Convert from Protestant learning to pray as Catholic

[mrsdizzyd]

If I do end up converting, I intend to still pray the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer.

The Liturgy of the Hours and the Book of Common Prayer have a lot of similarities. I think those who are apart of the Anglican Ordinariate are allowed to use the Book of Common Prayer.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I have always been bad at memorization

This made me smile. I’ve been Catholic for 30 years now, have taught Catechism at every level, work for the Church. I still do not have memorized all of the traditional mysteries of the Rosary (except the sorrowful). Have never memorized the traditional “Act of Contrition”, I always pray that one extemporaneously.

 

[guanophore]

I still pray like a “Protestant”.

What does that mean, exactly?

I have always been bad at memorization and I may always pray spontaneously

All of the saints of the Church have had this kind of conversational prayer with God.

how their prayer life has developed as Catholic?

The highest form of prayer is the Mass. Participate in Mass as often as you can, andstudy the parts of the Mass through the excellent instructional videos on YouTube.

You just have to be careful about your sources on YouTube as there is a significant amount of anti-catholic bunk to be found.

There is a Roman Catholic teaching Mass that explains on the go.

Parts of the Mass

You may enjoy Lectio Divina.
I recommend you start with the daily readings
, as it will help you enter into the liturgical year.

I would like to ask our Blessed Mother to pray for me but in my own brief and personal way. Is this okay by the Church?

Of course!

 

[StephenBales]

I’m a convert from Protestantism as well, but not in RCIA just yet. I found it difficult at first, but start with the Rosary. Make that a habit. Once you get that down, I’d suggest using various medals you may have on that rosary, if any. On mine are a Miraculous, St. Benedict, St. Michael the Archangel, and Guardian Angel medal. Pray the associated prayers on those, one at a time. I also ordered an Orthodox chotki, which is good for when you don’t have the time for a full Rosary.
Anyway, there’s no wrong way, as others have said. Just jump in! In many prayers, there’s a place to state your petition, and this is where I often get really heartfelt. But as you do the organized prayers more and more, they won’t feel rote anymore, it’ll all be heartfelt.

Welcome home!!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

This is one of the most encouraging threads I’ve seen on CAF. Lots of support, lots of people talking about ways they pray, lots of statements that there’s no wrong way to pray, and no one insisting that their way is the only way. Really encouraging.

 

[JamalChristophr]

Well, I think we Catholics can sometimes learn from the protestants how we might better pray. Many protestants pray quite well. True prayer wells up from the heart of a man and is a gift of the Holy Spirit in some measure, anyways. Good prayer is not exclusive to the Catholic Church.

Just a little thought I wanted to interjetct. Welcome to the One Universal Church, the Earl y Church. Welcome home.

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Me, personally?

Most of the time when I pray, I just talk familiarly to God about what is on my mind, about my whole day, things I’m thankful for, worried about , ask him questions and ask him for particular graces and so forth and interceding for others people needs. Things like this. Conversation.

A good thing to also think about is practicing being quiet to let God speak. This needs to be part of our prayer sometimes, too.

 

[po18guy]

The most spiritually powerful and efficacious prayer I ever engaged in had no words at all. Many tears, but no words.

This occurred before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. The book of prayer intentions was present and the name of a parishioner who was fighting a serious and intractable infection was written on the page. I was moved to do nothing except trace my finger back and forth across her name and weep.

At the end of the holy hour, I received a consolation from the Holy Spirit that amounted to the peace which surpasses all understanding. A few days later, I heard that the fever had broken and that she was recovering. When I was diagnosed with the first of three cancers, she escorted me into the chapel and laid hands on me in prayer. This was more than 10 years ago. She is a Saint among us.

Our Lord Jesus. Words are optional.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Our Lord Jesus. Words are optional.

Thanks for sharing. Like St Teresa of Avila said: prayer is the greatest of all blessings in this life, the channel through which God gives us favors, the beginning of all virtue.

 

[Limoncello4021]

St. Therese of Lisieux has a marvelous statement in her autobiography, something like (paraphrasing here): “Oh there are so many beautiful prayers in Catholicism, it gives me a headache! I can’t do it all. I’m content with just telling Jesus I love Him.”

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Well, I think we Catholics can sometimes learn from the protestants how we might better pray. Many protestants pray quite well. True prayer wells up from the heart of a man and is a gift of the Holy Spirit in some measure, anyways. Good prayer is not exclusive to the Catholic Church.

This is true. I’ve been inspired my whole life by some of the stories I read about how Protestants pray. For example, Rev. Dave Wilkerson “laying a fleece before the Lord” in “The Cross and the Switchblade”, and the Ten Boom family in “The Hiding Place”.

 

[TheLittleLady]

“The Cross and the Switchblade”

An aside.

This was made into a film, starring a very young Erik Estrada and Pat Boone, when I was a kid. We had the soundtrack album. My sister and I would pull out the sofa bed in the living room, put on that album to the song “Gangfight” and do this dance fight thing. Memories.

 

[John_Martin]

I was protestant and here is how I came to understand prayer as Catholic : Prayer | SoftVocation - effective prayer is desirable to all.

John Martin

 

[po18guy]

I am in the process of conversion and I must honestly say that:
I still pray like a “Protestant”.

Thank you

At the funeral service for a former co-worker, the presider was a CoC pastor. I counted the “Lords” in his opening and closing prayers. 17 Lords in the opening prayer and 19 in the closing. And Catholics are often accused of “repetitive” prayers!

Anyway, yes we often use formulaic prayers, as Jesus taught us formulaic prayer. However, the words are not magical, and have no meaning in and of themselves, and can actually become superstitious unless they are offered consciously and from the heart.

Many have dissected the Lord’s Prayer and this is a very good exercise - to offer the only prayer our Lord gave us, but word-by-word or phrase-by-phrase so as to slow the process down. It is a conversation and no one likes to ask others to repeat what they just said, or to slow down.

Actually, if you made a daily offering of a single word from the Lord’s prayer as you process through it, it might just “click” and forever after have increased meaning.

 

[AveOTheotokos]

My two favorite ways to pray are spending time in silence and stillness, and saying the Jesus Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

There are several saints (St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Desert Fathers, etc…) who have great writings about prayer and getting closer to Christ through prayer.

A good primer on St. Teresa and St. John is the book Fire Within: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and the Gospel - On Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay. Sometimes the writings of the Saints can be a bit hard to grasp for modern readers, so a companion book like this helps to guide one through the writings and teachings of the Saints.

I also highly recommend the books The Discernment of Spirits : An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living by Fr. Timothy Gallagher and The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise by Robert Cardinal Sarah.

Once you get through all of that, you should be a prayer warrior!

Welcome to the faith, and may the Lord give you peace.

 

[Ryan1]

I think that the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter uses a Book of Common prayer adapted to Catholic use. Let’s go search…

Maybe it is their missal. Here is a link:

https://ordinariate.net/divine-worship-missal

 

[Ryan1]

The most powerful prayer is the sign of the cross. It is also the only one I can recite in Latin.

 

[HopkinsReb]

I think that the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter uses a Book of Common prayer adapted to Catholic use. Let’s go search…

Maybe it is their missal. Here is a link:

Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter | Divine Worship: The Missal | Houston, Texas

Yeah, that’s it. But I’m not familiar with the missal; does it include individual devotions, or is it just for use in the mass? I’m quite new to Catholic liturgy.

Another great resource that I love for individual prayer is Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book. This is a personal prayer book for Anglo-Catholics. As far as I can tell, it’s Catholic in its theology and practice through-and-through.

 

[Ryan1]

I don’t know much about the missal. I have wanted to attend an Ordinariate mass though, as they seem to be very traditional/orthodox, and the KJ bible is beautifully written, which the RSV is based on.

 

[HopkinsReb]

I was really asking about the missal in general, not Divine Worship specifically. The BCP does not have a lot by way of individual devotions (though the Daily Office is nice), thus my use of Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book. Don’t know if the Catholic missals are geared towards corporate worship or towards both corporate and individual worship.

I’d like to attend an Ordinariate mass as well. There’s one near me in DC, so if I were to become Catholic there’s a good chance I’d go that route.

 

[JamalChristophr]

The section of the CCC is a 5 star resource of the Life of Prayer for the Christian / Catholic. I’m often referring back to it, even during my prayer time. It’s really a jewel on the topic of prayer, not dry.