The practice of speaking in tongues is commonly known as glossolalia – a Greek word meaning “to speak in sounds.” It refers to a practice found in many Pentecostal or Charismatic Movement churches in which persons, supposedly moved by a charism or “gift” of the Holy Spirit, converse in an incoherent language of meaningless syllables and sounds.
St. Paul, however, was quick to address this rather esoteric issue in his epistles and discouraged the practice for its lack of benefit to the Church (1st Cor. ch. 14).
Glossolalia, however, should never be confused with xenoglossy, which is the ability to speak in another language that was not studied or learned, as when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and imbued them with the ability to speak and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people in all languages.
