This work contains a narrative about a liturgical chant, its history and various genres and styles. A lot of attention is paid to explaining the theory and practice of various ancient chants. All this helps to understand better the meaning of the phrase "spiritual influence". The second part of the work deals with the practice of the choir directors' (regents') work, the choice of the repertoire and the relationship between the choir director, the choir and the priest. It is about the influence of various musical styles, the tempo and power of the sound of the performed works on the spiritual state of a person. Speaking about the liturgical basis of choir singing in the Orthodox Church, I reveal the concepts of theory and practice. I recall the early Christian practice of psalm chant, traditional singing in an Orthodox church and also modern liturgical singing. The Church Charter is of great importance for understanding the choir singing. The essence of church chant is to convey the meaning of the prayers performed by musical means as fully as possible and transmit them to all those participating in the service, as the choir is the mouth of the worshipers. The challenges facing the Orthodox Church at the present time are not less important than those that faced it a hundred years ago. The future...

Magister Theologiae - MTh / In this minithesis, I argue that the prime reason of the Deuteronomistic Historian (Dtr) for inserting the incomparability of God in Solomon's prayer is to convey his (Dtr's) theological interpretation of the history of Israel as history controlled by her sovereign God, Yahweh. Other reasons are also considered. In order to argue the main reason and others, the sociohistorical aspects of the Davidic-Solomonic era are briefly highlighted as well as the Deuteronomistic Historian, his time and theology. A closer look at the Babylonian exile shows the significance of this event in terms of the theological thought of Dtr conveyed in the passage 1 Ki. 8:23-26 and the rest of Solomon's prayer. A brief exploration of the theme "The Incomparability of Yahweh" as seen in the Deuteronomistic History is then undertaken to acquire a full comprehension of the incomparability formula within the Deuteronomistic writings. This also helps to place the formula within its immediate context, i.e. the passage and the prayer itself, and within its broader context, viz., the Deuteronomistic writings An exegesis of 1 Ki. 8:23-26 is undertaken giving further rise to lexical data leading to major themes. This critical exegesis, the lexical data and major themes lead to the postulation of the assumed reasons for the insertion of the incomparability formula by Dtr. Arguments for each reason are then put forth culminating in my argument that Dtr wants to conveys his theological interpretation of the history of Israel as history controlled by her sovereign God, Yahweh. The minithesis is concluded with an overview, reflections and theological perspectives of Dtr gleaned especially from the postulated reasons. Finally, this research shows the actuality of Dtr's theological thoughts for his time as well as for today's readers, especially in terms of the sovereignty of God, his hesed for his people and the motif of conditionality expressed in the Deuteronomistic theology permeating Solomon's prayer.

Andrej Kutarňa Carthusian Prayer Diploma thesis 2011 Abstract The Diploma thesis entitled "Carthusian Prayer" is trying to collect and arrange a body of information about the spiritual world of the Carthusian order. It aims at discovering the key characteristics of the life of prayer as seen by members of Carthusian order both in early and recent history of the Order and presented in their writings. First the thesis presents the wider context of carthusian prayer by showing the way of life of carthusian monks and what is specific to this particular monastic tradition, also trying to point at some possible sources of inspiration from older traditions. Then it proceeds to the matter of solitude and silence which are the formative elements that mould the carthusian prayer into the shape of simplicity and sobriety while retaining fine balance of community and solitary life, as well as that of great silence and living inner dialogue. The latter part of the thesis then attemps to show the inner dynamics of the prayer and the role of silence, liturgical and personal prayer and meditation of Scriptures for achieving unification with God, which is both the goal and the fruit of spiritual life. It also explains other fruits of prayer both for the praying monk himself and for other people. While it is not possible to...

LNĚNIČKA Václav: Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane (by Mark). Prague 2010. Thesis. Catholic Theological Faculty. Charles University. Department of Bible Sciences. Supervisor A. Scarano. Key words: Jesus Prayer, Gethsemane, the disciples, strength and weakness, vigilance, temptation, anxiety, sadness, exegesis. The work deals with the interpretation of passage from the Gospel of Mark 14,32-42. It should serve to intensified understanding of the biblical passage. The actual interpretation is preceded by textual criticism, suggesting of a possible structure of the text and a description of the circumstances. It also includes a brief comparison with synoptic evangelists Matthew and Luke. The interpretation is structured in accordance with verses. The translation into Czech is cleared when useful. The interpretation is conceived primarily as a comparison of several contemporary exegetical work, but the comments of the Church Fathers are also consulted. In the passage, we can follow two ways to respond to the crisis. Jesus, who faces difficult challenge, when he is fully going to be given over the sinners, confessess his weakness and disinclination before the Father, and finally succumbs the God's will through prayer and gaines solid confidence. On the contrary, the disciples, who confidently showed their...

The Diploma work explores and develops one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, that Catholic Church has like a treasure, and it is charisma. Many times in the Church or outside the Church a man can encounter with a negative attitude when the concept of charismas is mentioned, because many people do not know the true meaning and purpose of these gifts of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Diploma work is to raise in a simplicity the main issues of the topic and to offer answers to certain questions connected with the exposing of authenticity of this gift, which the Saint Paul is writing about. In the first part the Diploma work deals with the main attitudes of the Catholic Church towards charismas from the perspective of what Holy Scripture and Catechism of the Catholic Church says on the charismas. The Diploma work efforts to develop a spiritual knowledge of charismas, their authenticity and also a danger of sliding out of the Church. It discusses the criteria for distinguishing and recognition of charismas. The work discusses the gifts, charismas and fruits of the Holy Spirit. The topic is focused on identifing of the gifts of Holy Spirit and their presence in the Church and in the life of individual. Finally, the Diploma work describes topics such as "baptism in the Holy Spirit", thus...

Saint Teresa of Jesus, the Spanish mystic of 16th century and the Carmelite order reformer presents the doctrine of internal prayer and all its stages in her works based on own personal experience of life with the God. The intention of this work is to analyze Teresa's mystical path as a process of spiritual life with various stages of transformation. It will deal with what it means to be united with the God for the human life in Teresa's conception. It will also submit how Teresa's doctrine of mystical path has been reflected in the Czech environment since 1900 to the present, respectively by Czech authors and by foreign authors of whose works were translated into the Czech language. The work will be based on the concrete text of Interior Castle, in which Teresa represents the soul with number of dwelling places. The structure will be defined by single dwelling places, which are considered the ascetic and mystical stages of the prayer. The work itself, the Interior Castle, will be introduced together with the first to third ascetic dwelling places which had been the subject of previous bachelor's work. The mystical stages of the prayer, which are represented by fourth to seventh dwelling places, will create the main part of the thesis. The reflections of various authors are considered as the...

Diploma thesis "Prayer in St. Benedict's monastic rule and interreligious dialogue" is focused on the St. Benedict prayer presentation and its importance in the interreligious dialogue. The prayer should be considered as an essential parts of each Christian religious life. Christian life represented and described by St. Benedict, is the life of prayer. Benedict monastic rule has application, however, thanks to the generally applicable principles outside the monastery and should be suitable part of the spiritual experience of every Christian. The main goal of this thesis it to show the importance of real prayer and way of life in prayer for interreligious dialogue by Benedictine monks in the time of Bede Griffiths, Thomas Merton, John Main and Laurence Freeman, representing experience regarding interreligious dialogue with Hindu and Buddhist monks about the contemplation, prayer and different religious traditions. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the Mormon folk group. Specifically, I aimed to analyze the Mormon folk narratives that center on three core values of Mormonism: prayer, sacrifice, and service. This project was an introductory approach, pointing the field of Mormon folk studies toward the study of these three narrative types. As these themes are central to Mormonism, my purpose was to offer more insight and understanding about Latter-day Saints. Looking at these stories, I examined the ways in which Latter-day Saints believe and practice the doctrinal principles that undergird these themes. Furthermore, I discussed the manner in which and the purposes for which Latter-day Saints share these narratives. I analyzed each of the three narrative types in terms of their history, context, structure and patterns, performance qualities and functions, and meaning. This study examined narratives that I collected from various places in Utah. The stories that I collected through interviews formed the foundation of my study. Additionally, I obtained stories by observing storytelling events and conversing interpersonally and in small groups with Latter-day Saints. In order to obtain a larger sampling, I collected some stories from LDS published works. I ended up compiling at least thirty stories for each narrative type. The results of the study included a greater understanding of how prayer, sacrifice, and service operate in Latter-day Saint life. Answered-prayer narratives were found to be a critical aspect of Mormon supernatural belief, as Latter-day Saints seek to involve God in everyday life. Narratives of sacrifice revealed the various ways in which Mormons seek to give up valued activities and interests in order to draw closer to God. Furthermore, service narratives exposed how Latter-day Saints commit themselves to service upon joining the Church and subsequently participate in a multitude of various service opportunities. My analysis of these three narrative types demonstrated essential aspects of what it means to be Mormon.

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Racism, White supremacy, and Whiteness are deeply ingrained in U.S. society and in our U.S. Catholic Church. White U.S. Catholics are infected with these sins, even our prayer can be tainted. We, who continue to benefit from White privilege and who are descendants of those who created White supremacy, are responsible for bringing an end to its reign with God’s help. In order to heal, we must recognize our sin and repent. Repentance is deeply rooted in our tradition and is a necessary spiritual practice for White U.S. Catholics to prepare the soil for individual, communal, and systemic changes to create the Beloved Community and advance the reign of God.