Praying During Mass

[robwar]

Indeed, that’s the reason why I posed this question to begin with. For me, it’s a choice between the two. Either I pray when bad things happen to the church, or I’m angry, and I’d so much rather pray.

Why don’t you talk to a priest?

 

[TimothyH]

Why don’t you talk to a priest?

Or look for a spiritual director. A spiritual director can suggest the right things to read, practices and prayers, and will challenge the person whom he is directing to live a more holy life.

I would also suggest Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart by Fr. Jacques Philippe. It is very short (110 pages), dirt cheap (less than $10) and not some pie-in-the-sky flowery poetry. It is very down to earth and practical. This book is one of my top ten spiritual books. I cannot recommend it to the OP enough.

What must we do to overcome the moments of fear and distress which assail us all too often in our lives? How can we learn to place all our confidence in God and abandon ourselves into his loving care? This is what is taught in this simple, yet profound little treatise on peace of heart. Taking concrete examples from our everyday life, the author invites us to respond in a Gospel fashion to the upsetting situations we must all confront.

http://bks2.books.google.com/books?id=nML2AQAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE73sntrlt2nef7RVwYnaCTmYOENVaq-R1bu-GxO4w4q8gVMn_ISA3t8lC69IdQpAovKZmzOi3yleA6nyExpp5rq_3Wsj8PQby-S48QPIWNCOT6uJ2nEDB8C1h83_ioNgjUp91j0L

-Tim-

 

[robwar]

Or look for a spiritual director. A spiritual director can suggest the right things to read, practices and prayers, and will challenge the person whom he is directing to live a more holy life.

I would also suggest Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart by Fr. Jacques Philippe. It is very short, dirt cheap and not some pie-in-the-sky spiritual poetry mumbo-jumbo. It is very down to earth and practical. This book is one of my top ten spiritual books. I cannot recommend it to the OP enough.


http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329187559l/1236244.jpg

-Tim-

Thanks Tim, I am going to look for this book on Kindle, it sounds very helpful and practical.
what is sad here is that sometimes people can’t step back and rethink their ideas and views on things. Likewise, step back and admit that what they cling onto is wrong and that they don’t know everything, they are not experts on the liturgy or whatever like they think they are. Going to see a priest or find a spiritual director takes humility and when you have bashed all priests in your mind as unworthy then you have really boxed yourself in a corner. It’s not the Mass that is the problem here but an extreme view point and sadly that is preventing someone from all of the richess and healing and benefits of encountering Jesus at Mass.

 

[janeway529]

This seems to be a serious mistake. I think this is true of the british parliament, but it’s not of the Catholic Church.

In the Church, there are three main areas in which the pope has authority. Direct authority to profess infallibly (1) doctrine of faith, and (2) doctrine of morals, and (3) direct authority to bind Catholics to obedience in matters of church discipline.

In either of the first two cases, each pope to professes doctrine professes something by which all future popes are bound, because no pope can change the doctrines of the Church, any more than they can change the nature of God, from whom those doctrines proceed.

That only leaves case 3, but there are still many questions to be answered before this issue can be proven to fall under that category. It must be established whether the issue of prayers and devotions during the mass is a discipline issue, rather than a doctrine of morals. If it is a doctrine of morals, the oldest tradition affirmed by Church authority is still the correct teaching. If not, it may not be. There seems to be some grounds for legitimate confusion here.

Also, I hate to say it, but the tendency to just follow whatever is more recent has a distinctly modernist feel to it.

Perhaps I should clarify my post. Mediator Dei (1947) and Marialis Cultus (1974) have to be taken into full context of the situation in the times of which they were written. In the 27 years after Mediator Dei, people kept praying the Rosary as a pious substitute for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The thinking goes from “I can’t understand what is going on, so I’ll just pray the Rosary instead” to “Well, Mass doesn’t do it for me spiritually, so it’s better if I just pray the Rosary.” The Mass is the highest form of prayer, not time to pray the Rosary. In Mediator Dei, Pius XII addresses the issue as a matter of faith and morals, in that although these pious devotions and the Eucharistic Sacrifice should not be confused with one another and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass takes precedence, it is better for a person to pray the Rosary during Mass (to help enrich love for the Eucharistic Sacrifice) rather than to be a disinterested spectator ready to leave at a moment’s notice. In Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI addresses the issue as a matter of discipline. After Vatican II, Mass rubrics allow for the vernacular language, people can no longer use the “pious” excuse of, “I don’t understand Latin, so I’ll pray the Rosary instead.” Again, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest form of prayer and takes precedence over the Rosary which Pope Paul VI reiterates in Marialis Cultus. Centering forms of prayer and meditations are good, but they should not be confused with or in competition with the Mass.

 

[paperwight66]

Perhaps I should clarify my post. Mediator Dei (1947) and Marialis Cultus (1974) have to be taken into full context of the situation in the times of which they were written. In the 27 years after Mediator Dei, people kept praying the Rosary as a pious substitute for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The thinking goes from “I can’t understand what is going on, so I’ll just pray the Rosary instead” to “Well, Mass doesn’t do it for me spiritually, so it’s better if I just pray the Rosary.” The Mass is the highest form of prayer, not time to pray the Rosary. In Mediator Dei, Pius XII addresses the issue as a matter of faith and morals, in that although these pious devotions and the Eucharistic Sacrifice should not be confused with one another and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass takes precedence, it is better for a person to pray the Rosary during Mass (to help enrich love for the Eucharistic Sacrifice) rather than to be a disinterested spectator ready to leave at a moment’s notice. In Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI addresses the issue as a matter of discipline. After Vatican II, Mass rubrics allow for the vernacular language, people can no longer use the “pious” excuse of, “I don’t understand Latin, so I’ll pray the Rosary instead.” Again, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest form of prayer and takes precedence over the Rosary which Pope Paul VI reiterates in Marialis Cultus. Centering forms of prayer and meditations are good, but they should not be confused with or in competition with the Mass.

What an excellent summary! I agree 100%.

 

[Cat]

I don’t think you understand my problem.

I’m studious, reflective and logical by nature. Indeed, that’s why these problems hurt me so badly, and the very reason why I’m so desperate to turn my attention onto something purer. To immerse myself in such errors only makes matters worse than they would have been otherwise. I need an actual solution.

Re-read my post. I didn’t tell you to immerse yourself in the errors. I told you to immerse yourself in the good.

Philippians 4:8

 

[ProVobis]

After Vatican II, Mass rubrics allow for the vernacular language, people can no longer use the “pious” excuse of, “I don’t understand Latin, so I’ll pray the Rosary instead.” Again, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest form of prayer and takes precedence over the Rosary which Pope Paul VI reiterates in Marialis Cultus. Centering forms of prayer and meditations are good, but they should not be confused with or in competition with the Mass.

Yes, but even that presupposes everyone in the congregation understands that particular vernacular. I’m not necessarily advocating saying the Rosary but I would suggest anyone who does not or cannot follow the Mass at least try to understand it and don’t make a public spectacle of using rosary beads or such to draw attention to the fact you don’t wish to participate.