperation from God, but the first time I prayed in tongues, or at least I believe I did, I was crying out to God for help and forgiveness while in mortal sin.

We should always pray even when(especially when) we are in mortal sin. But in thinking about the gift of tongues always remember what Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 14:9-19 he wrote;
Similarly, if you, because of speaking in tongues, do not utter intelligible speech, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be talking to the air. It happens that there are many different languages in the world, and none is meaningless; but if I do not know the meaning of a language, I shall be a foreigner to one who speaks it, and one who speaks it a foreigner to me. So with yourselves: since you strive eagerly for spirits, seek to have an abundance of them for building up the church. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray to be able to interpret. [For] if I pray in a tongue, my spirit* is at prayer but my mind is unproductive. So what is to be done? I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the mind. I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will also sing praise with the mind. Otherwise,** if you pronounce a blessing [with] the spirit, how shall one who holds the place of the uninstructed say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?** For you may be giving thanks very well, but the other is not built up. I give thanks to God that I speak in tongues more than any of you, but in the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

 

[ellzeena]

As a cradle Catholic (who in my late 30s went over to evangelical Christianity for a time since I heard the GOSPEL for what seemed to me the first time), no one ever spoke about praying in “tongues” as I grew up (Catholic education, 12 years). Then I went into the evangelical Christian movement and, voila, suddenly there were people doing it. Others would sometimes (not always) “interpret” (out loud) what was said.

This phenomenon is called glossolalia. It is a function of pre-speech in the brain: like the babbling of an infant who substitutes rudimentary speech for actual language. When I was in college, a friend of mine and myself used to speak in “tongues” on the bus as a joke; we didn’t KNOW it was “in tongues” because, basically, it was not then, nor is it now. We did it for fun and as entertainment. The Holy Spirit had nothing to do with it. I totally reject this, therefore, as a function of worship or inspiration by the Holy Spirit. In fact, I think it might actually be the exact opposite. Also: speaking in “tongues” is a self rewarding experience if one is surrounded by people who believe (I think, falsely) that this is some sort of blessing or special gift. It makes you “special”, it brings attention to YOU. It does nothing at all for God.

 

[Trishie]

I think in repentance for our serious sins, we generally need to come to God as humbly and honestly as we can, and this would include our full awareness and attention to God, usually without the distraction of a flow of sounds.
Perhaps on that occasion it was the Holy Spirit and your soul heart and mind were centered on Him, but in general, in the case of serious sin it could be safer to come directly to God with clear and simple words of repentance and petition. You don’t necessarily have any certainty of what you are saying in tongues, especially when your soul is not ‘right’ with God.
However, God’s ways…
It may be best to take the question to your priest in your next Confession.
God bless you

 

[Samson01]

I think in repentance for our serious sins, we generally need to come to God as humbly and honestly as we can, and this would include our full awareness and attention to God, usually without the distraction of a flow of sounds.
Perhaps on that occasion it was the Holy Spirit and your soul heart and mind were centered on Him, but in general, in the case of serious sin it could be safer to come directly to God with clear and simple words of repentance and petition. You don’t necessarily have any certainty of what you are saying in tongues, especially when your soul is not ‘right’ with God.
However, God’s ways…
It may be best to take the question to your priest in your next Confession.
God bless you

Yes this. Any gift in this state is an “actual grace”.

 

[frjohnmaryt]

Can one pray in tongues while in mortal sin?
That is contradictory. What I know from the phrase ‘pray in tongues’ is the work of the Holy Spirit as prayed by Charismatic warriors. Mortal sin is “a grave violation of God’s law, it turns man away from God…” (CCC 1855) It is a very serious sin in the eyes of God. Therefore confession is needed and a truly repentant heart requires.
It would be in the same case I know of an evil priest, whom I talked with him to help him to repent in 2011. My Charismatic friends said they saw him prayed in tongues from the altar. But this evil priest I mentioned his name in another post, said demons visited him. Also he has human remains (bones of an adult and of a child) kept in a box in a room used to be a chapel. He is dangerous really to be honest.
My question is, how can one pray in tongues while in a mortal sin? The answer is, he/she can’t. He/she needs to go to confession, otherwise his act of prayer would be a sacrilege depending the type of persons prays.
God bless
In Christ and Mary.

 

[grannymh]

We should always pray even when(especially when) we are in mortal sin. But in thinking about the gift of tongues always remember what Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 14:9-19 he wrote;
Similarly, if you, because of speaking in tongues, do not utter intelligible speech, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be talking to the air. It happens that there are many different languages in the world, and none is meaningless; but if I do not know the meaning of a language, I shall be a foreigner to one who speaks it, and one who speaks it a foreigner to me. So with yourselves: since you strive eagerly for spirits, seek to have an abundance of them for building up the church. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray to be able to interpret. [For] if I pray in a tongue, my spirit* is at prayer but my mind is unproductive. So what is to be done? I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the mind. I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will also sing praise with the mind. Otherwise,** if you pronounce a blessing [with] the spirit, how shall one who holds the place of the uninstructed say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?** For you may be giving thanks very well, but the other is not built up. I give thanks to God that I speak in tongues more than any of you, but in the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

This section is a beautiful instruction about the two separate gifts of the Holy Spirit which employ the use of Tongues. The reason for this long, informative passage is that the people of Corinth had become prideful and thus were not using either gift correctly.

 

[Loving_disciple]

Yes I have done it while in mortal sin

 

[Samson01]

Spidey senses tingling.

 

[david_friol_1]

This section is a beautiful instruction about the two separate gifts of the Holy Spirit which employ the use of Tongues. The reason for this long, informative passage is that the people of Corinth had become prideful and thus were not using either gift correctly.

I agree which is why I wanted to point this passage of scripture out to Christianus_Dei so he/she would be sure to use the gift correctly (as you say). I do not believe that everyone who says that they are praying in tonues are in fact praying in tongues. Nor do I believe with frjohnmaryt, in one of the previous threads, when he/she writes;
" My question is, how can one pray in tongues while in a mortal sin? The answer is,* he/she can’t**. He/she needs to go to confession, otherwise his act of prayer would be a sacrilege depending the type of persons prays." *
God loves us and accepts prays from us even when we are in grave sin even thoughwe do still need to go to confession. I still like what Paul wrote to the people of Corinth at the end of that passage i quoted earlier; " I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue."

 

[frjohnmaryt]

David, If you have involved in that kind of prayer, then you would understand better of what is intended to be discussed. I am surprise to know that people can pray in tongues, while in a state of a mortal sin. How can your inner being communicate with the Holy Spirit when that inner being is stained with mortal sin. That is awful. I think that is not really in the spirit of prayer. He/she might be in the ‘spirit’ of something else.

 

[grannymh]

I agree which is why I wanted to point this passage of scripture out to Christianus_Dei so he/she would be sure to use the gift correctly (as you say). I do not believe that everyone who says that they are praying in tonues are in fact praying in tongues. Nor do I believe with frjohnmaryt, in one of the previous threads, when he/she writes;
" My question is, how can one pray in tongues while in a mortal sin? The answer is,* he/she can’t***. He/she needs to go to confession, otherwise his act of prayer would be a sacrilege depending the type of persons prays."
God loves us and accepts prays from us even when we are in grave sin even thoughwe do still need to go to confession. I still like what Paul wrote to the people of Corinth at the end of that passage i quoted earlier; " I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue."

My apology. May I be a tad more clear. I referred to either gift as in two gifts as in my sentence – "This section is a beautiful instruction about the two separate gifts of the Holy Spirit which employ the use of Tongues.

Since the OP asked about praying in tongues, I would think that she/he is referring to what is known as the common gift of praying in tongues. Common, because it is a simple gift of yielding to the Holy Spirit so that He can form the words of prayer which go directly to God. The second gift of the Holy Spirit which employs Tongues is one of the nine classical gifts listed by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11. This particular gift is meant to build up the Church because it is giving God’s message to the assembled community. That is why an interpreter is necessary. Whereas with the gift of praying in tongues, no interpreter is necessary since the prayer is a personal one to God.

My apology, but when you used gift in the singular, I was concerned because too often readers of Scripture will apply some of St. Paul’s words to the common gift whereas St. Paul is mainly concerned about the Classical Gift.

These are the important words in Post 1. “I was crying out to God for help and forgiveness while in mortal sin.”

 

[Samson01]

My apology. May I be a tad more clear. I referred to either gift as in two gifts as in my sentence – "This section is a beautiful instruction about the two separate gifts of the Holy Spirit which employ the use of Tongues.

Since the OP asked about praying in tongues, I would think that she/he is referring to what is known as the common gift of praying in tongues. Common, because it is a simple gift of yielding to the Holy Spirit so that He can form the words of prayer which go directly to God. The second gift of the Holy Spirit which employs Tongues is one of the nine classical gifts listed by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11. This particular gift is meant to build up the Church because it is giving God’s message to the assembled community. That is why an interpreter is necessary. Whereas with the gift of praying in tongues, no interpreter is necessary since the prayer is a personal one to God.

My apology, but when you used gift in the singular, I was concerned because too often readers of Scripture will apply some of St. Paul’s words to the common gift whereas St. Paul is mainly concerned about the Classical Gift.

These are the important words in Post 1. “I was crying out to God for help and forgiveness while in mortal sin.”

David, If you have involved in that kind of prayer, then you would understand better of what is intended to be discussed. I am surprise to know that people can pray in tongues, while in a state of a mortal sin. How can your inner being communicate with the Holy Spirit when that inner being is stained with mortal sin. That is awful. I think that is not really in the spirit of prayer. He/she might be in the ‘spirit’ of something else.

Im pretty sure that when actual grace is granted it is an unmerited, one time used event. As for the " evil priest" you spoke off in an earlier post, he still has Holy orders…the Eucharistic prayer still being valid. Popes and Saints have spoke on this. Tim

 

[frjohnmaryt]

Sam, my point I stated is in general for those who are in mortal sin while ‘pray in tongues’. Yes I spoke earlier on about that ‘evil priest’. He is a priest but just a different priest. I just have to add that word evil because he is evil in person. He choose that life to be evil even when I tried to help him. What holds him back to repent? I think he did not want to leave his ‘evil friends’ demons. The sad thing is, an ‘evil priest’ celebrating the Mass. I know the mass remains untainted by his mortal sin but he still an evil person behind his ministry as a priest. He just need to confess all, and to let go his demons and forget about them. He needs to do a serious penance for a true conversion of heart. If an exorcist come over and do the ritual of exorcism to him, he will believe what I say about this ‘evil priest.’ Finally, if he does not repent, he will definitely go to hell or a very long time in purgatory.

 

[BTNYC]

Praying in tongues is fine for a Catholic, as long as those tongues are Latin, Greek, Aramaic /Syriac, Coptic, Geez or Old Slavonic.

 

[david_friol_1]

David, If you have involved in that kind of prayer, then you would understand better of what is intended to be discussed. I am surprise to know that people can pray in tongues, while in a state of a mortal sin. How can your inner being communicate with the Holy Spirit when that inner being is stained with mortal sin. That is awful. I think that is not really in the spirit of prayer. He/she might be in the ‘spirit’ of something else.

I appreciate what you are saying. I believe that the most powerful prayer is the holy sacrifice of the mass and though a particular priest may be in mortal sin when offering the mass the prayer is still heard by God and the Eucharist is still valid. Though he commits sacrilige personally. So my point is rather simple God loves us and he hears our prayers no matter what form we pray them, even in grave sin because he sees our heart and he knows our sorrow. I, on a personal note, have stuggled with mortal sin for many years in the form of pornograpy and have spoken to many priests about this and they have all encouraged prayer to help turn back to God when i have fallen. You may be putting prayer in tongues up on some high pedestal but it is prayer just the same. And again I stand with Saint Paul when he says; ** " I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue." ** I do not think Saint Paul holds prayer in tongues up so high.
God bless you and your family!

 

[david_friol_1]

My apology. May I be a tad more clear. I referred to either gift as in two gifts as in my sentence – "This section is a beautiful instruction about the two separate gifts of the Holy Spirit which employ the use of Tongues.

Since the OP asked about praying in tongues, I would think that she/he is referring to what is known as the common gift of praying in tongues. Common, because it is a simple gift of yielding to the Holy Spirit so that He can form the words of prayer which go directly to God. The second gift of the Holy Spirit which employs Tongues is one of the nine classical gifts listed by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11. This particular gift is meant to build up the Church because it is giving God’s message to the assembled community. That is why an interpreter is necessary. Whereas with the gift of praying in tongues, no interpreter is necessary since the prayer is a personal one to God.

My apology, but when you used gift in the singular, I was concerned because too often readers of Scripture will apply some of St. Paul’s words to the common gift whereas St. Paul is mainly concerned about the Classical Gift.

These are the important words in Post 1. “I was crying out to God for help and forgiveness while in mortal sin.”

I thank you for your apology and it is accepted with lots of love but you may want to re-read those sections on the gift of tongues because either I misunderstood you or you are saying that there are two different types of gifts of tongues. I would disagree with you if that is what you are saying. First Paul just mentions some of the gifts given and later he discusses it a little more but its the same gift of tongues. Paul never says there is this kind here and another kind over there.
God bless you and you family!

 

[thistle]

Tongues are simply foreign (but real) languages to the speaker.
The gibberish ones are fake.

 

[GuitarPlayer]

Good question. I’m not sure of the answer. IMO you’d have to ask an authority (none of which reside on on this forum). I would suggest Fr John Hampsche, or someone of similar background.

It is difficult to deduce an answer to the question though I lean towards saying yes you still can pray tongues in mortal sin because Charisms of the Holy Spirit, can still operate regardless of the state of soul of the user. In the same way that a priest can still perform transubstantiation when he is in mortal sin.

 

[GuitarPlayer]

I appreciate what you are saying. I believe that the most powerful prayer is the holy sacrifice of the mass and though a particular priest may be in mortal sin when offering the mass the prayer is still heard by God and the Eucharist is still valid. Though he commits sacrilige personally. So my point is rather simple God loves us and he hears our prayers no matter what form we pray them, even in grave sin because he sees our heart and he knows our sorrow. I, on a personal note, have stuggled with mortal sin for many years in the form of pornograpy and have spoken to many priests about this and they have all encouraged prayer to help turn back to God when i have fallen. You may be putting prayer in tongues up on some high pedestal but it is prayer just the same. And again I stand with Saint Paul when he says; ** " I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue." ** I do not think Saint Paul holds prayer in tongues up so high.
God bless you and your family!

You point about tongues is taken out context. Pauls point is not to pray tongues in certain situations: (in church when a teaching is more appropriate). Can you imagine a priest praying tongues in lew of the homily. Tongues definitely has its place though in healing, praise petition, prophecy and edification of the self.