On praying with your hands and body
(Yes, Catholics do it all the time.)
This summer at the Raised Catholic podcast, we are revisiting a series on contemplative prayer, and this week our focus is on tactile prayer. Whenever we use our hands or body to pray - blessing ourselves with holy water, genuflecting, praying with our hands up or in some other posture, walking while praying, using our bodies prayerfully at work for the good of others, or praying using something like a rosary, all of this is tactile prayer and whether you know it or not, Catholics do it all the time.
It’s why sacramentals are so important for Catholics - the use of sacred oil which is distributed hand to body, water, the bread and the wine, the table. These are things we can touch and are things God uses to make His presence known. And in the case of the Eucharist, it’s what He uses to become one with us.
This week in Raised Catholic episode 188: Summer of Contemplation 2024: Tactile Prayer as I model tactile prayer for you, I hope you’ll find your own way into this beautiful form of contemplation, and I hope you’ll come back here to the comments to tell me all about it! Find the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts (or read the transcript) and then meet me back here to tell me about your experience.
