S
Stannis
Guest
Greetings and thank you for reading this post. This is my first post in this forum and it was this question that I decided to join. I hope this community can offer guidance on this issue which has occupied a great deal of my thought the last few weeks.
Is is appropriate for a lay person to pray through ceremonies?
Before I get into the details of my question I think it is necessary for me to share some of my personal background. First, I converted to Catholicism six years ago. I would describe myself as a traditional Catholic as I attend Latin Masses and emphasize the religion of Catholicism instead of a spirituality, meaning I’m not inclined toward charismatic expressions of faith. I am an auxiliary of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and very active in my state’s Knights of Columbus leadership, where I primarily serve as an officer for their degree ceremonies.
Two weeks ago I had an extremely vivid dream in which I saw myself performing a ceremony in which I was praying to God for grace, virtues, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. What struck me about this dream was not the prayers themselves, but the ceremonial way in which they were being prayed. The room was candlelit, I was robed, and the floor was decorated with a kind of religious map or diagram. I was standing in the center of the room. Surrounding me was a square with each side labeled with a Cardinal virtue. Outside that square was a heptagram with each side labeled after a Gift of the Holy Spirit. Surrounding the Gifts of the Holy Spirit was drawn a large triangle labeled with each of the Theological virtues. Various objects representative of each virtue were placed beside them, such as a candle for Faith, religious books for Knowledge, and a scale for Justice.
The ceremony began with opening prayers like the Glory Be and Our Father and prayers asking for the forgiveness of sins. Then a prayer was said asking God to provide the grace to practice or receive whichever virtue or gift which the ceremony were directed. I read relevant scripture passages and excerpts from the lives of saints which exemplify that virtue or gift. This was followed by a period of quiet prayerful meditation. The ceremony ended with prayers of gratitude and praise similar to the beginning.
Like I said, this was a vivid dream. But I can’t make sense of it. Is the ceremony I saw myself performing pious or is it occult? Is it holy, crazy, or flat-out wrong? Those of you who are members of the Knights of Columbus know that the KofC uses ceremonies to educate and impress a virtue on us, and props are certainly used to better convey this. But my dream seems to take that idea further. Why dream this instead of attending Mass, why have a dream of praying through ceremony instead of simply praying with a rosary or in a church? There are a lot of questions on my mind.
I related all of this to a trusted priest who stressed to me that I should consider the source of the dream; is this something I believe to be from God or a temptation? Beyond that, he was unable to provide much advise or resolution. I am curious to read your thoughts.
Thank you.
Is is appropriate for a lay person to pray through ceremonies?
Before I get into the details of my question I think it is necessary for me to share some of my personal background. First, I converted to Catholicism six years ago. I would describe myself as a traditional Catholic as I attend Latin Masses and emphasize the religion of Catholicism instead of a spirituality, meaning I’m not inclined toward charismatic expressions of faith. I am an auxiliary of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and very active in my state’s Knights of Columbus leadership, where I primarily serve as an officer for their degree ceremonies.
Two weeks ago I had an extremely vivid dream in which I saw myself performing a ceremony in which I was praying to God for grace, virtues, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. What struck me about this dream was not the prayers themselves, but the ceremonial way in which they were being prayed. The room was candlelit, I was robed, and the floor was decorated with a kind of religious map or diagram. I was standing in the center of the room. Surrounding me was a square with each side labeled with a Cardinal virtue. Outside that square was a heptagram with each side labeled after a Gift of the Holy Spirit. Surrounding the Gifts of the Holy Spirit was drawn a large triangle labeled with each of the Theological virtues. Various objects representative of each virtue were placed beside them, such as a candle for Faith, religious books for Knowledge, and a scale for Justice.
The ceremony began with opening prayers like the Glory Be and Our Father and prayers asking for the forgiveness of sins. Then a prayer was said asking God to provide the grace to practice or receive whichever virtue or gift which the ceremony were directed. I read relevant scripture passages and excerpts from the lives of saints which exemplify that virtue or gift. This was followed by a period of quiet prayerful meditation. The ceremony ended with prayers of gratitude and praise similar to the beginning.
Like I said, this was a vivid dream. But I can’t make sense of it. Is the ceremony I saw myself performing pious or is it occult? Is it holy, crazy, or flat-out wrong? Those of you who are members of the Knights of Columbus know that the KofC uses ceremonies to educate and impress a virtue on us, and props are certainly used to better convey this. But my dream seems to take that idea further. Why dream this instead of attending Mass, why have a dream of praying through ceremony instead of simply praying with a rosary or in a church? There are a lot of questions on my mind.
I related all of this to a trusted priest who stressed to me that I should consider the source of the dream; is this something I believe to be from God or a temptation? Beyond that, he was unable to provide much advise or resolution. I am curious to read your thoughts.
Thank you.
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