Using prayers from not (yet) approved apparitions?

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Xandria

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The other day while browsing the internet I found a chaplet whose prayers I loved. I prayed it for a couple of days and absolutely loved it and think I felt God’s presence in my heart. Then I discovered that this chaplet was allegedly given to a visionary during an (as of yet) unapproved apparition. This disappointed me a bit because I don’t want to be thinking about if this is true or not but I would really like to keep praying this chaplet. It’s basically a declaration of love and worship to God the Father. Do you think it is okay to pray prayers that originate from alleged apparition?
 
Let me guess the “Queen of Peace” chaplet from Medjugorje? 😉 I understand you did it with good faith but I would say it’s not safe to pray something like that. What if the Catholic Church comes out and say it’s a false apparition? I’d check with my priest to say on the safe side.

God bless :byzsoc:

David.
 
If it is a prayer that is consistent with Catholic teaching, I don’t see that it matters where it came from – or even if you composed it yourself. I’ve never heard anyone say with authority that we are only allowed to pray with words that were written and approved by the Church.

In fact, my ex-pastor, now retired, used to remark about how prayers don’t have to be official. He was very conservative and seemed pretty “old-school” as priests go. On a number of occasions I heard him talk about how some of the most sincere prayers are extremely simple, giving a couple of examples from the Bible.

For example, from John 20:28 we have Thomas saying, "“My Lord and my God!” Father Busch thought that was an excellent and sincere prayer. Then there is the prayer of the tax collector in Luke 18:13, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” So his point was that the message of the prayer and its sincerity are what is most important.

Would you care to share the prayer with us here? I would certainly understand if you would prefer not to. 🙂

Alan
 
followingtheway said:
Let me guess the “Queen of Peace” chaplet from Medjugorje? 😉 I understand you did it with good faith but I would say it’s not safe to pray something like that. What if the Catholic Church comes out and say it’s a false apparition? I’d check with my priest to say on the safe side.

God bless :byzsoc:

David.
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I didn’t see your post until after I posted my last one. I have a question: if it is the chaplet you said, what is the danger? Is there something in the wording that is inconsistent with Catholic doctrine?

I’m not challenging you; mainly I’m just asking whether it is the content of the prayer you are concerned about, or the source. And if it’s the source, then do you think spontaneous prayer and self-written prayers are also risky? Honestly I am hardly familiar with chaplets and apparitions so I generally don’t pray them myself.

Alan
 
No, it’s not the Medjugorje chaplet. 😉 I didn’t post the prayer here because I wasn’t sure if it is allowed but here it goes. It’s called The Holy Octave of Consecration to God Our Father.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dearest God Our Father, I humbly ask that on my journey home to You, Your Holy Angels protect
and guide me; that Your Blessed Saints in Heaven intercede for me, and that Your suffering souls in
Purgatory pray for me, as I pray for them now. Amen.

Bead 1–Hail Mary…
Bead 2–Jesus, my God and my Savior, You loved me so much, You died for me on the Cross,
so that I, too, could return to our Father in Heaven. You are the Way, the Truth, and the
Life. Through Your Holy Eucharist, please sustain me and be present with me always
on my journey home. Amen.
Bead 3–Holy Spirit, my God and my Sanctifier, Jesus sent You to me for my journey back
home to the Father. Please purify and refine me. Fill me with Your Divine Light and
Love so that the Presence of God may dwell in me. Amen.

1st MAJOR OCTAVE: The Disobedience and Exile of God’s Children
On the first GOLD BEAD: Our Father …
On the following 8 RED BEADS… (and each consecutive set of MINOR OCTAVES)
  • In Praise I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In Thanksgiving I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In Offering I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In Repentance I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In my Inheritance I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In Saying My “Yes” I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In Fidelity I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
  • In Consecration I Love You Father, and I give myself to You!
2nd MAJOR OCTAVE: The Presence of God our Father in the Old Testament Era
3rd MAJOR OCTAVE: The Fiat of Mary, Our Mother
4th MAJOR OCTAVE: The Fiat of Jesus, Our Savior
5th MAJOR OCTAVE: The Sending of the Holy Spirit, Our Sanctifier
6th MAJOR OCTAVE: The Choice of God’s Prodigal Children to Return to Their Father
7th MAJOR OCTAVE: The Fiat of God Our Father’s Children
8th MAJOR OCTAVE: The Coming of the New Jerusalem

CLOSING PRAYER
Dearest God Our Father, I love You; I adore You; I worship You! Amen.

There really doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. It’s like a rosary with meditations that have to do with God the Father.

So even though this chaplet might be made up and not revealed by heaven it is okay to pray it? I really like it and have been searching for a way to express my devotion and come closer to God the Father.
 
AlanFromWichita said:
I didn’t see your post until after I posted my last one. I have a question: if it is the chaplet you said, what is the danger? Is there something in the wording that is inconsistent with Catholic doctrine?
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Well no, it’s just that the Catholic Church put a unapproved apparitions in a couple of categories


  1. *]It’s a hoax (So if that’s true, you’re praying something that was started by someone who lied)
    *]It can’t be explained either way
    *]Natural causes can explain it
    *]Or the devil is at work

    #1 and #4 are what I’m afraid of, which is why it’s not safe. Imagine if you prayed the chaplet and a couple of years later the Pope rules the apparition as false, and the reasons could be either #1 or #4.
    AlanFromWichita said:
    I’m not challenging you
    Click to expand...
    Eh…🤷 it’s okay.

    God bless :byzsoc:

    David
 
Xandria said:
There really doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. It’s like a rosary with meditations that have to do with God the Father…
Click to expand...
It’s beautiful and I’m glad you have a great devotion to God the Father, but it’s not about the prayer, it’s about the people who started it. I don’t know, as a precaution, I wouldn’t pray it until the Vatican says it’s okay.

God bless :byzsoc:

David
 
But since there isn’t anything wrong with the prayer itself, could there be any harm in using it for personal prayer?
 
Well, I would recommend going to the catechism and reviewing how the Church defines prayer. Also contemplate that the goal is to raise our heart and mind to God. As indicated below-- the words aren’t what is important unless they assist/inhibit you achieving that goal. Then, I would recommend you review the prayer in that context and in accordance with the teachings of the Church

scborromeo.org/ccc/p4s1.htm#2562

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.

2559 "Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."2 But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart?3 He who humbles himself will be exalted;4 humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought,"5 are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."6

2562 Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain.
 
Xandria said:
But since there isn’t anything wrong with the prayer itself
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If it might turn out to have a bad origin, in a couple of years or so, then yes. By the way, could you message me the name of the apparition? This is actually interesting.
 
So it’s the condition of the heart that matters even more than the specific words. (Within reason, I’m assuming.) That makes sense.

But I’m still curious. If we are reciting words with our hearts lifted to God which are not inconsistent with Catholic doctrine, then why does it matter who put the words together first? What if we pray words we think we are making up but they just “happen” to match what some evil person said before us – even without our knowledge? I don’t get it. It’s almost like we are given the evil person a copyright on prayers that may be perfectly beautiful, and giving them undue power over us. For that matter, there are priests who are known to have done some pretty evil things – is it wrong to recite prayers they have written?

Just to grab an example out of the air, how about the so-called “serenity prayer?” It is wrong or risky to pray that prayer without knowing whether it originated with an officially approved Catholic source?

Alan
 
I’m still confused over what private revelation this is so its hard to say if its approved or not approved.
Is this the Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio private revelation??
 
After a bit more research I not only found that the God The Father revelation is Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio but my wife just handed me the booklet (talk about coincidence). She has been through it but feels uncomfortable and is giving it back to the person that gave it to her.

Now this private revelation appears to have a Church approval:

Bishop’s Statement
In 1935, Bishop Alexander Caillot of Grenoble, France, convened a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the report. The commission took ten years to complete its work. In his final report, Bishop Caillo stated that Mother Eugenia had reflected great piety, humility and obedience during the 10 year investigation. She endured many trials and displayed outmost docility while submitting to the Inquiry.The following is a brief summary of the Bishop’s approval:
** “Following the dictates of my soul and my conscience, and with the keenest sense of my responsibility to the Church, I declare that the supernatural events and divine intervention seems to me the only logical and satisfactory answer of the facts. Isolated from all the surrounding features of the case, this essential fact seems to me to be noble, lofty and supernaturally rich: that a humble nun has called souls to true devotion to the Father, such as Jesus taught and the Church has enshrined in its liturgy. There is nothing alarming in this, only something that is simple and in accordance with solid doctrine. I deem it proper to let her continue her work. I believe that the hand God is in all this. After ten years of research, reflection, and prayer I bless the Father for having deigned to choose my diocese as the place for such touching manifestations of His love.”
The book also has an IMPRIMATUR from Vicor General Cardinal Canisius Van Lierde,
Vatican City, Rome, March 13, 1988. **

However, personally I am not convinced especially as one of the alleged messages from God the Father states:

“ALL THOSE WHO CALL ME BY THE NAME OF FATHER, EVEN IF ONLY
ONCE, WILL NOT PERISH, BUT WILL BE SURE OF THEIR ETERNAL LIFE
AMONG THE CHOSEN ONES.”

That would seem to imply you can die in a state of mortal sin but as long as you have called the first person of the Trinity Father even once then your salvation is assured. To me that completely contradicts Church teaching.
 
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