How do clerics pray in church?

[normdplume]

Hi. I’m writing a scene where a cardinal is praying alone in a church. Would he kneel before the altar for this? If not, where would he kneel for his prayers? In a pew? Also, if he’s the last person in the church on that particular evening, would he extinguish all of the candles, or should that have already been done by someone else (e.g. the priest).

Thanks

 

[ELCore]

He would kneel, I suppose, wherever he liked.

About the candles, I suppose it would depend on when he was in the church. If it were immediately after some sort of liturgy, somebody else would have extinguished the candles that had been lighted for the service. If it is just any old time, whatever candles are lit when he arrives are probably supposed to remain lighted.

 

[Mary888]

You are writing about a human being not a piece of puzzle. To make your story deep make sure this cardinal has a persona, a soul. All people are different and rules aren’t always respected. You can make a great scene in the book if the way he prays is significant for who he is.
Like for example if he is a very proud man, or a man who was hurt in life a lot, he might even feel justified to get angry at God, maybe he wouldn’t kneel and this says something about him and the entire story. Or if he is very devout he might even bow down and touch the floor with his forehead or if he is under extreme stress for having to make a difficult decision.

 

[normdplume]

It’s a cardinal praying quietly, alone in his church. I have other prayers in the book where I make the prayer explicit. In this case, it is simply the fact that he is praying when an evil entity enters the church. What I’m unsure about is whether the cardinal (or anyone) would pray on his knees immediately in front of the altar, or simply sit/kneel in the pews to pray?

Also, I’ve seen videos of people lighting candles at the front of the church, presumably in memory of loved ones. I’m wondering if those are left lit until they extinguish by themselves or if someone explicitly extinguishes all of them. Seems like a fire hazard if they’re left lit when the last person leaves.

 

[normdplume]

Thank you, (name removed by moderator). You and others have been very helpful in my research. It’s also taught me how extraordinary Jesus was and is. My book draws heavily from the Book of Revelation. At first, I found it incomprehensible. But after reading countless study guides about it, I realized that John, its author, was brilliant. I hope to do it justice.

 

[normdplume]

Baptized Catholic but I didn’t grow up in the Church. I’m disabled, so I write fiction to keep my mind active. My current project is a supernatural trilogy about the events in the Book of Revelation. It’s a huge undertaking, given how much I have to learn, but that’s what makes it interesting. I’ve been doing research for over a year and I have much more left to do. It will probably take me ten years to complete the project. My hope is to create something similar to the Left Behind series, but for Catholics and for those who may be curious about the Catholic faith. After many attempts to pick a title for the trilogy, I settled on The Lord of the Earth shortly before I read the Pope was recommending a century-old book called Lord of the World. Go figure. Book one will be set in Rome, the Vatican, and the Holy Land.