Posted on 10/16/2002 6:55:59 AM PDT by ELS
And I'm sure that at your church, no one has ever requested anyone to say prayers for anyone else.
"For" or "to"??
I don't anyone at church calling upon any of the dearly departed to intercede for the flock.
Would you prefer to abide by man's "tradition", or the "Word of God"?
If you don't like the choice, take it up with the Big Guy Upstairs, not me.
Oh brother,,, dude, you really need to read the articles posted first before responding.
I'm beginning to see the problem here. You seem to be caught up on the Rosary chaplet that people use to pray this prayer - which need not be used for the prayer itself at all. No biggie. Think of them as a clock keeping time while you pray. Yes we Catholics, at least, will bless them and care for them like we do all other inanimate objects (as well as animate!) used in service and worship of God, which is a Biblical principle - e.g. we bless Churches. But they aren't the prayer itself, nor do we see anything "magical" about them in any way. Those seem to be your prejudices (Read: pre - judge). Or maybe it's just confusion over language - usually in everyday life a chaplet will be referred to as a 'rosary', e.g. "Do you have a rosary"? This article is clearly talking about the Rosary in the full sense of the term, meaning prayer.
The Rosary itself is a meditative prayer - meditation on the Gospels themselves. Prayer occurs between us - living beings - and God. Any "power" (Grace) comes from God through the act of prayer (yea, yea, yea, I know, ultimately through Grace through the Spirit of Christ indwelling in us as a result of the Passion and Ressurection of Christ) not "beads".
There are different levels, or types, of prayer. Such as begging forgiveness for our sins, or petitions - asking for things, or thanking God just to thank Him, or praising and adoring God because He is God. There is communal prayer and interior mental prayer. The Rosary is a private devotion of (hopefully) the meditative or contemplative type, even when prayed communally in public. Think of it as praying the Scriptures, which is what it is. All these different forms of praying is Biblical. Ultimately, prayer is nothing other than talking to God. All prayer should come from the heart; any not, including the Rosary, is an empty shell offered to God. The command itself to pray is littered throughout the Holy Scriptures. And yes, Jews did have prayer tassles that they used recorded in Scripture, meaning Christ Himself had them. That should answer your other objections in your Post.
Lastly, while the Rosary, when prayed devoutly is a wonderful prayer, or way of praying, it is not the only form of prayer used by Catholics (incidently, no small amount of Protestants pray the Rosary as well). All prayer is good. Catholics believe a person can have an excellent prayer life without even knowing about the Rosary. While I recommend it, nobody dictated that it must be prayed for eternal salvation. Talking about prayer life and actually having one are two different things altogether. Many people have dry spells or a difficult time praying, especially meditative prayer. The Rosary developed over time as a disciplined and helpful way to lead to a deeper prayer life for individuals.
Why do you have problems with all this?
Ask Smedley, he might know.
Desde, this guy apparently can't even read through a coherent article or post to effectively respond to it in an intelligent manner. Spec manual? I knew and know guys like this in the military. They didn't fly F-16's. (heehee) Of course he's just a pilot, your brother is an aviator!
Wouldn't actually reading from scripture about the actual events that are the "Mysteries" bring them into focus more then the Rosary? No offence intended here just wondering why this is not advised as much as the rosary.
And why are they called "Mysteries?"
Becky
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.