In Christian piety, an ejaculation, sometimes known as ejaculatory prayer or aspiration, is "a short prayer, in which the mind is directed to God, on any emergency."[1] “A sigh, a devout aspiration, a holy ejaculation, will oftener pierce the sky, and reach the ear of Omnipotence, than a long set exercise of prayer...”.[2]

Within Roman Catholicism, some common ejaculations include the Jesus Prayer, the Fatima Prayer of the Holy Rosary, Come Holy Spirit, and Eternal Rest.[3][4] In Methodism, some common ejaculations include "Praise the Lord!", "Hallelujah!", and "Amen!".[5] The Puritan theologian William Perkins urged his pupils to "pray continually" through "secret and inward ejaculations of the heart".[6] The Lutheran rite for corporate Confession and Absolution includes the pastor offering ejaculatory prayers after penitents recite the Confiteor.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ Brown, John Newton (1844). The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Brattleboro, VT: Joseph Steen and Company. p. 493. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  2. ^ Stedman, D.D., John (1830). Sermons on various subjects. John Upham, Bath, and J. Hatchard and Son. pp. 120. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  3. ^ Glavich, Mary Kathleen (2010-01-01). For Catechetical Leaders: Teaching Catechists to Pray: A Companion to the Catholic Way to Pray. Twenty-Third Publications. p. 275. ISBN 9781585957781. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  4. ^ Stedman, John (1830). Sermons on various subjects. p. 120. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  5. ^ "Shouting Methodists". Jesus Fellowship. 20 January 2007. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  6. ^ Black, Vicki K. (1 January 2011). Welcome to Anglican Spiritual Traditions. Church Publishing, Inc. p. 82. ISBN 9780819227225.
  7. ^ Brown, John Newton (1844). Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. p. 1259.