Stylized English In Prayer

[Gregorius]

All of you have seen it:

Our Father, who [u]art[/u] in heaven...

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with [u]thee[/u]...

Of course, as long as you mean what you say, it shouldn't really matter how you say it.

But in the context of vocal prayer where modern language is used, should stylized English be allowed? Note that I am not referring to things like sacred music or poetry where without the style the work would lose its beauty, but in regular prayer and such.

[truthfinder]

I think it helps in my understanding that prayer is not just casual. It helps reminds us that God is God.

[BG45]

Just my thoughts, but yeah I do use thee and thy in some prayers. Mostly because it's how I taught myself the Hail Mary.

[Steubenville Bound '11]

Personally, I think it makes the prayer sound much more beautiful and reverent

[cmotherofpirl]

I think it serves to remind us what we are doing, its not " Yo hey dude".

[Nihil Obstat]

I honestly don't see any reason why not. It sounds more dignified and reverent, to me at least.

[Resurrexi]

I like it that using [i]thou[/i], [i]thee[/i], and [i]thy[/i] preserves the distinction between second person singular and second person plural.

[TeresaBenedicta]

When I first began to pray, I was taught by Mormons, and therefore used "thou" and "thee" even in my own prayer. I don't do that so much anymore, but I do like it in the Our Father and the Hail Mary and some other traditional prayers. Grace. Other prayers.

I don't know. I think it's cause it's how I learned it. I think it has it's benefits, as others have mentioned. I also don't think it's a big deal if someone else decided to use "you" instead-- so long as it's not for public prayer. Most folks learn it with "thee and thou" so it should stay that way.

[MissyP89]

It should certainly be allowed. I don't typically use it in private prayer, though--while I do speak formally and with reverence, it's not stylized.

[CatherineM]

I had great-grandparents who spoke with thees and thous. They were Quakers.

[eagle_eye222001]

[quote name='Steubenville Bound '11' date='27 August 2009 - 12:33 PM' timestamp='1251390807' post='1956857']
Personally, I think it makes the prayer sound much more beautiful and reverent
[/quote]

iawtc

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='27 August 2009 - 08:40 PM' timestamp='1251420051' post='1957095']
I think it serves to remind us what we are doing, its not " Yo hey dude".
[/quote]

iawtc

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' date='28 August 2009 - 02:38 PM' timestamp='1251484688' post='1957329']
I honestly don't see any reason why not. It sounds more dignified and reverent, to me at least.
[/quote]

iawtc

[The Bus Station]

[quote name='eagle_eye222001' date='28 August 2009 - 07:06 PM' timestamp='1251500770' post='1957475']
iawtc



iawtc



iawtc
[/quote]

iawtp.

[CorMaria]

As far as I know, at the time of Shakespeare and the first translations of the whole Bible into English, no one spoke with thee or thou, but they saw it as a reverent thing to include in prayer.

[philothea]

I could've sworn I mentioned a while back that thee/thou/thine were the now-unused [i]informal[/i] address in English.

Technically, they really aren't more reverent or respectful. They're just archaic. Due to the culture of English-speakers at the time, it became inappropriate to use the informal pronoun with anyone except your spouse or God, so it fell out of use, with the last known instances being romantic sonnets and prayers.

Unfortunately, we don't have any good markers or respect or formality in English.

[sacredheartandbloodofjesus]

I agree with Res. And also how it makes the prayer sound more reverent and reminds you who's presence your in.

[Gregorius]

I just read Gawain and the Green Knight. Despite my language preferences, I wish everyone spoke like that. You who have read it will understand what I mean.