Catholic devotions

This article is about the use in Catholicism. For general Christian bible study and prayer, see Devotion (Christian).

Catholic devotions are prayer forms which are not part of the official public liturgy of the Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. Many are officially sanctioned by the Church as profitable for spiritual growth but not necessary for salvation. Often devotions in the Church take the form of formalized prayers, sacred objects or sacred images that arise from private revelations, or personal religious experiences of individuals such as apparitions of Mary or of Christ. Catholic devotions also include the veneration of the saints. The Church has a tradition of thorough investigation of such [private revelation]s and the lives of candidates for sainthood to assure that no natural or scientific explanation can, at the time of investigation, account for any miracles involved. Often an approved devotion of the Church has an particular prayer form, an image and sometimes an message or prophecy.

Examples of Catholic devotions include the Rosary, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the various scapulars, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Novenas to various saints, pilgrimages and devotions to the Blessed Sacrament etc.

By the term "devotions" in the plural, or "popular devotions" are external practices which evoke a sense of piety, devotion, love or affection for God. Several factors shape the effects of these practices on the devout:

1. association with the [private revelation] of others
2. the strong appeal which they make to the emotions
3. the simplicity of form which puts them within the reach of all
4. the association with many others engaged in the same practices
5. btheir derivation from the example of others considered to lead a holy life.

Imitation of other inaccessible practices

Historically, the best known devotions have nearly all originated from the imitation of some practice of the religious orders. The [Rosary], for instance, in its earliest form as "Our Lady's Psalter". At a time when the recitation of the whole hundred and fifty Psalms was a practice of the religious orders those unable to read recited instead of the Psalms a hundred and fifty times the Our Father (Pater nosters) or prayed a hundred and fifty Hail Marys said as salutations of Our Lady. The Rosary is thus a miniature Psalter.

Another example is the Stations of the Cross which became popular in the eleventh century, at a time when the much of Christendom's attention was centred on the Holy Land but few were able to visit the Via Dolorosa, great numbers of Europeans found anequivalent by following Christ's footsteps to Calvary at least in spirit. The practice of the Stations of the Cross was a kind of miniature pilgrimage. Similarly, wearing a scapular of a particular religious order is like wearing a miniature habit.

Some devotions are limited in popularity to certain periods or particular churches. Many Tridentine era devotions such as the Six Sundays of St. Aloysius, the Five Sundays of St. Francis's Stigmata, the Seven Sundays of the Immaculate Conception, the [[[Seven Sundays of St. Joseph]], the Ten Sundays of St. Francis Xavier have fallen out of use since the liturgical reforms of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Other devotionss such as the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and other devotional prayer forms which declined abruptly after the Second Vatican Council have flourished once again since the pontificate ofPope John Paul II. Over time and in different nations and cultures there is a tendency to multiply various devotional forms. There is not only one Rosary, but many rosaries or chaplets such as the Rosary of the Seven Dolours. There is not just one scapular but many scapulars,

Approbation process

Specific devotions in the Catholic Church may not be promoted publicly through any ecclesiastical medium such as parishes, publications, etc. unless they are approved by the Church. The process of approval requires a detailed investigation by the local ordinary. After it is determined that a practice is based on sound doctrine and is not injurious to one who practices, it may be permitted (but not promoted by the clergy). Although the Holy See as a rule refrains from intervention, on rare occassions, where some theological principle is involved, action may be taken by one of the Roman Congregations, The slow recognition by the Church of the devotion to the Sacred Heart illustrates the caution with which the Holy See proceeds in matters of theological principle. Only after a thorough investigation by the Holy See may a devotion be fully approved and recommended (though never required) by the Church. With such approval the devotion may be given a feast day on the turgical calendar after which it may be used as the name of Churches, schools and various other ecclesiastical institutions. Examples include Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Infant of Prague, el Santo Nino de Atocha, the Feast of the Holy Rosary, among many others.

Private revelations

The private revelations of Blessed Padre Pio

Indulgences

Indulgences have long been associated with Catholic devotions. In the Medieval period until the reforms of the Second Vatican Council indulgences were expressed in terms of days, weeks and years and were attached to various devout practices. An indulgence is the removal of some of the temperal penalty for sin. As breaking a window even accidentally requires two forms repayment, an apology (contrition and apeal for forgivess or mercy) and replacement of the window (an act of justice) so all sin is an offense against God requiring two responses (contrition, and appeal for mercy) and purification of the damage caused to one's soul (an act of justice as we belong to God). The Church understands Purgatory an indefinite state of purification in preparation for the fulness of theBeatific Vision or heaven. While the remission of "time" in Purgatory is no longer expressed in temporal terms such as days, weeks, months, the Catholic Church continues to attachpartial indulgences and plenary indulgencs to many forms of Catholic devotions, particularly in relation to pilgrimages and other pious practices during Holy Years or Jubilees.

Sacramentals

Many Catholic devotions incorporate "sacramentals" as they are called in the Catholic Church. According to Catholic theology, sacramentals are objects which have been blessed or consecrated or set aside as instruments of God's grace through their sign value and through the devout practice of the faithful. Examples of sacramentals are blessed crosses, crucifixes, rosaries, religious medals, images and other obects of religious significance. Encounter with sacramentals is not "magic" but can provide an occassion for a new personal encounter with God. This is not automatic but depends on the spiritual disposition of the individual and the will of God who offers grace freely out of his mercy.