How the churches have regulated and corrected popular devotion

Program / Course 21: Liturgical Theology / Lesson 6.4

What you will learn

• Describe the tools the Catholic Church uses to approve, limit or correct devotions, including local approval of apparitions.
• Explain how Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed churches have handled the same problem.
• Identify the main criteria the churches use to judge a devotion.
• State what an individual can and cannot decide about a devotion alone.

The big idea

Every church that has popular devotions has also had a way of watching over them. The Catholic Church uses bishops, the Holy See and a body of norms, and the Orthodox rely on bishops, synods and the confessor. Protestant churches use confessions, consistories, elders and discipline. The criteria are similar: does the practice agree with Scripture and doctrine, does it lead to Christ and the sacraments, and is it free of magic, fraud and profit. The churches have not always done this well, but the aim is the same.

Key terms

Ordinary (bishop)

In Catholic and Orthodox usage, the bishop who has authority over a diocese and who therefore oversees devotions within it.

Nihil obstat

Latin for nothing stands in the way. A Catholic judgment that nothing in an alleged apparition or devotion is contrary to the faith, which is not a declaration that it is true.

Private revelation

In Catholic teaching, a claimed message from God, Mary or a saint after the apostolic age. It is not binding on the faithful, even when approved.

Consistory

A Reformed church court of ministers and elders that oversees the doctrine and morals of a congregation or city.

Confessor (spiritual father)

In the Orthodox church, the priest or monk who guides a person in the spiritual life.

Abuse

In church usage, a practice that distorts the meaning of a rite or devotion, through error, greed or neglect.

Discernment

The careful testing of claims and spiritual experiences against Scripture, doctrine and wise counsel.

Background

The Bible already warns about testing. Paul writes, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and John says, “try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). The councils did so in practice. The Council in Trullo in 692, accepted by the Orthodox, forbade divination, charms and certain popular customs. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 limited the veneration of relics. Medieval bishops issued rules for local feasts, and the Reformation produced a new round of correction on all sides.

The Council of Trent, in its final session in 1563, told bishops to remove abuses from the veneration of saints, relics and images, to forbid the sale of relics and to keep pilgrimages from becoming festive and licentious. It also asked that no new miracles be recognized without the bishop’s examination.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: How the Catholic Church regulates

The local bishop is the first judge of a devotion in his diocese. For a claimed apparition the bishop investigates, and the Holy See may be consulted. In 2024 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued new norms with several possible judgments, such as nihil obstat, which allows pastoral encouragement without affirming the supernatural origin. Even an approved apparition, such as Lourdes in France or Guadalupe in Mexico, remains a private revelation which Catholics are not obliged to believe. The church also approves prayers and indulgences, regulates processions and bans devotions it finds harmful. Popular piety is judged by its harmony with the liturgy and by the Directory of 2001. Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium (2013) praised popular piety as a force of evangelization while asking for care.

Step 2: The Orthodox approach

Orthodox practice relies on the bishop and on the spiritual father. The Church has no central office comparable to the Catholic Dicastery, and decisions about local saints, wonderworking icons and customs are made by bishops and synods, often after long usage. The Orthodox guard particularly against what is called spiritual delusion (prelest), in which a person mistakes a vision or feeling for divine grace. The writings of the desert fathers and later teachers advise testing any unusual experience with a spiritual father and distrusting it. The Council in Trullo canons remain part of the church’s law.

Step 3: Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed approaches

The Church of England regulated devotions by injunctions, the Book of Homilies and the Articles, which condemned the invocation of saints and the adoration of images and relics, and by canon law. Lutherans worked through church orders and visitations, in which examiners went from parish to parish to check doctrine and practice. Reformed churches used the consistory. In Geneva, the Consistory dealt with matters of belief and conduct, including the keeping of medieval customs, such as praying to saints, and its work was controversial. Later Protestants used church discipline, preaching and catechism. Each of these tools carried the risk of excess, such as punishing harmless customs or relying on state power.

Step 4: The criteria

Across the traditions the same questions appear. Does the practice agree with Scripture and the creeds? Does it point to Christ and the sacraments, or does it replace them? Does it make promises that the church does not, such as guaranteed healing, wealth or protection? Does it depend on secrecy, a seller or a fee? Does it encourage fear or a sense of superiority? Is it consistent with charity and honesty? These are the questions the next module turns into a method. A practice that fails them is not necessarily wicked, but it should not be presented as doctrine.

Step 5: What an individual can decide alone

A person alone can decline a practice, ask a pastor or priest, and read the church’s teaching. In Catholic teaching a person is free to ignore even an approved apparition, and must not treat an unapproved one as certain. In Protestant teaching the individual conscience, informed by Scripture, bears a heavy responsibility, but the Reformers also urged that conscience be formed by church teaching. A person cannot declare a devotion approved or a story of a miracle true for others, and should avoid spreading unverified stories, particularly chain messages that promise blessings for forwarding a prayer.

1. Who has authority in this tradition to approve or correct a devotion?
2. What criteria do they use?
3. What happens when a devotion is judged harmful?
4. Is approval a statement of truth or only of safety?
5. Has the tradition ever corrected too harshly, and how?
6. What would I do if my own practice were questioned?

Examples

Different perspectives

Catholic

The bishop and Holy See discern which devotions are consistent with the faith. Popular piety is a treasure that must be evangelized, and private revelations never add to the deposit of faith.

Orthodox

The bishop, the synod and the spiritual father guard against delusion and superstition, and local customs are judged by the tradition of the fathers and the services.

Anglican and Lutheran

Articles, homilies, church orders and visitations were used to remove practices thought contrary to Scripture. Both retained many customs that they judged consistent with it.

Reformed

The word of God judges all practices, and the church exercises discipline through elders and consistories. The regulative principle limits devotions in worship.

Scholarly

Historians note that regulation was often selective or politically motivated, and that popular practice frequently survived, adapted or returned in new forms. They urge attention to both the rules and the practice.

Why it matters

Churches have had to answer the question of which devotions to keep long before modern times. Seeing how they did it, and where they failed, trains a student to test claims in a way that is neither credulous nor contemptuous. It also shows that a church’s approval of a practice means something specific and limited, which is often misunderstood.

Common misunderstandings

Knowledge check

Think it through

1. Is it better for a church to regulate devotions or to let them develop freely?
2. How can a church correct a practice without insulting those who practice it?
3. What would make you suspect that a prayer chain message is not from a church?
4. Where is the line between pastoral care and control?

Independent assignment

Test a devotion with the churches’ questions

In your own notebook, write 400 to 600 words. Choose a devotion or object that you have encountered. Apply the six criteria in Step 4. Say what a bishop or pastor in two different traditions would likely conclude, and what evidence you would need to be sure. Do not send this to anyone.

Further study

• Council of Trent (1545-1563), Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Read the decree of the twenty-fifth session.
• Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., The Seven Ecumenical Councils (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, vol. 14) Look for canons that deal with images and superstition.
• Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the section on superstition and the section on private revelations.
• Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3: The Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches Read the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Augsburg Confession for the Protestant criteria.
• John Cassian, The Conferences Read the conference on discernment of spirits.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things.
• 1 John 4:1 Try the spirits.
• Galatians 1:8 Another gospel.