Latin Priest Training and the Jesus Prayer

[maqhth]

I recently met a young RC Priest who is a few years out of seminary and has been doing confessions - a LOT of confessions - for a few years now - And he flat out did not know anything at all about the use of the Jesus prayer in the praxis of the Faith...  Is it NOT being taught in Roman Catholic seminaries???  It USED to be pretty standard 50-60 years ago among the rank and file faithful...  (But so then was fasting...]  I was just astonished, for when I asked him what he told those confessing to him what to DO ABOUT the onset of recurring sinful impulses, he gave a philosophical "They need to realize..." kind of response, which in the arena of spiritual warfare is useless...

Arsenios

[scamandrius]

I've never heard of the Jesus Prayer being used by the Roman Catholics, at least not universally (I'm sure it is still part of the praxis of the Eastern Catholic Churches). 

As far as confession goes with Roman Catholics, I thought "standard" penances were saying the Rosary x amount of times.  THe only time I've ever been given the Jesus Prayer after my confession was for something more egregious.

[maqhth]

I've never heard of the Jesus Prayer being used by the Roman Catholics, at least not universally (I'm sure it is still part of the praxis of the Eastern Catholic Churches). 

As far as confession goes with Roman Catholics, I thought "standard" penances were saying the Rosary x amount of times.  THe only time I've ever been given the Jesus Prayer after my confession was for something more egregious.

I just remember the Catholics I grew up around, Rose McCormick specifically, would frequently say, when something was going wry, "Lord have Mercy!"...

I was not referring to the Jesus Prayer as a penance, but as a weapon...

Arsenios

[Scotty]

I recently met a young RC Priest who is a few years out of seminary and has been doing confessions - a LOT of confessions - for a few years now - And he flat out did not know anything at all about the use of the Jesus prayer in the praxis of the Faith...  Is it NOT being taught in Roman Catholic seminaries???  It USED to be pretty standard 50-60 years ago among the rank and file faithful...  (But so then was fasting...]  I was just astonished, for when I asked him what he told those confessing to him what to DO ABOUT the onset of recurring sinful impulses, he gave a philosophical "They need to realize..." kind of response, which in the arena of spiritual warfare is useless...

Arsenios

The Jesus Prayer has never been standard in the Roman Catholic Church.  It gained popularity in the East after the schism, after all.

Pray for this priest, instead of ranting.

[Justin Kissel]

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with RCs using the Jesus prayer historically. I knew certain people had tried to push "centering prayer" over the past generation, but that's not exactly the same thing, and I thought recent.

[Wyatt]

I've never heard of the Jesus Prayer being used by the Roman Catholics, at least not universally (I'm sure it is still part of the praxis of the Eastern Catholic Churches).  

As far as confession goes with Roman Catholics, I thought "standard" penances were saying the Rosary x amount of times.  THe only time I've ever been given the Jesus Prayer after my confession was for something more egregious.

I pray the Jesus Prayer, though I am not sure how often it is practiced or even talked about amongst Roman Rite Catholics. As far as confession, I have only been told to pray a Rosary as a penance once, and I think it was only because during my confession I mentioned how helpful the devotion of the Holy Rosary is to me. Usually, for me, I am told to pray about whatever the particular sin(s) were that I was struggling with. For example, if I was struggling with holding a grudge against someone, my penance might be to pray for that person and to pray for myself to see them as Christ sees them.

[Scotty]

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with RCs using the Jesus prayer historically. I knew certain people had tried to push "centering prayer" over the past generation, but that's not exactly the same thing, and I thought recent.

Even that never gained popularity outside of large cities and Jesuit circles.  It isn't the same thing, because it isn't even Christian...

The Jesus Prayer isn't uncommon in RC Monasteries, however.

[Hamartolos]

I never heard of the Jesus Prayer until after I became Orthodox.

[Orual]

I recently met a young RC Priest who is a few years out of seminary and has been doing confessions - a LOT of confessions - for a few years now - And he flat out did not know anything at all about the use of the Jesus prayer in the praxis of the Faith...  Is it NOT being taught in Roman Catholic seminaries???  It USED to be pretty standard 50-60 years ago among the rank and file faithful...  (But so then was fasting...]  I was just astonished, for when I asked him what he told those confessing to him what to DO ABOUT the onset of recurring sinful impulses, he gave a philosophical "They need to realize..." kind of response, which in the arena of spiritual warfare is useless...

Arsenios

I've never heard of Roman Catholics using the Jesus Prayer except as something they deliberately adopt from Orthodox or ERCs.

Maybe you should give this priest a copy of Unseen Warfare as edited by St. Nikodemos.  It was originally written by an RC, Lorenzo Scupoli, so it might appeal to him.

[biro]

Roman Catholic penance after Confession usually involves praying the Our Father, Hail Mary or a few other prayers. I've never heard of laypeople being given the Jesus Prayer to say. It's allowed for private devotion, but I grew up in that church, and it was never given to me as part of the penance prayers. Neither did my parents tell me about it, and they grew up in the RCC too.

[Ortho_cat]

I never heard of the Jesus Prayer until after I became Orthodox.

me neither...

[biro]

I just wanted to add that I am not saying there's anything wrong with the Jesus Prayer, of course- just that it wasn't assigned to me in penance, when I was younger. 

[WetCatechumen]

Yeah, I don't remember how I learned about the Jesus prayer - I knew about it before I read the Way of a Pilgrim but didn't start praying it until I read that book.

I think it was from an Orthodox friend. Never was taught it by Romans.

[Tony]

Actually I believe the Jesus Prayer would be more familiar to RCs today than 50 years ago.

I recently met a young RC Priest who is a few years out of seminary and has been doing confessions - a LOT of confessions - for a few years now - And he flat out did not know anything at all about the use of the Jesus prayer in the praxis of the Faith...  Is it NOT being taught in Roman Catholic seminaries???  It USED to be pretty standard 50-60 years ago among the rank and file faithful...  (But so then was fasting...]  I was just astonished, for when I asked him what he told those confessing to him what to DO ABOUT the onset of recurring sinful impulses, he gave a philosophical "They need to realize..." kind of response, which in the arena of spiritual warfare is useless...

Arsenios

[Papist]

Actually I believe the Jesus Prayer would be more familiar to RCs today than 50 years ago.

I recently met a young RC Priest who is a few years out of seminary and has been doing confessions - a LOT of confessions - for a few years now - And he flat out did not know anything at all about the use of the Jesus prayer in the praxis of the Faith...  Is it NOT being taught in Roman Catholic seminaries???  It USED to be pretty standard 50-60 years ago among the rank and file faithful...  (But so then was fasting...]  I was just astonished, for when I asked him what he told those confessing to him what to DO ABOUT the onset of recurring sinful impulses, he gave a philosophical "They need to realize..." kind of response, which in the arena of spiritual warfare is useless...

Arsenios

I'd agree with that. We have a pretty solid and lively Byzantine parish here in Albuquerque, and, as a result, many latins have taken to reciting the Jesus prayers. I attended that parish for about a year and I even used to keep a prayer rope on my person most of the time.

[elijahmaria]

The idea that the name of Jesus has great spiritual power when uttered prayerfully is ancient among the post-schism saints in the Roman rite Church.  There may not have been the same formulaic used but there were similar things and often young religious were encouraged to repeat the name of Jesus throughout the day to fill the mind with thoughts of Him and to empty the mind of thoughts of the world.

M.

[elijahmaria]

I recently met a young RC Priest who is a few years out of seminary and has been doing confessions - a LOT of confessions - for a few years now - And he flat out did not know anything at all about the use of the Jesus prayer in the praxis of the Faith...  Is it NOT being taught in Roman Catholic seminaries???  It USED to be pretty standard 50-60 years ago among the rank and file faithful...  (But so then was fasting...]  I was just astonished, for when I asked him what he told those confessing to him what to DO ABOUT the onset of recurring sinful impulses, he gave a philosophical "They need to realize..." kind of response, which in the arena of spiritual warfare is useless...

Arsenios

In the Catholic Church, when a priest or bishop or multiple priests and bishops are found to be lacking in sound spiritual development of their own to impart to their flock, we believe that the Holy Spirit makes up for that lack.

How does that work in Orthodoxy?

M.

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