“As by a New Pentecost”: Embodied Prayer in Catholic Charismatic Renewal Following Vatican II
DOI
10.3390/rel12080591
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
8-1-2021
Publication Title
Religions
Volume
12
Issue
8
Keywords
Catholic pentecostalism, Chauvet, Louis-marie, Léon-joseph, Prayer, Suenens, Vatican II
Abstract
On 25 December 1961, John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council with his apostolic constitution Humanae salutis, praying that God would show again the wonders of the newborn Church in Jerusalem “as by a new Pentecostâ€. Not six years later, in 1967, a group of students at Duquesne University in the United States prayed while on retreat for an infusion of the Holy Spirit that they might also experience the power of Pentecost. They received what they reported to be the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and out of the spiritual experiences of that retreat arose what would become an international movement known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. This movement, influenced by Pentecostalism, would develop its own embodied praxis of prayer that seeks a renewed encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit made manifest at Pentecost. This article analyzes the embodied prayer language of the Renewal by drawing from Louis-Marie Chauvet’s distinction between language as mediation (or, symbol) and language as tool (or, sign). It will use Chauvet’s distinction as a hermeneutic to flesh out the relationship between post-Vatican II charismatic prayer practices and their intended purpose of participating in the encounter of Pentecost.
Open Access
Gold
Repository Citation
Blohm, M. (2021). “As by a New Pentecost”: Embodied Prayer in Catholic Charismatic Renewal Following Vatican II. Religions, 12 (8). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080591