Author Topic: Voluntary Distractions Sinful During Prayer (Read 312 times)

Änσnymσus · « **on:** September 01, 2021, 07:14:26 AM »

I found this excerpt in the Catholic Encyclopedia in the article on “Distraction:”

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]“Voluntary distractions, that is the conscious deliberate surrender of the mind to thoughts foreign to [/color]prayers[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)], are [/color]sinful[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)] because of the obvious irreverence for [/color]God[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]with Whom at such times are presuming to hold intercourse. The guilt, however, is judged to be venial.”[/color]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]The question then arises: What counts as voluntary distraction?[/color]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]How is driving not a voluntary distraction (yet priests worldwide commonly like to pray the Rosary with their drivers during long commutes, or when driving themselves)? [/color]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]How about drinking coffee or smoking while praying?[/color]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]Don’t want to be scrupulous, but don’t want to sin either.[/color]

Änσnymσus · « **Reply #1 on:** September 01, 2021, 07:31:22 AM »

The key seems to be “the deliberate surrender of the mind to thoughts foreign to prayer.”

Many acts can be done without “surrender to foreign thoughts.”

For example, a housewife praying while doing laundry: Her mind need not be concentrated on getting out a stain, rather than the words of prayer (though the more active we are during prayer, the greater the risk of involuntary and voluntary distraction become).

Obviously, some acts require such a degree of “mindshare” and concentration, that voluntary distraction (or occasion to voluntary distraction) are more likely, but common sense usually prevents one from attempting prayer during such activities.

It reminds me of the old joke:

A Benedictine sees a Jesuit smoking while praying the Rosary, and scandalized, rebukes him, to which the Jesuit replies, “I’m not smoking while praying the Rosary; I’m praying the Rosary while smoking.”

Ladislaus · « **Reply #2 on:** September 01, 2021, 08:24:21 AM »

Scrupulous people struggle with what is voluntary. Voluntary entails intention, so that let's say I'm praying and decide to turn on the TV. Sometimes our minds just get filled with distractions on our own and we drift to them, but that's not considered voluntary for these purposes.

There's a funny story told to me by a Jesuit. He liked to smoke while praying his breviary. He asked his superior. Is it OK to smoke while I pray? And the superior answered that it is not. Then he reconsidered and went back to the superior. Is it OK to pray while I smoke? This time the answer was, "Of course it's OK; we are to pray always." This speaks to your question about driving being a distraction. If you have to drive, there's no reason you can't pray your Rosary. What else are you going to do? It's always OK to pray. Now, if you are dedicated to something, like saying 5 decades of the Rosary each day, as every Catholic should be at minimum, then it's probably better to pray that Rosary when you're less distracted. But there's no harm in praying an extra one while driving ... even if the best you can do there is a quasi-distracted Rosary. So that would not be a deliberate distraction in the sense mentioned here.

Author Topic: Voluntary Distractions Sinful During Prayer (Read 312 times)

Änσnymσus

Voluntary Distractions Sinful During Prayer

Änσnymσus

Re: Voluntary Distractions Sinful During Prayer

Ladislaus

Re: Voluntary Distractions Sinful During Prayer