“Prayer before Sex” – Media poke fun at CTS prayerbook
International media seize on the idea of praying before making love
A new Prayer Book for Spouses from the Catholic Truth Society, which includes a ‘prayer before making love’, has received unprecedented coverage, some good but often mocking or critical, in the international press, media and blogosphere. The story began in the Daily Mail and was soon picked up by journalists internationally, in Europe, North America, Australia, and on into Russia, India and the Philippines.
[For sample coverage, see Google]
CTS published the book on 1 September as a part of its wider programme of marriage course materials.
The Prayer Book, made up of pertinent extracts from the Catholic Marriage Rite, scripture, Church teaching, and prayers, offers couples a ready, thorough and reliable support in the daily challenges and joys of married life, and encourages the loving and spiritual dimension essential to the life of Christian Spouses.
The prayer, entitled “Prayer before making love“, which has caused controversy in the secular press, reads as follows:
Father, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts.
Place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes.
Open our hearts to you, to each other and to the goodness of your will.
Cover our poverty in the richness of your mercy and forgiveness.
Clothe us in our true dignity and take to yourself our shared aspirations, for your glory, for ever and ever. Mary, our Mother, intercede for us. Amen
Fergal Martin, CTS director said:
As with any other prayer or excerpt in the booklet, taken out of the context of faith and the totality of the human person, this prayer falls prey to secular derision. Its inclusion however reflects the Christian understanding that all human relations are built on love and truth.
The married relationship as with any other human friendship, and more particularly the area of sexual intimacy, can become the victim of half-truths and little deceits. For many the struggle for sincerity and truth in loving will be constant and, in Christ, successful. This prayer recognises this.
The holiness and beauty of married love, as experienced by many, finds its source in the presence of grace in the act of making love itself – the sacrament of marriage itself. The Church has done a great deal, particularly under John Paul II, to help us rediscover the theology of our own bodily sexuality.
The reaction to the prayer book illustrates how much more work needs to be done in this field, where a great deal of hostility to the Christian faith, even ignorance and puerility, remains entrenched.
The publisher has been inundated with orders for the book nevertheless, and hopes that a lot of good will come of it despite the initial secular reactions. It has been interesting to note that even the very idea of a positive connection between the physical and the spiritual is a new idea to many, and this news story by itself has set some people thinking on new lines.
Buy the Prayer Book for Spouses at the CTS Website