4 ms·

Fascinating story. Thanks for sharing, though I hope you understand my general doubt. But you'd expect that since I'm so far away from these strange occurrenc

Fascinating story. Thanks for sharing, though I hope you understand my general doubt. But you'd expect that since I'm so far away from these strange occurrences. Getting back to the point of this thread: when you pray, are you praying to something external, or are you praying to an internal divided, yet more divine, disconnected self?

michaelsbradley 12y ago
I understand completely, and take no offense of any kind. When it comes to personal prayer, my understanding has been shaped most strongly by the following two texts: https://archive.org/stream/PPCV-Manresa#page/n273/mode/2up https://archive.org/stream/PPCV-Manresa#page/n273/mode/2up http://christianperfection.info/tta6.php http://christianperfection.info/tta6.php When it comes to corporate prayer, my experiences and understanding have been most strongly influenced by public worship in the "style" of what is sometimes called the Traditional Latin Mass: http://www.livemass.org/LiveMass/dayHD.html http://www.livemass.org/LiveMass/dayHD.html There are numerous texts which attempt to explain what the latter "is all about". A favorite of mine is a guide, of sorts, for uniting one's personal prayer with the corporate prayer of the Mass: http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/hidden-treasure2.htm http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/hidden-treasure2.... Finally, a mode of silent corporate prayer which is also intensely personal is called "Eucharistic Adoration", during which one's attention is directed toward Jesus, who Catholics believe is bodily present under the appearance of bread. Many believers also make "holy hours" before the Eucharist on their own at little chapels throughout the world. There is even an online chapel, of sorts: http://savior.org/ http://savior.org/ ------- A common thread to all of the personal dimensions of these kinds of prayer is that there is frequently an interior dialogue, perhaps deliberately shaped according to a method of discursive meditation. However, there is also understood to be an exterior object of prayer, God Himself or the Saints and Angels. The dynamic by which the interior dialogue is (or can be, in any case) supplanted by something which transcends the one who prays has been the object of much writing over the past 2,000 years of Christian history. Generally speaking, the subject matter is treated by the ascetical and mystical branches of Catholic theology. The second link from the top is to a book which tries to summarize the most accepted schools of thought in those areas, i.e. within the Western Catholic Church.

michaelsbradley 12y ago

I understand completely, and take no offense of any kind. When it comes to personal prayer, my understanding has been shaped most strongly by the following two texts: https://archive.org/stream/PPCV-Manresa#page/n273/mode/2up https://archive.org/stream/PPCV-Manresa#page/n273/mode/2up http://christianperfection.info/tta6.php http://christianperfection.info/tta6.php When it comes to corporate prayer, my experiences and understanding have been most strongly influenced by public worship in the "style" of what is sometimes called the Traditional Latin Mass: http://www.livemass.org/LiveMass/dayHD.html http://www.livemass.org/LiveMass/dayHD.html There are numerous texts which attempt to explain what the latter "is all about". A favorite of mine is a guide, of sorts, for uniting one's personal prayer with the corporate prayer of the Mass: http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/hidden-treasure2.htm http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/hidden-treasure2.... Finally, a mode of silent corporate prayer which is also intensely personal is called "Eucharistic Adoration", during which one's attention is directed toward Jesus, who Catholics believe is bodily present under the appearance of bread. Many believers also make "holy hours" before the Eucharist on their own at little chapels throughout the world. There is even an online chapel, of sorts: http://savior.org/ http://savior.org/ ------- A common thread to all of the personal dimensions of these kinds of prayer is that there is frequently an interior dialogue, perhaps deliberately shaped according to a method of discursive meditation. However, there is also understood to be an exterior object of prayer, God Himself or the Saints and Angels. The dynamic by which the interior dialogue is (or can be, in any case) supplanted by something which transcends the one who prays has been the object of much writing over the past 2,000 years of Christian history. Generally speaking, the subject matter is treated by the ascetical and mystical branches of Catholic theology. The second link from the top is to a book which tries to summarize the most accepted schools of thought in those areas, i.e. within the Western Catholic Church.