The Hindu Mantra, Christian Mysticism, and the Jesus Prayer

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Carmelite, Catholic Church, Christ, Christian, Christian Mysticism, Hindu, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Prayer, mantra, meditation, mysticism, Prayer, The Way of a Pilgrim

Carmelite Cross (Photo credit: Lawrence OP)

by Lynden Rodriguez, OCDS

I recently came across an article in my email on the relationship of yoga and the Hindu mantra. Like so many Christians who might have been introduced to yoga before rededicating their lives to Christ, I have been somewhat divided on what all of this means. The Biblical pronouncement to take that which is valuable and discard the rest may be applied here, but the “mantra” is a decidedly Hindu development. Or is it?

Katie Silcox writes in this week’s Yoga Alchemy of the on-line Yoga Journal: “The Sanskrit root ‘man’ means ‘mind’ or ‘to think.’ ‘Tra’ means ‘to protect, guide, or lead.’ So, ‘mantra’ is a sound, vibration accompanied by ‘abhav’(feeling/meaning) that protects, guides, and leads the mind. Another meaning of mantra is ‘a measure,’ as in a vibration or rhythm that we attune to, instead of the normal patterning (and therefore vibration) of the untamed mind.”

This interpretation of the word mantra means it is far from Christian thought; particularly Christian Mysticism. Readers may be surprised to find that there is indeed such a thing as Christian Mysticism. The treasuries of the Catholic Church are replete with mysticism, mystic experiences, and instructions along the way.

After my conversion to Catholicism, my daily yoga practice became increasingly more difficult with regard to meditation and use of the mantra. I was extremely uncomfortable with the spiritual practices at the base of my favorite exercise. However, there was nothing I could find at the time that said it was detrimental to practice yoga and yogic meditation.

Fast forward a few years, and I found myself called to the vocation of a Secular Carmelite. During my first years at Carmel, I was struggling with my prayer life. I spoke to our Director of Formation, and she recommended meditating on a flame, a holy image or word, and of all things, a mantra. The word made me bristle, but I knew what she was referring to. We had recently been instructed in the “Jesus Prayer.” It is a repetitive prayer used for hundreds of years by the Orthodox Church: “Jesus Christ, only Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” So, in obedience I began to recite the prayer as often as I could. I cannot tell you how much more complete my prayer life was after utilizing that prayer; and it has taken me up unto this very day.

But returning to topic, being the curious person that I am about words and language, I sought out a book: The Way of a Pilgrim. The book is a spiritual classic from Russia, delving into the history of the prayer, its meaning, and its consequence. It follows a Pilgrim on his way, and all of the holy people and experiences he encounters. It explains how one may constantly pray the Jesus Prayer, as the answer to the Biblical command to, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB).

The anonymous author of the book writes about his encounter with a holy man: “The elder received my plea lovingly and invited me to visit him in his cell: ‘Come, stop by and I will give you a book of the Holy Fathers from which, with the help of God, you can learn all about prayer…The ceaseless Jesus Prayer is a continuous, uninterrupted call on the Holy Name of Jesus Christ with the lips, mind, heart; and in the awareness of His abiding presence it is a plea for His blessing in all undertakings in all places, at, all times, even in sleep” (Way of a Pilgrim, 18)

Eventually, I became Director of Formation in my Secular Carmelite order; and was the Director of Aspirants (Inquirers) for much longer, and always recommended to my students Christian meditation as approved by the Order; the Jesus Prayer being one of the methods.

I cannot say that the yoga mantra is inadvisable or not. I can only speak from my own experience. After all, I came from that practice into my Carmelite vocation; and I wouldn’t want to break anyone’s “rice bowl” either. However, I do owe yoga a debt to teaching me about meditation, and breathing exercises to calm the spirit. I would only say that it is a different understanding than that of my own. But to all those who are Christian and who enjoy yoga asanas, yet are torn by this issue, I would recommend the substitution of Christian objects, words and mantras, particularly the Jesus Prayer, over those put forward by traditional yogic teachings.

Works Cited

Bracovcin, Helen, Translator. Way of a Pilgrim, The. Image Books – Doubleday. 1992.

Silcox, Katie. Sweeping the Body with Mantra.Yoga Alchemy:
YogaJournal.com. October 26, 2012. <http://blogs.yogajournal.com/alchemy/2012/10/26/sweeping-the-body-with- mantra/#.UIrsHyxwhJY.facebook>

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• Nothing Means The Same Anymore (sarahsilver.wordpress.com)
• Return to Our Senses – Learning to Breathe the Jesus Prayer (godspace.wordpress.com)
• ‘Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer’ the New Book by Emmy Award-Winning Documentarian, Norris J. Chumley, Ph.D, is a Journey Into the Heart of God (prweb.com)
• Trouble Sleeping? (frstephensmuts.wordpress.com)

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Catholicism: A Catholic View of Halloween

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Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Charles Borromeo, Chick tract, Halloween, Jack Chick, Jack T. Chick

From Scott P. Richert, your Guide to Catholicism

Frankenstein was the first in line, and the Wolf Man came up next . . . I’m dating myself with that old Buck Owens song, which is hardly ever heard nowadays. But it takes me back to the Halloweens of my youth, which were closely tied to the great feast we celebrated the next day.

Halloween: A Catholic View

That’s one reason why I’ve never felt the aversion to Halloween that many evangelical Christians and an increasing number of Catholics do. In the early 1980’s, I watched the attacks on Halloween arise, but even as a teen I knew enough about the history of Halloween to know that the modern-day puritans who decried the holiday harked back to their 17th-century forebears. Both share an aversion to recognizing the reality of evil–without realizing that the reality of evil proves the importance of the good. Read more…

See More About:  halloween all saints day saints

Halloween, Jack Chick, and Anti-Catholicism

In the 30-year-old war on Halloween, no one man has fought harder than Jack T. Chick, the virulently anti-Catholic fundamentalist whose Chick Publications has sold over three-quarters of a billion tracts disguised as comic books. I received my first Chick tract as a “treat” on Halloween around 1980, and watched as Chick ramped up his attacks on Halloween during that decade. What many people, including many Catholics, do not realize is that Chick’s aversion to Halloween flows directly from his anti-Catholicism. And most of the myths that Christians have begun to accept about the origins of Halloween find their roots in Jack Chick’s publications. Read more…

See More About:  halloween all saints day all souls day

Join the About.com Catholicism Purgatorial Society

Chick’s anti-Catholicism has manifested itself also in attacks on the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory and on prayers for the Poor Souls. But Catholics themselves have been quick to cast off their duty to pray for the dead, and purgatorial societies, which used to be common, are now increasingly rare. That’s one reason why I decided, a few years ago, to set up the About.com Catholicism Purgatorial Society. Learn moreabout the society, and how to enroll your departed friends and loved ones, so that others can pray for them as well.

See More About:  purgatory prayers for november all souls day

Novena of the Week: To St. Charles Borromeo

St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84) was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, whose zeal for the Catholic Faith and Catholic education was matched by his humility. This Novena to St. Charles Borromeorecalls his zeal, the virtues of his life, and his support for Christian education, that we may imitate those virtues.

See More About:  saint charles borromeo the counterreformation christian unity

This newsletter is written by:
Scott P. Richert
Catholicism Guide

 

Biblical Archaeology Society Week in Review: October 27, 2012

Tags

Bible, Scholars

October 27, 2012

FEATURED ARTICLES

The End of an Era

Scholars, friends and colleagues Lawrence Stager, Peter Machinist, Robert Kraft, John Kutsko, Sidnie White Crawford and Jim Davila add their remembrances of Frank Moore Cross alongside an obituary by BAR editor Hershel Shanks.

Bible and Archaeology Fest

The 15th annual BAS Bible and Archaeology Fest is only weeks away. Join over 20 distinguished scholars in Chicago for the presentation of their most up-to-date research and discussions of the most recent, exciting discoveries in the field.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Six-Part Series

In a DVD set featuring scholars from the latest issue of BAR, learn what the Dead Sea Scrolls tell us about the development of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism at the turn of the era and the roots of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.

That Other “King of the Jews”

James Tabor considers the claim that Jesus was “King of the Jews” to be a highly charged political statement, and he writes, “I have not the slightest doubt that [Jesus] laid claim to the royal Davidic lineage and understood himself as the legitimate King of Israel or ‘messiah.’”

Warfare in the Biblical World

In the October 2012 Library Explorer, BAS editors have arranged a special collection of articles highlighting military perspectives, ancient siege techniques and individual sites whose varied histories shed light on the many sides of ancient warfare.

Jerusalem of Gold

Gold is mentioned 285 times in the Hebrew Bible and its Biblical imagery is rich and varied. Jerusalem is aglow with the treasures of two glittering museum exhibits—Pure Gold at the Bible Lands Museum and White Gold at the Israel Museum.

NEWS

Alexander the Great’s Illuminated Birthday

A new study of urban planning in ancient Alexandria reveals that the city’s Canopic Road was oriented towards the rising sun on the day of birth of Alexander the Great.

A New Light for the World’s Oldest Unknown Script

New Reflectance Transformation Imaging technology may lead to the decipherment of proto-Elamite, one of the world’s oldest writing systems.

CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST

Submit your caption

Write a caption for this cartoon (see Matthew 7:9-10). The deadline for mailed entries is November 30. The author of the winning caption will receive a copy of the BAS book The Origins of Things, a BAS tote bag and three gift subscriptions to give BAR to friends. Runners-up will receive a BAS tote bag and two gift subscriptions.

Read more »

Free eBooks

See all free eBooks »

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Discovery and Meaning	Ten Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries
Paul: Jewish Law and Early Christianity
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Copyright © 2012 Biblical Archaeology Society
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Washington, DC 20016
Telephone: 202 364-3300

Agua Mansa Cemetery: Family Remembrance Day at Agua Mansa Cemetery

Family Remembrance Day at Agua Mansa Cemetery

26 Oct 2012 Share

Friday, November 2, 2012 • 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Colton – Join curator of history Michele Nielsen for an afternoon of remembrance and celebration of family at Agua Mansa Cemetery in Colton on Friday, November 2, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. This event will honor the lives of those buried at the cemetery and those who have gone before.

• Learn about the history of Agua Mansa Cemetery and the Agua Mansa community
• Honor those buried at Agua Mansa, and your own loved ones, by adding to our Dia de los Muertos community altare
• Enjoy a traditional cemetery serenade with Mariachi Trio Los Azulado from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
• Bring your lawn chairs for comfortable seating
• Families are invited to clean and decorate the graves of their relatives

This program is free. For more information, please call or e-mail
Michele Nielsen, 909.307.2669 x 240, mnielsen@sbcm.sbcounty.gov

Agua Mansa Cemetery
a San Bernardino County Museum historic site
California State Historical Landmark #121
2001 W. Agua Mansa Road, Colton

Open Fridays & the first Sunday each month noon to 3 pm, Saturdays 11 am to 3 pm

Source URL: http://www.inlandempire.us/community/family-remembrance-day-agua-mansa-cemetery/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InlandEmpireCalifornia+%28Inland+Empire+California%29

Oldest Writing Nearly Deciphered

Tags

Clay tablet, Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, Dahl, Elamite, Iran, Oriental studies, Oxford University, Proto-Elamite

Economic tablet with numeric signs and Proto-Elamite script. Clay accounting tokens, Uruk period. From the Tell of the Acropolis in Susa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oct 23, 2012 12:16PM
by Rossella Lorenzi

The world’s oldest undeciphered writing system is close to being cracked thanks to a new technology and online crowdsourcing, Oxford University researchers have announced.

Called proto-Elamite, the writing has its roots in what is now Iran and dates from 3,200 to 3,000 B.C. So far, the 5,000-year-old writing has defied any effort to decode its symbols impressed on clay tablets.

Now a high-tech imaging device developed at the Universities of Oxford and Southampton in England might provide the necessary insight to crack the code once and for all.

Comprising a dome with 76 lights and a camera positioned at the top of the dome, the Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is able to capture extremely high quality images of ancient documents.

As the object is placed in the center of the dome, 76 photos are taken each with one of the 76 lights individually lit.

The 76 images are then joined in post-processing so that researcher can move the light across the surface of the digital image and use the difference between light and shadow to highlight never before seen details.

“The quality of the images captured is incredible. I have spent the last ten years trying to decipher the proto-Elamite writing system and, with this new technology, I think we are finally on the point of making a breakthrough,” Jacob Dahl, from Oxford University’s Oriental Studies Faculty, said.

Dahl noted that overlooking differences barely visible to the naked eye may have prevented scholars from deciphering the writing.

“Consider for example not being able to distinguish the letter i from the letter t,” he said.

The images are now been made available online for free public access on the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative website.

As high definition images of the clay tablets are shared with scholars around the world, it is hoped that the enigmatic right to left writing will be finally deciphered.

Indeed, a few features of the writing system are already known: the scribes had loaned or possibly shared some signs from or with the Mesopotamians, such as the numerical signs and their systems and symbols for objects like sheep, goats, cereals.

In the past 10 years, Dahl himself has deciphered 1,200 separate signs, but he admits this is almost nothing compared to the complexity of the system.

About 80-90 percent of the signs are maddening puzzle and even basic words as “cow” or “cattle” remain undeciphered.

“Looking at contemporary and later writing systems, we would expect to see proto-Elamite use only symbols to represent things, but we think they also used a syllabary — for example ‘cat’ would not be represented by a symbol depicting the animal, but by symbols for the otherwise unrelated words ‘ca’ and ‘at,'” Dahl said.

According to the researcher, half of the signs used in this way seem to have been completely invented for the sounds they represent.

“If this turns out to be the case, it would transform fundamentally how we understand early writing where phonetecism is believed to have been developed through the so-called rebus principle. A modern example would be for example ‘I see you,’ written with the three signs ‘eye,’ the ‘sea,’ and a ‘ewe,'” Dahl said.

Containing depictions of animals and mythical creatures, but no representations of the human form whatsoever, the tablets appear to have been used only in administrative and agricultural records.

No evidence has emerged for learning exercises for scribes to improve and preserve the writing.

“The lack of a scholarly tradition meant that a lot of mistakes were made,” Dahl said.

Making the decoding even more difficult, the mistakes basically killed the writing system.

Eventually, the proto Elamite became useless even as an administrative system and after some two hundred years it was abandoned.

“This is probably the world’s first case of a collapse of knowledge because of the under-funding of education,” Dahl said.

 

Biblical Archaeology Society: Week in Review

Tags

Aramaic, Archaeology, Bible, E-book, Frank Moore Cross, Gospel, Harvard Theological Review, Hershel Shanks, Israel, Jesu, Jesus, Karen King, Last Supper, Passover, Passover Seder, Seder, Tel Aviv University

October 20, 2012

FEATURED ARTICLES

Puzzling Finds from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud

In 1975, archaeologist Ze’ev Meshel started to excavate Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, and the finds were fantastic. The team discovered two large storage jars featuring inscriptions referring to Yahweh and his asherah or Asherah, along with drawings of the Egyptian god Bes.

Kuntillet ‘Ajrud: An Iron Age II Religious Site on the Judah-Sinai Border

Forty years after discovering the site, Tel Aviv University archaeologist Ze’ev Meshel has finally released a well-researched and beautifully illustrated volume on Kuntillet ‘Ajrud. The book brings the thrill of exploration to life and is well worth the wait.

Is the Harvard Theological Review a Coward or Did Dr. Karen King Do Something Wrong?

The prestigious Harvard Theological Review has withdrawn Dr. Karen King’s article on the “gospel of Jesus‘ wife.” BAR editor Hershel Shanks criticizes the publication’s decision by stating: “Dispute is the life of scholarship. It is to be welcomed, not fled from.”

The Autographed Rock Art of Southern Jordan

BAR associate editor Glenn J. Corbett sheds light on the rock art of the so-called “Thamudic-speaking” tribes who roamed Palestine’s southern deserts about 2,000 years ago during the heyday of the Nabatean kingdom.

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

A Seder table setting (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jonathan Klawans discusses the common conception that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder by comparing evidence from the Gospels with the historical development of the modern Passover Seder tradition. Read the full article online for free as it appeared in Bible Review.

Jonathan Klawans   •  10/18/2012

Traditional Views of Jesus’ Last Supper as a Passover Meal

With his disciples gathered around him, Jesus partakes of his Last Supper. The meal, in this late-15th-century painting (now in a private collection) by the Spanish artist known only as the Master of Perea, consists of lamb, unleavened bread and wine—all elements of the Seder feast celebrated on the first night of the Jewish Passover festival. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke appear to present Jesus’ Last Supper as a Seder. In John, however, the seven-day Passover festival does not begin until after Jesus is crucified. Jonathan Klawans suggests that the Passover Seder as we know it developed only after the time of Jesus. Christie’s Images/Superstock

Many people assume that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder, a ritual meal held in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. And indeed, according to the Gospel of Mark 14:12, Jesus prepared for the Last Supper on the “first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb.” If Jesus and his disciples gathered together to eat soon after the Passover lamb was sacrificed, what else could they possibly have eaten if not the Passover meal? And if they ate the Passover sacrifice, they must have held a Seder.

Three out of four of the canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) agree that the Last Supper was held only after the Jewish holiday had begun. Moreover, one of the best known and painstakingly detailed studies of the Last Supper—Joachim Jeremias’s book The Eucharistic Words of Jesus—lists no fewer than 14 distinct parallels between the Last Supper tradition and the Passover Seder.1

NEWS

The End of an Era: Frank Moore Cross

Hershel Shanks mourns the passing of Biblical scholar Frank Moore Cross with a thoughtful obituary for a man who stood at the “very pinnacle of the profession, universally respected and admired.”

The Young Meet the Old

Over 500 Israeli youths joined University of Haifa archaeologists in Israel’s largest community archaeological dig at Tel Esur to expose a diverse array of discoveries.

Group Seeks Recognition of Aramaic Language and Maronite Heritage

Aram, an Israeli Maronite Christian group, seeks formal recognition for their cultural and ethnic heritage, and in doing so, are reviving the Aramaic language for Israeli youths.

CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST

Submit your caption

Write a caption for this cartoon (see Matthew 7:9-10). The deadline for mailed entries is November 30. The author of the winning caption will receive a copy of the BAS book The Origins of Things, a BAS tote bag and three gift subscriptions to give BARto friends. Runners-up will receive a BAS tote bag and two gift subscriptions.

Read more »

Free eBooks

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The Dead Sea Scrolls: Discovery and Meaning

Ten Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries

Paul: Jewish Law and Early Christianity

Subscribe to Biblical Archaeology Review.

Print Subscription

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Archaeology and Religion in Pictures

This unprecedented collection of images is devoted to archaeological sites and artifacts that express the human religious impulse over thousands of years. Learn more »

Copyright © 2012 Biblical Archaeology Society
4710 41st Street NW
Washington, DC 20016
Telephone: 202 364-3300

Related articles

• Maronite Christians in Israel seek to revive Aramaic language (forward.com)
• ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ faces authenticity tests (mnn.com)
• On Display at New Orleans Baptist Seminary (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)

Unforgivable Sin

Tags

Bible, Christian, Christianity, Jesus, Sin

Our increasingly secular world – or should I say “our thoroughly secular world” – has lost the concept, and the understanding, about sin. It is also increasingly omitted from homilies and pulpits throughout the United States. Sin isn’t in fashion these days, and so it is treated as though it were some sort of fashion – old fashion, that is; and therefore unacceptable and non-PC in the every day. But sin does exist. And sin has so permeated this world that men are blind to its presence. It is seen as normal, even desirable. But it is something that needs to brought back into the mainstream of discussion. For, how can sin be avoided if we do not see it or hear it spoken of in daily life?

In this article presented, the concept of the unforgivable sin is brought to the fore. It was something of which Jesus spoke throughout his ministry. And it is imperative that all Christians, and all good people, consider its consequence.

The Unforgivable Sin: Food For Thought

October 20, 2012 ·

It’s very strange to hear Jesus, particularly in Luke’s Gospel, speak about an unforgivable sin. The portrait Luke paints of Jesus is of a man whose arms are constantly open to sinners, who seemingly is incapable of refusing forgiveness to sinners. Yet there it is. Jesus in Luke speaks of the unforgivable sin, as he does also in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew.

It’s Mark and Matthew who give the context in which Jesus made this statement. The Pharisees had just claimed that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul and that he drove out demons by the power of the prince of demons.

The Pharisees had looked at Jesus working miracles and driving demons out of people possessed. What they saw was Jesus possessed by Beelzebul, driving demons out of people possessed by the power of the prince of demons. They looked at Jesus and saw Satan; they witnessed the obviously God-sanctioned works of Jesus and saw Satan at work. They blinded themselves to the goodness and truth in Jesus. They could no longer discern between evil and sin when confronted by them. Since they could no longer see sin as sin, they no longer saw the need for repentance. They were mired permanently in their sin. They had made themselves impermeable to the grace of the Spirit.

We also face this danger. Sin must be recognized as sin, evil as evil, truth and goodness as truth and goodness. If we get in the habit of not seeing sin where there is sin, we will lose our ability to discern good and evil. Though culpable, we will be incapable of repentance. We will have blinded ourselves.

source URL: http://catholicexchange.com/unforgivable-sin-2/

Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring

Tags

Art, Bach, Christopher Parkening, Classical, Classical guitar, guitar, Jesu, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Jesus, Joy, Music

A arpeggio passage from Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I could not resist posting this. It is an absolutely beautiful rendition on guitar. I hope that it plays properly.

performed by Christopher Parkening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iX8tsA0N7E

The greatest performance on Classical Guitar I ever heard of this Bach Piece.

Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring-Christopher Parkening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iX8tsA0N7E

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• Producing Bach – Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring (captivatewithmusic.wordpress.com)

Top 10 Prayers Every Catholic Child Should Know

Tags

Act of Charity, Act of Contrition, Act of Faith, Act of Hope, Catholic, Catholicism, Christian, Glory Be, God, Grace Before Meals, Guardian angel, Guardian Angel Prayer, Hail Mary, Jesu, Mary, Our Father, Prayer, Rosary, Sign of the Cross

By Scott P. Richert, About.com Guide

Teaching your children how to pray can be a daunting task. The best place to start is with common prayers for children that can be easily memorized. Children who are making their First Communion should have memorized most of the following prayers, while the Grace Before Meals and the Guardian Angel Prayer are prayers that even very young children can learn by repeating them daily.

1. The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross is the most basic Catholic prayer, though we don’t often think of it that way. We should teach our children to say it with reverence before and after their other prayers.

The most common problem that children have in learning the Sign of the Cross is using their left hand instead of their right; the second most common is touching their right shoulder before the left. While the latter is the correct way for Eastern Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, to make the Sign of the Cross, Latin Rite Catholics make the Sign of the Cross by touching their left shoulder first.

2. The Our Father

We should pray the Our Father daily with our children. It’s a good prayer to use as a short morning or evening prayer. Pay close attention to how your children pronounce the words; there are a lot of opportunities for misunderstandings and mispronunciations, such as “Howard be thy name.”

3. The Hail Mary

Children naturally gravitate to the Virgin Mary, and learning the Hail Mary early makes it easier to foster devotion to Saint Mary and to introduce longer Marian prayers, such as the Rosary. One useful technique for teaching the Hail Mary is for you to recite the first part of the prayer (through “the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”) and then have your children respond with the second part (“Holy Mary“).

4. The Glory Be

The Glory Be is a very simple prayer that any child who can make the Sign of the Cross can easily memorize. If your child has trouble remembering which hand to use when making the Sign of the Cross (or which shoulder to touch first), you can get some extra practice in by making the Sign of the Cross while reciting the Glory Be, as Eastern Rite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox do.

5. An Act of Faith

Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity are common morning prayers. If you help your children memorize these three prayers, they will always have a short form of morning prayer at their disposal for those days when they don’t have time to pray a longer form of morning prayer.

6. An Act of Hope

An Act of Hope is a very good prayer for school-aged children. Encourage your children to memorize it so that they can pray the Act of Hope before taking a test. While there is no substitute for study, it is good for students to realize that they don’t have to rely on their own strength alone.

7. An Act of Charity

Childhood is a time filled with deep emotions, and children often suffer real and perceived slights and injuries at the hands of friends and classmates. While the primary purpose of an Act of Charity is to express our love for God, this prayer is also a daily reminder to our children to try to develop forgiveness and love toward others.

8. The Act of Contrition

The Act of Contrition is an essential prayer for the Sacrament of Confession, but we should also encourage our children to say it every evening before they go to sleep. Children who have made their First Confession should also make a quick examination of conscience before saying the Act of Contrition.

9. Grace Before Meals

Instilling a sense of gratitude in our children can be especially hard in a world where many of us have an overabundance of goods. Grace Before Meals is a good way to remind them (and ourselves!) that everything we have comes ultimately from God. (Consider adding the Grace After Meals to your routine as well, to cultivate a sense of thanksgiving as well as to keep those who have died in our prayers.)

10. The Guardian Angel Prayer

As with devotion to the Virgin Mary, children seem predisposed toward belief in their guardian angel. Cultivating that belief when they are young will help to protect them from skepticism later on. As children grow older, encourage them to supplement the Guardian Angel Prayer with more personal prayers to their guardian angel.

See More About:

• children’s prayers
• common prayers
• morning prayers
• family activities
• catholic prayers

Other Prayers

• Prayers for Mothers
• Prayers to the Holy Spirit
• Prayers for Each Month

The Basics of Catholicism

• Catholicism 101
• Sacraments 101
• Saints 101

Related Articles

• The Sign of the Cross – How to Make the Sign of the Cross in the Catholic C…
• Physical Acts of Devotion – Catholicism
• Giving Thanks and Saying Grace – Mealtime Graces and Blessings
• Prayer of Mothers – Prayer To Be a Good Mother
• Catholicism – About Catholicism and the Catholic Church

source URL: http://catholicism.about.com/od/prayers/tp/children_prayer.htm

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Eight-Eyed Spiders Watch Videos and People

Tags

Arachnids, Biology Letters, Bugs, Curiosity, Discovery Channel, Eye, Insects, Jakob, Jumping spider, Salticidae, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Eight-eyed jumping spiders have a near 360-degree view of the world and can be captivated by humans and nature videos.

By Jennifer Viegas
Tue Oct 16, 2012 07:00 PM ET

 

A jumping spider. The green parts are the spider’s fangs.
Elizabeth Jakob

Eight-eyed jumping spiders have a near 360-degree view of the world, according to a new study that also found these spiders can be captivated by humans and nature videos.

The study, published in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters, presents a detailed look at how each of these spiders’ eight eyes works. During the experiments, the researchers also discovered that the spiders sometimes become fixated on certain nature videos, as well as people.

“Whereas many spiders, like black widows or the brown recluse, tend to avoid people, jumping spiders often seem quite fearless,” co-author Elizabeth Jakob told Discovery News. “I doubt that they mistake large objects, such as people, as prey, but they are certainly interested to know whether you pose a danger.”

NEWS: Why Spiders Will Always Find You

“If you pull a thread past one, it will often attack it, much like a cat would attack a string. They make good cheap pets!” added Jakob, a professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Psychology and a researcher in the field of organismic and evolutionary biology.

She notes that a lot of misinformation on the Web suggests that the bite of these spiders is quite dangerous. She said that the spiders rarely bite humans and, if they do, “not much happens. I got a red spot that quickly went away.”

 

DNEWS VIDEO: The longer a male Australian redback spider woos a female, the better chance she won’t eat him when they mate.

For the study, Jakob and colleagues Lauren Spano and Skye Long showed jumping spiders (family Salticidae) videos and conducted other tests to better determine how the arachnids’ vision system works. Some spiders have just two eyes, but these spiders have four pairs of eyes.

Two principal eyes face forward.

“When you look at a jumping spider, and when it looks back at you, you will notice the very large principal eyes in front,” she said. “These have a very unusual structure. They have a large, fixed lens and a tiny boomerang-shaped retina that provides high resolution images and sees in both color and UV.”

Jakob further explained that the retina in each primary eye sits at the back of a long, moveable tube inside of the spider’s head. The spider can move these tubes in order to scan all around.

“A metaphor another researcher uses that I like is that it is almost as if the spider is looking around with a flashlight,” she said.

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The other three pairs of eyes are, as a group, called the secondary eyes. They still have excellent vision, and are particularly good at detecting motion. Of these, one pair faces forward and to the side. One pair is very tiny and also faces to a side. The last pair is situated to the side and rear of the spider.

Jumping spiders not only have keen vision, but also a gregarious nature and a seemingly insatiable curiosity about humans and nearly everything else.

“If a spider turns to look at you, it is almost certainly a jumping spider,” Jakob said, adding that they respond to their own mirror images and watch videos showing insects.

When shown videos of moving crickets, the spiders will attack the screen. Jakob said you “can hear the click of their fangs on the screen” as they try to chomp the virtual insects. In the wild, they stalk prey “much like a cat stalks a mouse, following it and tackling it.”

Ximena Nelson, a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury‘s School of Biological Sciences, told Discovery News that the conclusions of this new study “are very interesting.”

Jakob and her team are now helping to build an eye-tracker to allow them to track the spiders’ principle eyes as they explore images. This will allow the scientists to “get a window into the spider’s brain in a way that hasn’t been possible before.”

Jumping spiders appear to be perfectly suited for Halloween. Aside from their arachnid ways and multiple eyes, like the fictional Dracula, they enjoy consuming blood-juicy victims, which in this case are bugs. Jakob shared, for example, that recent research found jumping spiders preferentially feed on mosquitoes that have just enjoyed a hearty blood meal.

Tags: Arachnids, Bugs, Curiosity, Eye, Insects

Source URL: http://news.discovery.com/animals/spiders-watching-eyes-121016.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

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