I have been asked by both Catholic and Protestant friends what I think is the greatest difference between the two. This is a question which I find difficult to answer, in part because the various Protestant denominations are not in mutual agreement about a great man things; if I were to compose a list of doctrines and dogmas held by each Protestant denominations and by the Catholic Church, and then to merely count how many agree and how many disagree with each other, I would find that almost all of these groups have more in common than they have in opposition to each other. Indeed, some of the Protestants would have more in common with the Catholics than with many of the other Protestant denominations.

Yet, many of the differences are important. The Church makes claim to divinely sanctioned (and guided) authority in matters spiritual and moral, authority to interpret and preserve Tradition--both written (e.g. the Bible) and oral--which the Protestants all reject to some extent or other; indeed, many Protestants still reject "Tradition" (by which they mean Oral Tradition). The Catholic and Protestant views concerning the state of Man before and after the fall differ--this is the great difference to which M.L. Cozens points. Then there are the Sacraments, though many Protestants denominations lay claim to some or all of these; indeed, all Protestant denominations recognize Baptism and Marriage. There are, of course, differences of opinion as concerning the Communion of Saints--that doctrine appearing in the Creeds common to both Catholics and Protestants--and of the special role of Our Lady within that communion.

These are all important differences, and none should be overlooked. Indeed, it is difficult to overlook any of these differences, as anyone who has engaged in a serious "ecumenical" discussion about doctrines and doctrinal theology will surely attest. However, there is a difference which is much easier to overlook: the difference in approach to spirituality.

This can be most easily seen (or experienced) in the prayer lives of Catholics and Protestants. I should begin by noting that there are many similarities between the two: both will pray to intercede on a friend’s behalf (though the Catholic will additionally ask a saint to help intercede with the saint’s own prayers); both give thanks and praise; and both will pray from contrition (as per the Protestants “Sinner’s Prayer” and the Catholic acts of contrition). What I have observed in almost every Catholic Church and in almost no Protestant prayer groups is that form of prayer which is often called “adoration.”

To be fair, when I say “adoration” many people merely think “praise.” I do not mean mere praise, though this is certainly a beginning to adoration. Adoration really involves—to some extent or other—the various forms of prayer which I have thus far enumerated. It may begin with thanksgiving, or with praise; it may also begin with contrition, or even (though rarely) with intercession (for oneself or a friend). It does not stop there, however. To say that God is great and merciful is certainly good; how much better is it to contemplate His mercy, and then to turn from that mercy directly to God? For mercy is a characteristic of God, but mercy is not God. Mercy is good because mercy is an attribute of God’s; God is not good because He is merciful, but rather because He is the Source of all goodness.

When Catholics pray the rosary, they are not merely mumbling the Lord’s Prayer followed by a decade of Hail Marys and a Glory Be. Rather, they are entering into a form of contemplative prayer, meditating—reflecting upon the mysteries of Christ’s advent, life, death, and resurrection, and upon the fruits of our redemption (often, in the form of the “Marian” mysteries). These meditations, if deepened, can lead directly to adoration, to the awe-filled contemplation of God. Such adoration is nothing short of the lifting of one’s spirit to God, and is one of the closest hints of heaven which we may know on this earth.