Praying before any prayer

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I understand that you can not add or delete words to the sign of the cross. But I hear catechist just use the words, In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Is it right or wrong?
 
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There are 16 words to the sign of the cross prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Is it right to cut it up?
 
Many people make the sign of the cross quickly and in doing so, leave out some words as your catechist does. I often hear it said, “Name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, Amen”. I don’t think God is upset by this, he knows what the person means.

However, your catechist is teaching people so it might be better if they made sure to say all the words so people would learn it properly before they start rushing through the prayer.
 
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It’s a matter of being obedient with the teaching of the Catholic Church and not by our own opinion. It is not right to add or delete words from the Lord’s prayer or the Hail Mary or the bible. There are so many wrong teaching that is diviating us from the truth.
 
. . . .First of all, there’s a difference between intentionally deleting words and saying a prayer quickly so some words come out abbreviated, understood, or left out. In the case of the shortened Sign of the Cross, there is no intention to change the meaning of the Sign of the Cross. The person is saying the same Sign of the Cross, only more quickly or skipping the shorter words.

Second, . . . There’s nothing wrong with reverent additions to the Hail Mary. There are a number of variations on the Hail Mary where some words are added to the prayer for purposes of meditation or private devotion. The Flame of Love Devotion, which is approved in a number of dioceses and widely practiced, adds a line to the Hail Mary. St. Pope John Paul II also taught people to add a short clause after the word “Jesus” to help us meditate on the mysteries.

aleteia.org

Here's how John Paul II taught others to pray Rosary

St. John Paul II gives detailed instructions on how to pray the Rosary in his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae.
aleteia.org

. . . .
 
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I only ask a simple question that I would like an apoloigist to answer. I feel that you are or trying to insult me. I am not talking about private prayers only the teaching of the Catholic Church where catechists are responsible to teach the faith correctly to others that are being formed. If you are well educated in the faith just inform me in the true teaching based on CCC, Canon Law or Fathers of the Church. That is all I’m asking. The true teaching of the church.
 
. . . . This forum has not had professional apologists on here in some years. It is a forum with lay people and a couple of clergy who try to answer the questions of people who ask.

I’m not aware of anything in CCC, Canon Law or Church Fathers that has to do with what words you can use in your private devotional prayers. There are fairly strict rules for the Mass and for other Liturgy prayers (such as Liturgy of the Hours) but a private devotion is just that, private. I could make up my own prayers in my private devotions all day and all night and it would be permitted as long as I wasn’t praying in a manner that went against Church teaching (for example, the Church restricts naming angels other than the ones in the Scripture).

I have given you one reference that has our past Pope JPII who is now a saint on top of having been Pope instructing people to add a line to the Hail Mary. If this were wrong, do you think St. Pope JPII would have promoted the practice? . . .
 
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YOGAS said:
I only ask a simple question that I would like an apoloigist to answer. I feel that you are or trying to insult me.
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I do not see a hint of any attempt to insult you, YOGAS. If anything, Tis_ is simply trying to put your concerns at ease. The response, in my opinion, is about as conclusive as that of a layperson can get. All is gravy… peace.
 
YOGAS said:
I understand that you can not add or delete words to the sign of the cross. But I hear catechist just use the words, In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Is it right or wrong?
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If the catechist is explicitly teaching that words can/should be omitted, there may be an issue; if the catechist is simply praying in a fast or inaudible way such that these words are not enunciated for the hearing of those around him/her, there’s no issue here - it may be considered “sloppy”, but it’s human and what most all of us do from time to time. No sense making a mountain out of a mole hill here.

Furthermore, as the others above have said, there’s nothing written anywhere that dictates how your are to pray outside of the Church’s official liturgies.
 
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YOGAS said:
It’s a matter of being obedient with the teaching of the Catholic Church
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You are taking this too far. We are allowed to pray however we see fit. In a liturgical setting, sure you want to make sure you are saying all the words in the rubrics as indicated. But, outside of liturgy? There is nothing binding on any of us to pray a certain way.

Your catechist might want to be more careful that she or he teaches her students the correct prayers, but that’s about it.
 
I can’t imagine omitting the words “and” “of” and “the” would make any difference because those words don’t have any meaning in-of-themselves–they merely function as “connectors” in a sentence, as opposed to “name” or “Father.” The meaning of the prayer remains exactly the same with or without those words.
 
Again I repeat myself, my concern is not private prayers. Only the true teaching of the church. The sign of the cross prayer as it is structured. I understand private prayers are your own words communicating with our Lord, having a personal relationship with him. That is not what I am asking. When someone is seeking the truth it is what should be given according to the teaching of the church. Thank for your information. I will seek elsewhere.
 
YOGAS said:
Only the true teaching of the church.
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That’s been fully addressed here.

I must admit, I’m completely confused about what you’re really asking. We’ve answered the question in your OP about the catechist’s words.
 
Your scrupulosity is causing you to seek out fault with others. It would be best if you didn’t pursue these issues, spoke with your priest about your scrupulosity, and didn’t post on here for a while.
 
I thank everyone for their responses. I will seek an apologist for an answer. I thought one would be available in this site. I have heard many different answers from many people. But not from an apologist who studies everything from the beginning of the church to date. I will leave this site as I see some opinions on some answers. My respect to everyone.
 
Actually, there are only 8 words to it, if you say it in Latin.

And what about someone who starts the sign of the Cross wit "And let us begin our prayer with…

Is this an issue of scrupulosity?
YOGAS said:
Again I repeat myself, my concern is not private prayers.
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The sign of the Cross when said privately, is a private prayer. The Hail Mary is a private prayer. The Our Father is used during the Mass and at that point is a part of liturgical prayer, but whether one says “thy” or “your” is up to the person. And if the Our Father is being said in another language, neither of those words are used.

And apologists can give you different answers, just as a priest could give you different answers; however, both are extremely likely to give you the same answers as have been given here.

And just to clarify, some apologists may have studied “everything from the beginning of the Church to date”, or they may be specialists in something more limited.
 
Sorry YOGAS, but you’re kind of being a know-it-all. I was that way too when I was going to RCIA. You don’t even know what it means for something to be against the teachings of the Catholic Church. If you don’t check yourself you may become a scrupulous mess.

You’ll get the same answers you got here from any apologist, priest, bishop, cardinal, canon lawyer, etc etc etc etc x1,000.
 
Sorry I am not a know it all. You don’t have to insult me that way. I simply asked a question. This is why many leave the Catholic church. I have been given the answer. Catectism of the Catholic Church #2157 which satifies my question. This is the way I will follow the sign of the cross prayer… It is the way a Christian begins his day, prayers and activities. In private. I feel sad that no one could give me this on this site. I only got different opinions. So the catechist is teaching wrong. Not the truth.
 
YOGAS, you really don’t need to be so rude. Just because people didn’t confirm your preconceived belief that the teacher was wrong doesn’t mean they were unhelpful. I would strongly advise against interpreting Catechismal passages by yourself and I advise you to seek the aid of a priest to understand this question.
 
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