ithinkjesusiscool Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 I have in the past months heard the terms prayer of the heart and affective prayer being mentioned a lot; both in Eastern (maybe not so much in Oriental) and Latin spiritual tradition. Do we have good definitions of the terms? Do they mean different things in different traditions? It seems that the terms are mostly mentioned in Franciscan and Carmelite traditions in the West. The East use the term prayer of the heart. It seems that all Eastern spiritual traditions use it. Do these terms actually have formal definitions? If so, where do I find them? The term heart is mentioned in Psalm 50 (51) in the OT. Does the term heart mean the same thing nowadays as it did in those OT times? We sometimes speak of the Sacred Heart. Are we focusing on the affective part (the faculty of will?) of Jesus? It's hard to understand all the terms used by Catholics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocent Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 These books may be of interest to you: The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way Writings from the Philokalia on the Prayer of the Heart The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology You could also read through the writings of some Orthodox writers like Fr. Stephen Freeman OCA Here's a Catholic book on the Prayer of the Heart: A Small Catechism on the Prayer of the Heart As to whether what is termed "affective prayer" in the Latin Catholic tradition is the same as the "Prayer of the Heart" in the Eastern tradition, my hunch is that they are not the same, in that affective prayer is more about acts of the will directed to God, with love predominating, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to give a conclusive answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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