Praying in tongues is a gift that many people experience through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. When sought in purity and humility, and not for show or egoism, it can be a useful way of prayer, especially for prayers of intercession and praise. Similar to how a lover cannot say "I love you" enough, tongues helps us to say "I love you" to God when our words run out. Click above to hear the sound of a group singing in tongues.
Tongues has been a gift of the Holy Spirit that Christians have used since the beginning when they spoke in tongues on Pentecost, and throughout the Book of Acts. It remained in Christian life after that, and although emphasis later decreased, the Lord continues to give this gift to people as He wills, if one is receptive to it.
While speaking in tongues, one is conscious and aware. It is not about being in a trance, chaos or confusion.
Scientific research has enriched our understanding of tongues by finding that when people speak in tongues, they are not using the areas of the brain which control language. This means that tongues is real, and not made up by the individual. This confirms that one of the benefits of praying in tongues is that it is a way of praying without the limitations of languages one has learned, since the Holy Spirit provides the words.
Tongues may sound strange, but it is not meaningless. Think of how a baby babbles, but they are communicating. Tongues is not the same as a baby's babble, but the comparison is useful because a baby communicates their needs and expresses love and feelings directly to their parents without language they have mastered. Tongues shows that we are God's children who can come to Him even if we don't know what to ask for, we trust that He will provide. In this way, tongues is a sign of the faith with which we can approach God, our Father who loves and understands us. We do not need to impress Him. He just wants us to come to Him and be united with Him.
Praying in Tongues in History
Praying in tongues is one of the earliest ways in which Catholics prayed. This is because when the Church was born on Pentecost, the Apostles and Mary spoke in tongues. Acts 1:13-14 records their presence on Pentecost, "Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus." In Acts 2:4, the Bible says, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues." Therefore, since the Virgin Mary, and the Apostle Peter - who was the first Pope - spoke in tongues, this gift is appropriate for Catholics to ask God for, and welcome it when He does give the gift of tongues. St. Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 14:5 saying, "I should like all of you to speak in tongues."
St. Theresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church, described the gift of tongues in her masterpiece of literature, Interior Castle. She was a nun in 16th century Spain, and a close friend of St. John of the Cross, another Doctor of the Church. In Interior Castle, chapter 6, sections 11 and 15, she writes:
"Amongst these favours, at once painful and pleasant, Our Lord sometimes causes in the soul a certain jubilation and a strange and mysterious kind of prayer. If He bestows this grace on you, praise Him fervently for it; I describe it so that you may know that it is something real. I believe that the faculties of the soul are closely united to God but that He leaves them at liberty to rejoice in their happiness together with the senses, although they do not know what they are enjoying nor how they do so. This may sound nonsense but it really happens.
May His Majesty often grant us this kind of prayer which is most safe and beneficial; we cannot acquire it for ourselves as it is quite supernatural. Sometimes it lasts for a whole day and the soul is like one inebriated, although not deprived of the senses; Compare with this what has been said in the fourth chapter of this Mansion, nor like a person afflicted with melancholia, Melancholia here as elsewhere means hysteria. in which, though the reason is not entirely lost, the imagination continually dwells on some subject which possesses it and from which it cannot be freed. These are coarse comparisons to make in connection with such a precious gift, yet nothing else occurs to my mind. In this state of prayer a person is rendered by this jubilee so forgetful of self and everything else that she can neither think nor speak of anything but praising God, to which her joy prompts her. Let us all of us join her, my daughters, for why should we wish to be wiser than she? What can make us happier? And may all creatures unite their praises with ours for ever and ever. Amen, amen, amen!"
St. Thomas Aquinas, also a Doctor of the Church, included the gift of tongues in his masterpiece the Summa Theologica. He was a priest in the 13th century whose explanations of the Faith have served the Church with a highly refined degree of insight that is so comprehensive and reliable that the Church still refers to him over seven centuries later. Thus, his teaching positively about the gift of tongues is a clear signal that this gift is real and is good. He teaches that the gift of tongues is a sign that Jesus came to save the entire world and unite everyone in Him, the reverse of what happened at the Tower of Babel when sin lead to humanity's disunity.
"Consequently it was necessary, in this respect, that God should provide them with the gift of tongues; in order that, as the diversity of tongues was brought upon the nations when they fell away to idolatry, according to Genesis 11, so when the nations were to be recalled to the worship of one God a remedy to this diversity might be applied by the gift of tongues."
Tongues has been a gift of the Holy Spirit that Christians have used since the beginning when they spoke in tongues on Pentecost, and throughout the Book of Acts. It remained in Christian life after that, and although emphasis later decreased, the Lord continues to give this gift to people as He wills, if one is receptive to it.
While speaking in tongues, one is conscious and aware. It is not about being in a trance, chaos or confusion.
Scientific research has enriched our understanding of tongues by finding that when people speak in tongues, they are not using the areas of the brain which control language. This means that tongues is real, and not made up by the individual. This confirms that one of the benefits of praying in tongues is that it is a way of praying without the limitations of languages one has learned, since the Holy Spirit provides the words.
Tongues may sound strange, but it is not meaningless. Think of how a baby babbles, but they are communicating. Tongues is not the same as a baby's babble, but the comparison is useful because a baby communicates their needs and expresses love and feelings directly to their parents without language they have mastered. Tongues shows that we are God's children who can come to Him even if we don't know what to ask for, we trust that He will provide. In this way, tongues is a sign of the faith with which we can approach God, our Father who loves and understands us. We do not need to impress Him. He just wants us to come to Him and be united with Him.
Praying in Tongues in History
Praying in tongues is one of the earliest ways in which Catholics prayed. This is because when the Church was born on Pentecost, the Apostles and Mary spoke in tongues. Acts 1:13-14 records their presence on Pentecost, "Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus." In Acts 2:4, the Bible says, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues." Therefore, since the Virgin Mary, and the Apostle Peter - who was the first Pope - spoke in tongues, this gift is appropriate for Catholics to ask God for, and welcome it when He does give the gift of tongues. St. Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 14:5 saying, "I should like all of you to speak in tongues."
St. Theresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church, described the gift of tongues in her masterpiece of literature, Interior Castle. She was a nun in 16th century Spain, and a close friend of St. John of the Cross, another Doctor of the Church. In Interior Castle, chapter 6, sections 11 and 15, she writes:
"Amongst these favours, at once painful and pleasant, Our Lord sometimes causes in the soul a certain jubilation and a strange and mysterious kind of prayer. If He bestows this grace on you, praise Him fervently for it; I describe it so that you may know that it is something real. I believe that the faculties of the soul are closely united to God but that He leaves them at liberty to rejoice in their happiness together with the senses, although they do not know what they are enjoying nor how they do so. This may sound nonsense but it really happens.
May His Majesty often grant us this kind of prayer which is most safe and beneficial; we cannot acquire it for ourselves as it is quite supernatural. Sometimes it lasts for a whole day and the soul is like one inebriated, although not deprived of the senses; Compare with this what has been said in the fourth chapter of this Mansion, nor like a person afflicted with melancholia, Melancholia here as elsewhere means hysteria. in which, though the reason is not entirely lost, the imagination continually dwells on some subject which possesses it and from which it cannot be freed. These are coarse comparisons to make in connection with such a precious gift, yet nothing else occurs to my mind. In this state of prayer a person is rendered by this jubilee so forgetful of self and everything else that she can neither think nor speak of anything but praising God, to which her joy prompts her. Let us all of us join her, my daughters, for why should we wish to be wiser than she? What can make us happier? And may all creatures unite their praises with ours for ever and ever. Amen, amen, amen!"
St. Thomas Aquinas, also a Doctor of the Church, included the gift of tongues in his masterpiece the Summa Theologica. He was a priest in the 13th century whose explanations of the Faith have served the Church with a highly refined degree of insight that is so comprehensive and reliable that the Church still refers to him over seven centuries later. Thus, his teaching positively about the gift of tongues is a clear signal that this gift is real and is good. He teaches that the gift of tongues is a sign that Jesus came to save the entire world and unite everyone in Him, the reverse of what happened at the Tower of Babel when sin lead to humanity's disunity.
"Consequently it was necessary, in this respect, that God should provide them with the gift of tongues; in order that, as the diversity of tongues was brought upon the nations when they fell away to idolatry, according to Genesis 11, so when the nations were to be recalled to the worship of one God a remedy to this diversity might be applied by the gift of tongues."