Prayer Question

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I heard about Moms in Prayer on a talk show. It is a Protestant effort and I did not join their group because their required statement of faith is Sola Scriptura. But the practice of praying for our schools & children in school is of profound importance. The four step prayer includes Praise, Confession, Thanksgiving and Intercession - very Catholic. I tinkered with the prayer sheet - using Catholic prayers & Catholic Bible translation - to give it a uniquely Catholic flavor. I I have a couple of questions about the prayers I would like to use.
  1. Is it OK to use “We adore You O Chirst & we Praise You” that we say with Stations of the Cross in another form of prayer? It would fit in well to introduce the Praise/Adoration step.
  2. Is it OK to say the Confiteor prayer outside of Mass? It would fit in well at the Confession step. Act of Contrition also works. (Yes I know this is not the Sacrament of Confession but a calling to mind of our sins/sinful nature)
 
Yes, and yes.

I’ve seen the Confiteor published in many prayer books and guides, bearing the impratur–so I can say yes to that one with very little hesitation, and some authority.

As for the first one–"…we adore you oh Christ and we praise you " “because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world”]–with or without the second half–I really can’t think of a single reason why you wouldn’t be able to recite this. I’ve done it many times myself (not that that’s authoritative; just saying).

Here’s my understanding of it, and unfortunately, I’m not versed in cannon law or such, but here’s the gist:
  1. Catholicism permits anything that isn’t expressly excluded, or prohibited. You are free to live your life as you see fit; just don’t cross the parameters that are sin-including heresy, schism, the 7 deadly sins, venial sins, etc–(NB: that does NOT absolve positive/affirmative obligations; simply that nothing is off limits, that doesn’t fall within the category of sin);
  2. The Stations of the Cross are a private devotional; a prayer, before anything else–and even though they enjoy official sanction from the Church, and a place on the liturgical calendar, it is still just a private devotional (often done publicly), not an obligation.
It’s component prayers are therefore fair game according to Principle #1 above.

As long as you’re not mis-using it, or turning it into something heretical, sinful, or promoting something that is dogmatically prohibited, or disapproved, you should be fine.

e.g.'s:

acceptable use: "…we adore you oh Christ and we praise you " “because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world”]

Unacceptable use: "…]we adore you oh Christ and we praise you, as the servant of your Mother"

–where you would be essentially declaring Mary > Jesus (again, this is UN-acceptable).

OR: "…we adore you oh Christ and we praise you, as Prince of Darkness, champion of evil."

–where you would be essentially equating Christ with darkness/evil/sin–a much clearer example of a completely unacceptable use of the prayer.

But you see the key is in the intent–good faith, grounded in a solid understanding of the Faith.

As long as your prayers are well intended, and well grounded in the Faith (i.e.–consistent, and at the very least, not inconsistent with Catholic teaching)–then the sky’s the limit; you can do what ever you please with prayers.

e.g.–I vary the Rosary often, making creative little changes here and there, to keep my kids engaged–e.g.–we recite a variation of the Hail Mary, in which we substitute Yeshua for Jesus, Mary for Maryem (their names in Aramaic), and Theotokos for “Mother of God”–(the actual pronouncement in Greek, from the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, meaning “God Bearer”, from which “Mother of God” is derived).

FWIW.
 
Thanks for such a well thought answer. Yes I had included the second part of We adore…
I think the intent is correct and I could use either or both prayers
 
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