Video of Eucharistic Adoration makes me uncomfortable, is this fine?

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What exactly do you have an issue with? People singing? We do that at Benediction all the time? People swaying and holding their arms up? Not sure there are any restrictions against that, it’s not my personal taste, but people react to the presence of Jesus Christ in different ways. Church “in the round”? I do not like this style myself, but there are a lot of Churches out there like this.

Not really sure why you have an issue with people on their knees, adoring Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? Because they are not all lined up in perfect rows in pews in an ancient Church?

Sorry - but your concern leaves me totally bewildered, because I really don’t see anything wrong here. :confused:

~Liza
 
lizaanne said:
What exactly do you have an issue with?
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Lose the tone, please. I didn’t say I had a problem. I said it made me feel uncomfortable. Namely, the swaying of hands, and the posture of some people that to me seems reserved for a Priest, the Priest speaking words over the singing. It reminds me of megachurches and protestant evangelical services. It made me feel uncomfortable and I came here to see if I was wrong in my intuition or not.
Sorry - but your concern leaves me totally bewildered
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That’s fine by me. Not everybody is making accusations all the time or pitting things against each other. Get off the defensive and you’ll see I was making a perfectly harmless, innocuous post that asked a question.

But thank you for the response.
 
NewsTheMan said:
Lose the tone…Get off the defensive…
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Hair trigger? Tone is often difficult to read in a post. lizzanne is a very helpful and charitable contributor. I’m sure that she didn’t intend a tone that would offend you.
 
NewsTheMan said:
This video reminds me of mega-churches and just makes me really really uncomfortable. Is what is going on fine and allowed?
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It doesn’t appear to be a Mass. The video description says that it was a prayer meeting with adoration, prayer, and healing. I very much enjoy and appreciate the formal liturgy of the Mass, but I see nothing wrong with worshipping God in other ways outside of Mass.

I say we all need to be more spiritual and not be afraid to show our emotions when it comes to our Lord.
 
It appears to me that they are praying a Litany which is why it seems that the Priest is talking over the others; although I don’t understand the language.

I also do not like the upraised arms and the swaying, but, I don’t believe it is prohibited.🤷
 
The priest you hear speaking in the different language is a guest priest from Uganda. I’d be willing to bet a pretty penny he is speaking in his native tongue as he is praying over the congregation. In addition, I can relate to some of the outstretched arms, as it is something we do at my own parish under the prompting of our priest. For instance, when the ministers to the sick and the home-bound come to take the body of Christ in the pyx before mass ends, he blesses them over the speaker. In doing so, he asks us to pray to God (with our arms outstretched) for their blessing, as he blesses them. I think that is why you see some outstretched arms here, as they are praying for the blessing and healing of the sick VIA the host and the priests present.
Just my measly :twocents:
 
mullenpm said:
It appears to me that they are praying a Litany which is why it seems that the Priest is talking over the others; although I don’t understand the language.

I also do not like the upraised arms and the swaying, but, I don’t believe it is prohibited.🤷
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I believe the priest is speaking his native language while the young woman is translating his statements in Polish to the congregation. In addition, the parish is located in the Polish City of Wroclaw. Overall, I don’t see any particular issues with that form of benediction. Nevertheless, it does seem to have a charismatic nature, which may seem foreign to Catholics that attend more traditional parishes.
 
It does remind me of a Protestant worship service, but in this case, I don’t see a problem with it. After all adoration does involve singing Eucharistic. hymns and adoring the Lord.
 
PA650 said:
I believe the priest is speaking his native language while the young woman is translating his statements in Polish to the congregation. In addition, the parish is located in the Polish City of Wroclaw. Overall, I don’t see any particular issues with that form of benediction. Nevertheless, it does seem to have a charismatic nature, which may seem foreign to Catholics that attend more traditional parishes.
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That’s the ticket. Charismatic. Foreign to probably a lot of people here, but still orthodox (look up the Companions of the Cross if you need an example).

The video reminded me a little of CCO’s Rise Up conference. Praise and Worship (and altogether there was several hours worth) often had people raising their hands. Felt like doing it a couple times myself actually (I didn’t more because I can be a little on the shy side, not wanting to draw attention, that sort of thing). No, there’s nothing wrong about it outside of Mass.
 
novusCatholic said:
Hair trigger? Tone is often difficult to read in a post. lizzanne is a very helpful and charitable contributor. I’m sure that she didn’t intend a tone that would offend you.
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Thank you. No tone was intended nor given - just questions to clarify what the OP’s issue with the video is. Not sure why I received such a response. Wow.

~Liza
 
Anthony_V said:
The priest you hear speaking in the different language is a guest priest from Uganda. I’d be willing to bet a pretty penny he is speaking in his native tongue as he is praying over the congregation.
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The priest was praying in English and it was being translated to Polish.
 
I think it is beautiful to see people so obviously engaged in worshipping our Lord, praying and singing their hearts out. Some people may not be familiar with a charismatic-style worship and that may make them uncomfortable, but actually there is no suggestion of tongues or prophecy, etc. here, just people raising their hands to the Lord, which is a very ancient prayer posture, and one that is mentioned frequently in the psalms and not an attempt to imitate the priest, and not necessarily “charismatic”. It appears there is a Litany being sung, which is very beautiful.

There is nothing going on here which is improper or forbidden by the Church. This is not a Mass, it is Eucharistic Exposition and Adoration. People sing and pray during these services all the time, in various ways. I have been to similar services and found them to be very powerful and beautiful with a strong sense of the Presence of the Lord. After all, where 2 or 3 are gathered, He is there.

And one other thing–Protestants do not expose the Blessed Sacrament and worship Christ in the Eucharist in this manner. That fact alone ought to dispel any idea this is a “Protestant-looking” service. Even in charismatic Protestant churches you do not have an altar with the Blessed Sacrament exposed and people on their knees adoring it and priests in vestments and candles and incense and all that gold–why would anyone think it looked like a Protestant service? That is just an excuse for a complaint about something which is unfamiliar. Anyone can plainly see this is not a Protestant prayer meeting. And a large group of Catholics gathering together to praise the Lord out loud and in a joyful manner out to be a cause for rejoicing, not criticism.
 
As pointed out by Brother JR and some other’s on the forums, not every culture reacts to the magesty of God with awed silence. In some cultures, it would be considered very disrespectful to remain silent in the presence of something or someone awe inspiring.

King David’d leaping before the Ark of the Covenant in 1 Chronicles 15 is an example. This was a very flamboyant type of dance with twirling and jumping, performed amid joyous chanting and loud music. To the Jews of ancient Israel, to remain silent wouild have been disrespectful. It is ofetn a cultural thing.

-Tim-
 
What makes me too uncomfortable it is the extended hands. This may be appropriate in Uganda, but not in Europe. In our cultural environment the worship requires set together hands and motionless body.

It seems to me it is a charismatic service, which prefers the emotional over the intellectual.
 
laszlo said:
What makes me too uncomfortable it is the extended hands. This may be appropriate in Uganda, but not in Europe. In our cultural environment the worship requires set together hands and motionless body.

It seems to me it is a charismatic service, which prefers the emotional over the intellectual.
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I think that is a false characterization and stereotype of charismatics, and one which seems to be perpetuated on CAF, esp. by those who do not like their style of worship. If you take a look at many traditional prayers, esp. in the past, you will see a superabundance of emotion and effusiveness expressed, and many more traditional Catholics are highly attracted to these prayers and to the writings of many Saints who also express things in a highly “emotional” fashion. I doubt charismatics are any more emotional than traditionalists, or that traditionalists are more intellectual than charismatics. Different people worship differently, God is pleased with all true worship, everyone is part of the Body of Christ and has a purpose in it, ordained by God.

You seem not to understand that the Charismatic Renewal is not a cultural thing. It is a work of the Holy Spirit, has been recognized and welcomed by the Church, and is universal, not local or regional. It goes beyond the particular culture to which one is attached. The Holy Spirit moves where it will. It did not even begin in a place like Uganda, it began among regular “motionless hands-set-together” people in America. There is far more to it than tongues or raising hands. Most of my friends are charismatic, their devotion to the Lord and His Church and Our Lady would put most people to shame, their parishes would suffer without their service, their love of their fellow man is almost excessive.

But that is all I am going to say for now. People need to respect those who are charismatic rather than portray them as some emotion-driven, self-centered, flambouyant worshippers on the fringes of the Church. The Church does not see them that way.
 
laszlo said:
What makes me too uncomfortable it is the extended hands. This may be appropriate in Uganda, but not in Europe. In our cultural environment the worship requires set together hands and motionless body.

It seems to me it is a charismatic service, which prefers the emotional over the intellectual.
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I hate to say it, but that is bad because…?

Are you saying that you’ve never been to adoration and just prayed something simple like “Jesus, I’m glad you’re here”? You’re saying that you spend the entire time at adoration contemplating doctrine or something? You never take a moment to think about how God is working in your life, or how thankful you are for certain things?

I wouldn’t call “set together hands and motionless body” intellectual, I’d call it bordering on puritanical. I’d call it afraid to move for fear of putting a hair “out of line”. It would look to me more like just fear of God, not someone who has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The best session at CCO’s Rise Up I went to is called Summit, which is praise and worship before the blessed sacrament (also, confession was offered). The “presider” (I’m not sure what we’d say, the once who was leading adoration) was Bishop Paul-André Durocher. There were also a dozen other priests.
Would I recommend it to other? Yes, it was a very moving experience and I could feel the presence of God there. Is it for everyone? No, of course not. Other people have different spiritualities, and that is fine. There’s a lot of different spiritualities in the Church.
 
laszlo said:
What makes me too uncomfortable it is the extended hands. This may be appropriate in Uganda, but not in Europe. In our cultural environment the worship requires set together hands and motionless body.

It seems to me it is a charismatic service, which prefers the emotional over the intellectual.
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domcentral.org/trad/domdocs/0005.htm St Dominics 9 Ways of Prayer.
All types of different prayer posture seem to have existed in the ‘west’ for quite some time.
Don’t see the need to be so dismissive of other cultures, especially when we in the ‘west’ have used the same or similar postures for centuries and endorsed by such towering figures as St. Dominic .🤷
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St Francis of Assisi, St John of the Cross, even our Lord depicted at prayer with outstreched hands.
Pray with hands joined, right thumb over left, fingers pointing upward to heaven if you so choose, but there is nothing wrong and certainly not counter cultural to pray with open hands before the Lord in the Roman Catholic Church.
 
NewsTheMan said:
This video reminds me of mega-churches and just makes me really really uncomfortable. Is what is going on fine and allowed?

Here is the video:

youtube.com/watch?v=WoEj4jA-XZ0
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It’s not what you typically see in Anglo churches in the US, but the only thing I can find that might be liturgically inappropriate is the woman (translator) near the altar. Even that might be OK since this is not a Mass…I’m not sure.
 
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