Too many moving parts

[Absolvo]

One of the problems I have with my prayer life is knowing whom precisely to pray to. There are petitions to God the Father, to the Holy Spirit, and also to Jesus. Should I pray to all three in equal time segments? If not, what is the proper way of addressing the triune God? Yes, I understand that the trinity is a unity; nevertheless, I find something inherently awkward in addressing 3 persons in One. Then there is also the matter of saying the rosary, which brings Mary into the prayer equation. Then also there are petitions to the saints for their help and intercession. Thus my title, “too many moving parts,” as I often feel I’m praying to a spiritual universe of many agents, and something about it strikes me as…I’m not sure what word to use, but perhaps dissatisfied will do. Has anyone else ever felt this way? Perhaps no one here knows what I mean by these questions, which is quite possible. Nevertheless, it’s a genuine issue I have with my prayer life. I recently read the Catechism but didn’t see anything in it that quite addresses my issue. Does anyone know if Catholic teachings address this issue of those who find conflict in the apparent multiplicity of “parties” to pray to? I would prefer to simply address all my prayers to God, full stop, that is, one single mental concept, keeping my prayers and to Whom I address them as simple as possible.

 

[Faxero]

There is a saying called: The more the merrier. The angels, saints, and souls in Purgatory are not disconnected from mankind. They all have a role to play in salvation, and many of them are our own family members and friends who have long died.

All of the beings in the benevolent regions of the afterlife are our family; every human being that lives or has ever lived is a descendant of Adam and Eve; this includes the saints who now enjoy eternal treasures.

The angels who decided not to rebel against God the Father, the angels who willingly bowed down to a humble servant, Christ, and who are assigned to guard humans, (guardian angels) deserve our recognition.

Why should we disconnect from family?

We are all distinct parts, each with their own lives and movements, and we are also members of the same body.

 

[tawny]

There is a saying called: The more the merrier. The angels, saints, and souls in Purgatory are not disconnected from mankind. They all have a role to play in salvation, and many of them are our own family members and friends who have long died.

All of the beings in the benevolent regions of the afterlife are our family; every human being that lives or has ever lived is a descendant of Adam and Eve; this includes the saints who now enjoy eternal treasures.

The angels who decided not to rebel against God the Father, the angels who willingly bowed down to a humble servant, Christ, and who are assigned to guard humans, (guardian angels) deserve our recognition.

Why should we disconnect from family?

We are all distinct parts, each with their own lives and movements, and we are also members of the same body.

Well stated.

 

[CradleJourney]

I would prefer to simply address all my prayers to God, full stop, that is, one single mental concept, keeping my prayers and to Whom I address them as simple as possible.

JMHO - nothing wrong with that. I tend to focus my prayers on one or two aspects of God and/or one or two of the saints. It tends to vary as I move through different parts of life and I feel a stronger connection with one over another. There are times for example when as a mother, I am strongly drawn towards asking Mary’s intercession. There are times when it is Jesus that my heart yearns for, while at others it’s the movement of the Holy Spirit that I desire to praise or petition.

 

[SJacob7]

I pray to God through Jesus Christ. That is how we are told to pray in the NT. There is no mention of praying to anyone other than God. Remember, we have a jealous God! Jesus says to ask in His name.

Speaking of intercession, that’s different. We don’t pray TO them.

 

[Absolvo]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I just re-read several chapters from the catechism on the issue, one which I posted below. I wish I could say that it adds clarity to the question of who we pray to, but as I read it, it supplies a great many qualifications that I can’t help but find contradictory.

vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c2a2.htm

 

[Weejee]

I pray to God through Jesus Christ. That is how we are told to pray in the NT. There is no mention of praying to anyone other than God. Remember, we have a jealous God! Jesus says to ask in His name.

That’s it, honey. Just pray to God: That encompasses Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Keep it simple. God loves you. Pray to the one who loves you. Repeat: Keep it simple in the beginning. All you really need to pay attention to is the triune God.

 

[Absolvo]

That’s it, honey. Just pray to God: That encompasses Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Keep it simple. God loves you. Pray to the one who loves you. Repeat: Keep it simple in the beginning. All you really need to pay attention to is the triune God.

Well, this is somewhat like restating the problem as its solution. Do we pray to Jesus as the other poster said, or to “God” as you say, or to the Triune God? Theologically they are one in the same, but nevertheless we are talking about combining multiple conceptions in the act of prayer. There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer to this question in the catechism.

 

[Slaney]

Jesus said, anything you ask of the Father in His name He will give it to you, so you can pray that way. At Cana they went to His mother, Mary asked Jesus & the water was turned into wine. You can ask your neighbour down the road to pray for you or you can ask the saints who are alive with God. You can ask Mary to pray for you. It has been said that your Rosary prayers are taken by Mary & placed before the feet of God. There are so many different ways to pray, prayer from the heart being the most powerful, because then God knows you really mean it +++

 

[Weejee]

ress all my prayers to God, full stop, that is, one single mental concept, keeping my prayers and to Whom I address them as simple as possible.

Your answer is there. Just do it!

 

[Absolvo]

I must not be stating the question so that it conveys precisely what I mean. Thanks to all for your replies, I’ll take my question to a priest and perhaps he can shed some light on it. Given that I can’t find the answer in the catechism, my question is probably best posed to a church authority in person, so that we can have a conversation about it. Regards.

 

[ClaireS]

I think I understand your question because I sometimes have somewhat the same problem, especially if my time is limited. For myself, I try to remember that we have been given Our Lady and our guardian angel as helpers and the saints as models or friends. The persons of the Trinity have an essential unity so we aren’t ignoring Jesus or the Holy Spirit when we pray to the Father and vice versa. In the morning I begin with the Glory be… prayer and may spend a short time with each of Them. Then the morning offering, the Hail Mary and maybe a few more words with Mary, then the Angel of God prayer and some conversation with him/her. Since Mary is given us as our mother and our angel is also given to each of us we shouldn’t ever overlook their importance to us, or their interest in us.
I hope this helps.

 

[Seraphim73]

Grab yourself a good prayer book and use it. That way you can just worry about the prayer and not exactly what you should be saying. Use the words the Holy Spirit has given the Church.

 

[ClaireS]

Grab yourself a good prayer book and use it. That way you can just worry about the prayer and not exactly what you should be saying. Use the words the Holy Spirit has given the Church.

The op’s dilemma was whom to pray to not what to pray. I think the minimum for a Catholic is the Triune God, the Theotokos, and one’s guardian angel.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

The op’s dilemma was whom to pray to not what to pray. I think the minimum for a Catholic is the Triune God, the Theotokos, and one’s guardian angel.

If Catholics are required to pray to Mary or guardian angels, then I could be in trouble. I’m not even sure it’s Catholic teaching that we have a personal “guardian angel.” Is it?

 

[ClaireS]

If Catholics are required to pray to Mary or guardian angels, then I could be in trouble. I’m not even sure it’s Catholic teaching that we have a personal “guardian angel.” Is it?

I don’t know any rule that ‘requires’ us to pray to Mary or our angel in our personal prayers although in the liturgy we ask “Blessed Mary ever virgin and all the angels and saints” to pray for us.
The church recently celebrated the feast day of the guardian angels. It is church teaching that we each have one.

 

[fred_conty]

I would prefer to simply address all my prayers to God, full stop, that is, one single mental concept, keeping my prayers and to Whom I address them as simple as possible.

There are different ways to pray, and one of which is not using words at all. It is called contemplation. In this form of prayer you merely place yourself in the love of God and sit silently waiting for God to speak to you.

This is a higher form of prayer and it may well be this is what you may be looking for. This is a form of prayer which can be acquired by anyone who wants to earnestly be one with God in their own soul, and it requires a person to be silent in words and listen to God’s thoughts. It takes practice, but then it is well worth the effort. You might begin by reading St. Theresa of Avilla’s autobiography and go from there.

May the God of peace make you perfect in holiness.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

I don’t know any rule that ‘requires’ us to pray to Mary or our angel in our personal prayers although in the liturgy we ask “Blessed Mary ever virgin and all the angels and saints” to pray for us.
The church recently celebrated the feast day of the guardian angels. It is church teaching that we each have one.

Thank you for the information. I didn’t know about the feast of guardian angels. It did notice the recent feast of St. Teresa. I don’t pray to her, but I’ve read a bit of her stuff and feel empathy for her story. That’s not guardian angels, but it’s a saint.

I did break my typical behavior of not praying to intercessors when I prayed to St. Jude before his statue in church. The situation was considered unfixable by the professionals and most non-professionals, but I had faith something would improve and I used St. Jude as a symbol for that while I was forming my thoughts and relaying them “to him” before his statue. Then when what wasn’t supposed to be possible, happened – healing better-than-original for something the medical community had dismissed as rare – I came back and expressed gratitude in the vicinity of his statue.

Before that I had once asked my wife why she kneels before Mary’s statue and prays. She says it gives her a feeling of being connected to Mary. Then I tried it in front of the statue of St. Joseph holding the Child, and if I gazed long enough, it did seem the statue had some bit of life in it. It might have been my own breathing movements being reflected, or my eyes glazing over, but the sensation of that viewpoint was surprisingly comforting.

 

[Barzillai]

There are different ways to pray, and one of which is not using words at all. It is called contemplation. In this form of prayer you merely place yourself in the love of God and sit silently waiting for God to speak to you.

This is a higher form of prayer and it may well be this is what you may be looking for. This is a form of prayer which can be acquired by anyone who wants to earnestly be one with God in their own soul, and it requires a person to be silent in words and listen to God’s thoughts. It takes practice, but then it is well worth the effort. You might begin by reading St. Theresa of Avilla’s autobiography and go from there.

May the God of peace make you perfect in holiness.

Thanks Fred, Teresa is an excellent source of how, why, and the results of such listening in silence.

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

I had the same problem as the OP before. It seemed to me that the doctrine of the communion of saints was more of a hindrance than a help because it seemed there were too many people to choose from to ask intercession for, and yet it seemed to unfocus some of my love for the Lord. And of course there is contemplative prayer, to which I discern I am being called to, but as far as I understand it focuses solely on God.

I am currently renewing my consecration to Jesus through Mary, and in that consecration I realized that for me it answers all my problems with prayer.

You see when you consecrate yourself to Mary you let her handle everything spiritual, including prayer. And with prayers you let Mary take them, no matter to whom you were addressing it, and let her take care of it.

There is an erroneous notion about this consecration that you cannot pray to anybody but Mary anymore. On the contrary you are more free to pray all the more to God and all the angels and the saints because you are praying now with Mary’s help. The most famous image of how Mary handles a consecrated’s spiritual matters from St Louis de Montfort’s book is that of a wise queen receiving a humble pear from a peasant, cutting and preparing it on a golden platter to make it more presentable to the King. But that is not always how Mary does things. Sometimes she may let the prayer go unfiltered to God. Sometimes she includes other saints in. If you had asked intercession from a different saint she would not only let that saint know but inform other appropriate saints to pray and let God know to boot. She is not the Queen of All Saints for no reason.

But the best surprise I had is how the consecration has made contemplation easier and more fruitful. In hindsight, I should not have been surprised, as Mary had been practicing contemplation since her life on earth, gazing at the sleeping Jesus with love.