 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
graceknowledgement
Member
| Joined: | Tue Jul 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Bethel, Connecticut USA |
| Posts: | 23 |
| First Name: | Peter | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic with Protestant influence at early age, then Minister, ... |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2007 10:15 pm |
|
Hi,
I thought in my reading up on the Catholic church that I understood that Adoration is only for God, and Devotion is for others. However, "devotion" also seems to be used toward God.
This is confusing to me because I guess I want a clear deliniation between God and everybody else. I read somewhere else on the forum recently (not sure who and where at the moment) where someone, I believe, was finding that praying to God and asking for the saints to intercede felt the same. In my journey right now, I am not liking this train of thought. Somebody please elucidate. Thanks!Last edited on Thu Aug 2nd, 2007 10:16 pm by graceknowledgement
|
|
|
David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2101 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2007 11:27 pm |
|
Hi, Peter. I think your difficulty has to do with distinguishing the words according to object instead of according to kind of act.
Adoration has to do specifically with acknowledging God as God. Devotion is a broader word having to do with acts of piety, and it may have different objects, such as God, angels, saints, or even religious objects or doctrine.
Adoration is a specific kind of prayer (in contradistinction to thanksgiving, contrition and petition); devotion may refer to prayer, but it can also embrace other kinds of acts, such as the works of mercy, the cult of the saints, the simple act of love or charity, etc. Certain signs or acts of devotion are or can be acts of adoration.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2096 Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,” says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy (Luke 4:8; Deuternonomy 6:13).
2097 To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the “nothingness of the creature” who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name (cf. Luke 1:46–49). The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.
The Catechism does not have a corresponding definition of “devotion,” but uses the word broadly according to its common dictionary definition.
Finally, we might also distinguish the words according to the faculties of the soul, as follows: adoration is an act of acknowledgement (primarily through the faculty of the mind or intellect), while devotion is an act of adherence (primarily through the faculty of the heart or will).
David
|
|
|
CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5353 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2007 11:52 pm |
|
David W. Emery wrote: The Catechism does not have a corresponding definition of “devotion,” but uses the word broadly according to its common dictionary definition.
The Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent does have a definition of "Devotion":
Devotion, in the language of ascetical writers, denotes a certain ardour of affection in the things of God, and even without any qualifying prefix it generally implies that this ardour is of a sensible character. On the other hand, by the term "devotions" in the plural, or "popular devotions", we commonly understand those external practices of piety by which the devotion of the faithful finds life and expression. The efficacy of these practices in eliciting feelings of devotion is derived from four principal sources, either - by the strong appeal which they make to man's emotional instincts, or
- by the simplicity of form which puts them within the reach of all, or
- by the stimulus of association with many others in the same good work, or
- by their derivation from the example of pious persons who are venerated for their holiness.
No doubt other reasons besides these might be found why this or that exercise brings with it a certain spiritual unction which stimulates and comforts the soul in the practice of virtue, but the points just mentioned are the most noteworthy, and in the more familiar of our popular devotions all these four influences will be found united.
The full article is much more extensive.
It should be noted that the "things of God" include the Mother of God and the friends of God, the saints.
So while adoration is reserved to God alone, one may be devoted to the adoration of God, to the veneration of saints, to the practice of good works, to certain types of prayer, to following the example of worthy people, etc. As David said, "devotion" is a much broader concept than "adoration", and a person may practice both adoration and devotion in the same act; for example, one may be "devoted" to Eucharistic Adoration as well as to the rosary or the brown scapular. The former includes adoration within the devotion; the latter examples do not.
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
|
|
|
Current time is 05:06 pm | |
|
|
|
|
|
