Give us this day our daily... Catholic church issues prayer for faithful to say before sex

Mail Online ^ | September 2, 2009 | Simon Caldwell

[Alex Murphy]

Roman Catholic couples are being encouraged to pray together before they have sex.

A book published by a prominent Church group invites those setting out on married life to recite the specially-composed Prayer Before Making Love.

It is aimed at 'purifying their intentions' so that the act is not about selfishness or hedonism.

The prayer, which appears in the Prayer Book for Spouses, implores God 'to place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes'.

It adds: 'Open our hearts to you, to each other and to the goodness of your will.

'Cover our poverty in the richness of your mercy and forgiveness. Clothe us in true dignity and take to yourself our shared aspirations, for your glory, for ever and ever.'

The 64-page book has been published by the London-based Catholic Truth Society

The group has close links to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

The Rt Rev Paul Hendricks, who is the Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark and sits on the charity's board, said he thought the prayer's inclusion was 'brave but good'. 'I suppose it is a bit idealistic but it is recognising that God is at the heart of the marriage relationship between husband and wife,' he said.

'It is important for the Church to affirm the value of marriage and family life and I suppose this is a particular way of doing that.'

'Perhaps it is something that has not been tried, certainly for a while - I can't remember seeing something like that before.'

The book contains prayers for every stage of marriage and family life, including engagement, planning for parenthood, pregnancy and caring for children and elderly parents.

The prayers, written by

[Alex Murphy]

The prayer, which appears in the Prayer Book for Spouses, implores God 'to place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes'.

[icwhatudo]

A “group”, with “links” to another group...in England.

Well then it must be an official document from “The Catholic Church” /s

sigh...is this what passes for journalism these days?

[frogjerk]

AMEN! This is Biblical.

Tobit 8:4-10

Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to God to day, and to morrow, and the next day: because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God. So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them, And Tobias said: Lord God of our fathers, may the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all thy creatures that are in them, bless thee. Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for a helper. And now, Lord, thou knowest, that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name may be blessed for ever and ever. Sara also said: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, and let us grow old both together in health.

[Mercat]

This should be an interesting thread. What do freepers pray for before sex? :-)

[Tax-chick]

is this what passes for journalism these days

They're like 9-year-olds who've just learned how babies are made and need to talk about it all the time.

[Tax-chick]

I pray that the baby doesn’t wake up.

[BlueLancer]

That the cats don’t take an interest during.

[rom]

Disclaimer for those who are not aware: The book of Tobit is part of the Apocrypha and therefore Protestants do not consider it inspired and therefore not part of their Bible.

However, Catholics do consider it part of the Bible.

[CA Conservative]

“AMEN! This is Biblical.
Tobit 8:4-10
“

Ummm... This book does not appear in any Bible I own. Is this part of the Apocrypha - the books that the Catholic Church accepts as scripture, but the rest of Christianity does not?

[frogjerk]

Ummm... This book does not appear in any Bible I own. Is this part of the Apocrypha - the books that the Catholic Church accepts as scripture, but the rest of Christianity does not?

Time to get a new Bible then.

[RichInOC]

“Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly grateful.”

[aimhigh]

Was this created by a celibate priest? It sure won’t help set the mood.

[AnAmericanMother]

This isn't news.

Devout newlyweds used to recite the Magnificat together before going to the marriage bed.

Modern mores have not only cheapened and debased sex, they have taken away its holiness. As C.S. Lewis said, God doesn't disapprove of sex - he invented it!

[Salvation]

You don’t have the entire Bible, that’s why.

[Salvation]

Surely you are familiar with this Scripture. If God considers male and female "very good", what is wrong with a prayer that might say the same?

Genesis
Chapter 1

26

⁴ Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground."

27

God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.

28

God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth."

29

God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;

30

and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened.

31

God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed--the sixth day.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis
Chapter 2

 

18

The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him."

19

So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name.

20

The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

21

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

22

The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man,

23

⁵ the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."

24

⁶ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.

25

The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

[AnAmericanMother]

Is this part of the Apocrypha - the books that the Catholic Church accepts as scripture, but the rest of Christianity does not? were in the Scripture used by Christ and the Apostles but were removed in the 17th century because they were not part of the Jewish Bible as recognized at that time.

(The Orthodox Church and the Oriental Catholic Church also recognize these books as part of the Bible.)

[ctdonath2]

The Song of Solomon is Biblical too - and rather lusty (within the context of marriage). While procreation is mentioned therein, it’s hardly the focus.

[Alex Murphy]

Surely you are familiar with this Scripture. If God considers male and female "very good", what is wrong with a prayer that might say the same?

When did I say something was wrong? And why didn't you ping Shirley to your first question?

[patton]

Bump.