When I was studying Catholicism and going to mass weekly, I loved the rosery. It was my favorite devotion. I must admit, I still live it. I have this beautiful St. Benedict's rosery made of black onyx. would it be alright to still prey it? I know the Orthodox do have prayer ropes (which I have one of). I do say the jesus prayer on my prayer rope as much as I can, but I have memorized the rosery. I know it's a Catholic devotion, but the way I see it, a prayer is a prayer. would it be alright to pray the rosery? even keep it on my icon corner?
Ask your Spiritual Father. Only he can tell you what you can and cannot pray. The opinions of this forum are irrelavent.
(Including mine!)
I hear this from time to time, and to me it's sort of a toss up. Yes, you might get different advice in person, but that doesn't make it better. Who here hasn't received 17.4 boatloads of horrible advice from people in "real life"? Sometimes the "ask your priest" line really frustrates me. Priests aren't infallible, and sometimes they give horrible advice as well. Both St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian thought that the majority of the clergy were unfit (in some way) for their position. Does anyone think that things are significantly different now? Maybe instead of saying "don't listen to anyone on the net" or "ask your priest," we should be saying "get all the advice you can, and then make up your own mind."
"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." - Prov.15:2
While "make up your own mind" may work when seeking advice on say, which camera to buy, in regards to our Spiritual Walk with Christ, I disagree. The reason we tell people to seek out the counsel of their Spiritual Father for Spiritual matters is that through counseling and confession sessions, the SF (not necessarily a priest btw) will know the individual on a very personal and intimate level, and will know what is best for that person.
The analogy of the Church being a hospital for sinners is quite true, and it is never so evident as it is with one's Spiritual Father. Just as your Physician has a greater knowledge of your medical history and how you personally will react to certain medications then an article or forum on WebMD does, so too does your Spiritual Father know you better than an internet forum.
While the Church does not tell us to "check your brains at the door," we are to be obedient to our Spiritual Father's direction. If one feels they are receiving bad advice from their SF, then they can go to the Bishop, another priest, another monk, a nun, etc. In any case, any of the preceding choices would be wiser and more knowledgeable than an internet forum.
The internet has provided us with many great things, however it has not replaced human contact. The importance of tone and body language cannot be understated, especially during Spiritual counsel.
As per your reference to St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian, yes, things are significantly different now. For one thing, the majority of the population is literate. Something that was not prevalent during their time. Furthermore, most priests (in the US at least) have had some sort of seminary training to prepare them for the priesthood. Back then, you basically just had to be a pious individual. Speaking from personal experience, most of the priests I know also had some sort of occupation or career before entering the priesthood, thus giving them more experience and education to draw on.
So yes, Internet forums may be nice, but your Spiritual Father is the best place to go for counsel on matters such as this.
That's my .02, for what it's worth.
