Catholic Spirituality: What is it? and its 7 Pillars

The spiritual part of the human being plays a very important role without taking into account the religion or belief that he may have, and that is that spirituality is the essence of the true believer in God. But what is Catholic spirituality? . In this article we will tell you.

What is Catholic spirituality?

We can describe Catholic spirituality as that essence of the soul that is related to the doctrine and experience of theory and practice, in relation to the belief in God. For Catholics and believers in God, spirituality results in a direct relationship with the Father, since through it we feel the immense love that he professes for us, as well as his teachings.

Spirituality and theology

Theology studies the dynamics that the part of the spirit produces in relation to the soul, in terms of how it is born, develops and grows, until having the experience of holiness which God himself mentions to us during eternity, and which is shown through the word, lived testimonies and hand in hand with an effective apostolate.

With this, what is required is theological doctrine and Christian experience. If we opted for the theological doctrine, we would be left with an empty spirituality that has no impact on our own lives. If instead we only opt for the second, we would be left with the spiritual, it would be reduced to an arbitrary subjectivity, at the risk of producing error.

According to and according to the above we can say that true Christian spirituality must be composed of doctrine, life, experience and principles.

The testimony of the Saints themselves has been the same. This is how Santa Teresa del Ávila determined it when she maintained: “I will not mention anything else that I have not experienced much” . However, she also valued theological thought, and in relation to it she maintained: “She did not do things that were not with the opinion of lawyers”

There are some dangerous factors when seeking true spirituality, namely:

1. Ignorance: in terms of spiritual issues it is greater and it can happen that each person has their own criteria regarding spirituality. However, the conscience and the mind are always formed correctly and know how to differentiate between good and bad. However it is not always so.
2. On the other hand, false doctrines regarding spirituality are presented. It may happen that there is arbitrary subjectivity as we have already said, which is nothing more than the lack of interest in revelation, the magisterium, theology or the teaching of the saints.

Is there one or several spiritualities?

No, Christian spirituality is only one if we take into account its substance, holiness, participation in the Trinitarian divinity. So the vital elements that make us grow with her as they are: the liturgy, prayer, sacraments, virtues, self-sacrifice. All this under the rule of charity.

The Second Vatican Council determined in this regard: “Oneself corresponds to holiness when it is cultivated in the various kinds of life and occupations, all of which are led by the Holy Spirit.” “All believers from whatever part and condition are called to the Christian life and to perfect charity.”

In heaven, holiness will belong to the blessed in general, however there will be different degrees.

As for the modalities, we can say that they are varied and because of this, spirituality is variable. There are spiritualities of original times such as primitive, modern, medieval.

Likewise of states of life (priestly, religious, secular); according to what they are dedicated to: (missionary, family, assistance, contemplative, etc.); according to characteristics of schools (Franciscan, Ignatian, Benedictine, etc.).

The magnificent wealth of our Creator is revealed in the diversity of creatures such as plants, animals, minerals and fish. We can assure you that a Christian with an absence of spirituality is considered immersed in the sphere of a drifting Catholic spirituality.

Due to the gift of God, Christians can determine in their lives an adequate spirituality, they will find the spiritual house to live in, and a path to walk easy, safe and fast. Finding in this way the company of the brothers that God called to that same abode and that same path.

Types

There are currently two types of spirituality , which we determine later:

The first one is of unitary trend, the other one is of diversifying trend. The first brings together the different spiritualities in a common stream: the Bible, and the second highlights its peculiar characteristics according to the states of life.

The first has allowed the spiritual approximation in relation that before was much more distant, taking it to the main thing. The second stimulates the characteristic charism of the vocation.

1. Unifying excess: which on certain occasions blurs spiritualities without taking into account the various charisms, fracturing valuable traditions. In this way it reaches spirituality in a unique way for mothers, adolescents, Jesuits, parish priests, etc.
2. Diversifier: reaffirms the particular profiles of a specific spirituality, adheres to its own ideas, languages, methods, ways and manners, loses evangelical harmony. Because of this, it is produced in a closed, secluded environment.

With this, a closed spiritual environment is produced and its members are incapable of the sense of collaboration with other believers or Christian groups.

The seven pillars of Catholic spirituality

Below we will detail seven pillars that are essential for the formation of any Christian, which should be very present in order to solidify their true faith in God.

The confession

This corresponds to one of the sacraments instituted by God, by means of which He forgives us the sins that we may have committed. After the forgiveness of sins we recover the life of grace, God himself gives us a new opportunity to be with him as our faithful friend.

It is also the opportunity we have to be in communion with God and be close to our happiness with him.

The sentence

Prayer is the means through which we have a direct and private conversation with God. For some believers it can be something easy or difficult.

We say easy since, as we said, prayer is nothing more than talking to God, since this can be done at any time and place, as well as when we require it for any reason.

However, it can be difficult since many people do not know how to pray to God, often also due to the time factor of the people and the occupations they have, since many times it is an excuse not to sit down for a moment and talk with God.

Eucharist

This is another important sacrament that Jesus himself instituted which deals with the sacrifice of his body and blood, so that we would remember him for centuries and centuries, until the moment of his return.

With this holy sacrament, Jesus entrusts to the Church the reminder of his death and resurrection. It is very important that we are aware of this engine that is what moves all our faith and spirit.

With this sacrament we also feed on the body and blood of Jesus, thereby subsequently bringing his teaching to other people. It is also food for the soul and the spirit itself.

The Scriptures

It is really very important to have the word of God present in our lives. Currently there are families that for them the most sacred and important book is usually the Bible.

This must be so, since through his word we become firm in faith and it makes us strong in the face of adversity and temptations that are presented to us throughout our daily lives.

That is why it is important that the Scriptures (Bible), have a special place in any house of each family, and that they be given due respect and above all, put into practice the teachings that God himself established in it for us.

Fast

With this attitude of the fast of the believers it is an act of sincere repentance of the sins of the soul, it is the abstention of taking food, and with it dominate the soul before any relapse in the sin. It is the sincere demonstration to God of the pain of the soul and above all the determination not to commit more sin that contaminates our spirit with which we lose our salvation.

rosary beads

Through the Rosary we communicate directly with our Heavenly Mother, and we have a direct communion with her. The Rosary is synonymous with freeing ourselves from sin and bad attitudes that we can commit.

With the daily or frequent recitation of the Rosary we can achieve great responses from the Virgin Mary herself to us, many are the people who see how their lives are gradually changing as they pray the Rosary daily.

Likewise, through the Rosary we can obtain a good and holy death and we will also notice new virtues in ourselves such as the sincere practice of good deeds to others.

spiritual reading

Through reading the word of God we strengthen ourselves daily and achieve holiness. We must keep in mind at all times in our lives the teachings of Jesus through his word, and we can achieve this with the daily reading of the Bible, that is spiritual reading, which feeds our soul and spirit.

conclusion

With the development of this article we wanted to make it as clear as possible to the reader what is related to what is Catholic spirituality, and also everything related to this topic, the 7 pillars or steps that Catholic spirituality entails. We hope that it has been useful and knowledgeable to the reader, since it is a fairly extensive topic since everything related to the spiritual part of humanity deals with various points; however here we try only to summarize some of them for information.