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Introduction |
Vocal Prayer and Mental Prayer |
Beginning Prayer |
Intermediate Prayer (The Angelus,
The Rosary, The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy,
3 OClock Prayer) |
The Liturgy of the Hours
Our
time in prayer is the only time, in this life, when we can live in holiness.
How sad that so many of Christs own anointed treat Him so carelessly
as to neglect prayer. For I assure you that such indifference to His Sacred
Heart greatly wounds Him as much today as His Passion wounded Him.
And it wounds His Church.
And it wounds us
individually.
But if you truly open your heart
to Christ in prayer, you will be immune to feelings of loneliness, of
abandonment, of anxiety, of depression, and of all other problems with
psychological causes. Yes, you will have to endure the heavy weight of living
in the midst of the worlds sacrilegebut even that is anguish,
not depression. If, however, you neglect
self-denial through prayer, you will be afflicted
with all the untreated wounds of your own psychological emptiness.
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For some
personsespecially those wounded by childhood
abuse or neglectthe greatest obstacle to prayer is the irrational (that
is,
unconscious) belief that they are such despicable
and evil persons that God has totally abandoned them and refuses to hear
any pleas for help. Although this belief is refuted by the Bible itself (e.g.,
1 Timothy 2:4), such a belief derives psychologically from a confusion of
God with the Other (i.e., the social world around us). In truth,
the social world, at its best, is completely indifferent to our welfare,
and, at its worst, it sees us only as
objects to be manipulated for its own satisfaction.
In other words, it is not Gods rejection of you but
sin itselfthe rejection of God by the
Other that has abused you. |
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So the first step to prayer must
be a turning back to your baptismal promises
to renounce the world and Satan and to trust completely
in Gods protection; all genuine prayer, at its core, requires a sincere
willingness to die to the world through Christ
in order to be resurrected into everlasting life.
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Prayer should
be a continuing act of purification, not dry intellectual superstition and
pride. Trying to pray without first detaching yourself from the world is
like trying to drive a car with four flat tires. In order to make your prayer
more than just superficial, follow the Spiritual
Counsels explained on this
website. |
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Accordingly, as the Catechism
of the Catholic Church explains (2626-2643), prayer has several different
aspects: praise (recognition of God not
so much because of what He does for us but simply because He
is), thanksgiving (simple gratitude
for Christs work of redemption and its personal
effects on us), adoration (acknowledging
our helplessness and
humility in the presence of Gods glory),
intercession
(pleading for the welfare of others), and
petition (pleading for our needs as an
expression of our hope and desire in all things that Thy Kingdom
come).
We should all, then, learn to
pray constantlyas our Lord Jesus Christ advised us (Luke 18:1)in
both vocal prayer (i.e., the recitation of the Churchs
standard prayers) and mental prayer (i.e., quiet, internal
meditation on, and contemplation of, the divine).
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Are we then ceaselessly
to bend our knees, to lie prostrate, or to lift up our hands? Is this what
He meant in saying: Pray without ceasing? Even if we admit that we
pray in this fashion, I do not believe that we can do so all the time.
Yet there is another, interior kind of prayer
without ceasing, namely, the desire of the heart. Whatever else you may be
doing, if you but fix your desire on Gods Sabbath rest, your prayer
will be ceaseless. Therefore, if you wish to pray without ceasing, do not
cease to desire.
The constancy of your desire will itself be
the ceaseless voice of your prayer. And that voice of your prayer will be
silent only when your love ceases. For who are silent? Those of whom it is
said: Because evil has abounded, the love of many will grow cold.
The chilling of love means that the heart is
silent; while burning love is the outcry of the heart. |
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From a discourse on the psalms
by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Office of Readings, Friday:
Third Week of Advent) |
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Vocal Prayer
and Mental Prayer
Saint Teresa of Avila spoke
constantly about the difference between vocal prayer and mental prayer. She
also spoke very carefully about this difference. Because of the many abuses
resulting from the illuministsor alumbradosof Teresas
time, many theologians looked on mental prayer with suspicion, fearing that
it would result in a contempt for vocal prayer, along with a contempt for
the liturgy, ceremonies, and rituals of the Church.
But, psychologically speaking,
Saint Teresa got it right. All prayer, she said, begins with vocal
prayersuch as the Our Father and the
Hail Maryand then, by meditating on
the meaning of what is being said, even as it is being said, the soul
will effectively be led to mental prayer. And not just that, but in the quiet
moments between periods of vocal prayereven while performing our daily
workthe soul should be filled with contemplative mental prayer of pure,
timeless love.
So, in regard to vocal prayer
and mental prayer, its not a matter of either-or. When the soul struggles
through darkness, it needs the beauty of mental prayer to cheer its heart
and help it along. But it also needs the discipline of vocal prayer to keep
it on the true path, lest it decide to chase off after
fairy lights in the distance and be lost
forever.
And finally, note that beginners
often become discouraged because they dont feel anything when
they pray. Some beginners even take this as an indication that they arent
worthy. And some persons seek out
charismatic groups in an effort to create their own
ecstatic feelings. But prayer is not a psychological process, and genuine
Catholic mystics have consistently told us that we arent
supposed to feel anything in prayer. God works His graces silently
in the soulunseen, unfelt, and unheard by the bodily senses. Persevere,
though, and the benefits of prayer will become apparent.
As
you become more proficient at prayer, you will begin to recognize
the voice of divine
inspiration. You might even receive some personal revelations in the form
of apparitions (visual perceptions), or locutions (auditory
perceptions).
Mind you, Im
not speaking here of distractions or
dreams. (For more information about various mystic
phenomena, see Kevin Orlin Johnsons book, Apparitions, on the
Readings
page.)
Therefore, you
need a strong warning. Through my familiarity with Catholic psychology, I
can guarantee that you will often perceive things in prayer that are nothing
but your own
unconscious wish-fulfillment fantasies. Therefore,
you have only one protection against spiritual destruction:
Reject anything
that contradicts Scripture or Tradition or the Magisterium (teaching) of
the Church.
Beginning
Prayer
Saint Augustine, in one of his
letters (Letter 130 to Proba 8, 15.179, 18), raised the question,
Why do we pray if God already knows what we need?and then
he answered it: we pray to stretch our own desires.
Thats a good answer, but
a more perfect answer, I think, comes if you read about the apparitions at
Fátima. Pray, and make
sacrifices, Mary told the children,
making it clear to them that many souls go to hell because they have no one
to pray for them. Imagine that. Pray, she warned, pray not just for ourselves,
not just to stretch our desire to see God, not just to inflame our love of
God, but pray also for the souls of others who might be lost without our
prayers and sufferings on their behalf.
So heed her warning and begin
to pray properly.
The Sign of
the Cross. The Sign
of the Cross is a prayer in itself which should begin and end any other prayer
in private devotion. It also has a place in liturgical celebration. If you
watch people in church, however, you will often see them making the Sign
of the Cross so hastily that they seem to be brushing flies away from their
faces. Make the sign deliberately and with reverence, for, when you do make
the Sign of the Cross, you make an implicit agreement to take up your own
cross by acceptingwithout argument or resentmentall suffering
for the sake of the conversion of sinners. Whether you keep that agreement,
well, only God knows. That thought should give you pause.
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English |
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Latin
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_______________________ |
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_____________ |
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IN the
Name of the Father |
(Forehead) |
IN
nómine Patris |
and of the
Son |
(Mid-chest) |
et Fílii |
and of the
Holy |
(Left Shoulder) |
et
Spíritus |
Spirit. |
(Right Shoulder) |
Sancti. |
Amen. |
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Amen. |
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Improvised
Prayer. The best
way to begin anything is with honesty, so those just beginning to pray might
want to say something such as, OK. Here I am, God. I dont
know what to say, and Im scared. Teach me. Show me what to
do.
Remembering that Christ told
us to pray constantly (Luke 18:1), so that the lovely garden of the Spirit
He planted in you at Baptism receives careful cultivation and does not go
to weeds, do not be afraid to repeat your improvised prayers
constantly.
You might also want to add such
supplications as
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Purify my
heart. |
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Give me faith, if only
that of a mustard seed. |
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Let it be done to me
according to Your word. |
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Lift me up into Your
presence that I might begin to perceive Your great glory. |
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Let Your grace and glory
reflect through me into the lives of all those around me. |
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Into Your hands, O Lord,
I commend my spirit. |
Before
Eating. Say a short
prayer before meals, so as to remind yourself about your total dependence
on God:
BLESS
us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts
which we are about to receive
from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord.
And, as you learn to eat a more
austere diet, you may add the following to the above before eating or drinking
anything, even water:
Thank You for such humble
and simple food;
may it fulfill all our physical needs,
for without even Your most lowly of gifts
we would perish.
Amen. |
Formal
Prayers. Then, while
youre at it, along with the Our Father and the Hail Mary,
begin to memorize some simple, formal
prayers.
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Our
Father |
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By the way, be
careful not to slur together the seven petitions of the Our Father
(Matthew 6:913) like the elemeno P of the grammar school
alphabet. Say this prayer slowly, carefully, and distinctly.
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OUR
Father, who art in Heaven, |
(1) |
hallowed be Thy
Name, |
(2) |
Thy Kingdom
come, |
(3) |
Thy will be
done, |
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on Earth as it is in
Heaven. |
(4) |
Give us this day our
daily bread; |
(5) |
and forgive us our
trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us; |
(6) |
And lead us not into
temptation, |
(7) |
but deliver us from
evil. |
Pater
Noster
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PATER
noster, qui es in clis,
sanctificétur nomen tuum.
Advéniat regnum tuum.
Fiat volúntas tua,
sicut in clo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidiánum
da nobis hódie.
Et dimítte nobis débita nostra,
sicut et nos dimíttimus
debitóribus nostris.
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem:
sed líbera nos a malo. Amen. |
Hail
Mary |
HAIL,
Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen. |
Ave
Maria
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AVE
María, grátia plena!
Dóminus tecum.
Benedícta tu in muliéribus,
et benedíctus fructus
ventris tui, Iesus!
Sancta María, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatóribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen. |
Glory to the
Father |
GLORY
be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Gloria
Patri
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GLORIA
Patri, et Fílio, et Spíritui Sancto.
R. Sicut erat in
princípio, et nunc et semper, et in saécula sæculórum.
Amen. |
The prayers that follow are
traditional prayers (also see the
Additional Resources, below), but I have altered
some of the texts to make the language and ideas more psychologically clear
and direct. Say these prayers as a unit, several times a day, for the underlying
idea is to purge yourself of your own desires and to learn to listen to divine
guidance. You learn to pray, after all, by
praying.
(Peace Prayer
of Saint Francis of Assisi)
LORD,
make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, let me sow pardon;
Where there is doubt, let me sow faith;
Where there is despair, let me sow hope;
Where there is darkness, let me sow light;
Where there is sadness, let me sow joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may seek
Not so much to be consoled as to console;
not so much to be understood as to understand;
not so much to be loved as to love;
not so much to be seen as to see You in all things.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born to everlasting life.
Amen.
(Prayer to the
Holy Spirit)
O HOLY
SPIRIT,
take me as Your disciple.
Guide me; illuminate me; sanctify me.
Show me what is holy,
and I will pursue it.
Show me what is unholy,
and I will turn from it.
Command me, and with Your grace
I will obey.
Lead me, then, into the fullness
of Your Truth and Wisdom.
Amen.
(Memorare)
REMEMBER,
O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help,
or sought your intercession
was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly unto you,
O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother.
To you I come;
before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but graciously hear and answer me.
Amen.
(Anima
Christi)
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SOUL
of Christ, sanctify
me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate
me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash
me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen
me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds
hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated
from Thee.
From the malignant enemy defend
me.
In the hour of my death call
me.
And bid me come to Thee,
That with Thy saints I may praise
Thee
For ever and ever.
Amen. |
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ANIMA
Christi, sanctífica
me.
Corpus Christi, salva me.
Sanguis Christi, inébria
me.
Aqua láteris Christi, lava
me.
Pássio Christi, confórta
me.
O bone Iesu, exáudi me.
Intra tua vúlnera
abscónde me.
Ne permíttas me separári
a te.
Ab hoste malígno defénde
me.
In hora mortis meæ voca
me.
Et iube me veníre ad te,
Ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem
te
In saécula sæculórum.
Amen. |
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And heres one prayer of
my own.
LET
me taste the sweetness of Your splendor
In a world of bitter strife;
Let me hear the quiet song of Heaven
In a world of clamor and din;
Let me smell the odor of sanctity
In a world of foul decay;
Let me see the glory of Your visage
In a world of empty show;
Let me feel the ardor of Your presence
In a world grown cold with sin.
Amen. |
GUSTEM
dulcédinem splendóris tui
In mundo contentiónis amáræ;
Audiam susúrrum carmínis cæléstis
In mundo clamóris strepitúsque;
Olfáciam odórem sanctitátis
In mundo tabis foedæ;
Vídeam glóriam vultus tui
In mundo formæ vanæ;
Séntiam ardórem præséntiæ tuæ
In mundo peccáto frigescénte.
Amen. |
Latin translation by Stefanie Bewell |
Intermediate
Prayer
Once you have memorized the beginning
prayers and are saying them regularlyin the morning, in the evening,
when you walk, when you ride the bus, when you drive a car, whenever you
take a rest break, etc.you will be ready for adding more
prayer.
The
Angelus. In the
Angelus, we are reminded how Mary became a model for us in totally surrendering
her will to Gods will. With her simple and humble Fiat (Latin
for let it be done), she offered herself to God in unquestioning
obedience.
So, pray the Angelus (or
the Regina Caeli during the Paschal Seasonthat is, from Easter
Sunday to Pentecost Sunday)every day (except Sunday) at noon, if not
also at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM. Set
the alarm on your watch for 11:59 AM to remind you to
stop whatever you are doing. It may seem like a nuisance to stop work to
pray, so just remember that if it werent for God, you wouldnt
have any work in the first place.
The
Rosary. Pray the
Rosaryat least five decades (that is, one group of
Mysteries)each day. The Blessed Virgin herself told the children at
Fátima to pray the Rosary every day for
peace in the world and for the conversion of sinners.
How can we, then, in our troubled times, fail to pray as ardently today?
An ideal time for this prayer
is in the evening after dinner, just when most persons waste their time watching
TV. If you have children, pray the rosary with them;
a young child can sit in your lap for bonding time, and older children can
pray along with you.
The Rosary requires meditation
on some central Christian mysteries, so you will first have to learn the
nature of these mysteries. I recommend the following book:
Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations,
and the Telling of the Beads (Dallas: Pangæus Press, 1996) by Kevin
Orlin Johnson. |
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Step-by-step instructions
for praying
The Rosary
The Chaplet
of The Divine
Mercy. The Chaplet
of The Divine Mercy was given to Saint Faustina (see her
Diary) as a
pledge that any soul that sees and realizes the gravity of its
sins, and finds itself therefore immersed in misery,
should not despair, but should, with child-like trust, throw itself into
the arms of Christs mercy. And it offers
grace and hope to even the most hardened of sinners (cf. Diary,
1541).
Petitioners who pray the Chaplet
request mercy on the whole world and, in the process, perform a work of mercy
themselves.
Saint Faustina was also told
that if the Chaplet were said by the bedside of a dying person,
unfathomable mercy envelops the soul and the very depths
of Gods tender mercy are moved for the sake of Christs
sorrowful Passion (Diary, 811; 1541).
The Chaplet is such a concise
and compact prayer that you should learn to recite it as often as you can,
in all moments of spare time: while youre driving (or stuck
in traffic), riding the bus, walking from one place to another, and so on.
And, if you get a small Rosary ring, you can pray just one decade
of the Chaplet throughout the day, as a way to take mini breaks from work
(forget the cigarettes and coffee).
3 OClock
Prayer. Jesus told
Saint Faustina, I remind you, My daughter, that as often as you hear
the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy,
adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and
particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for
every soul. . . . try your best to make the Stations of the
Cross in this hour (Diary, 1572).
The Liturgy
of the Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours (or
Divine Office) is an ancient form of prayer that combines psalms, readings,
and other prayers and intercessions. It can be obligatory according to the
rule of many religious orders, but it is just as well an important voluntary
form of prayer for the laity.
The modern version of the Liturgy
of the Hours is found in either a one-volume edition or a four-volume edition
and consists of the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Daily Prayer, Evening
Prayer, and Night Prayer.
The one-volume edition, called
Christian Prayer, has
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an abbreviated Office of
Readings; |
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an abbreviated Daily
Prayer. |
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Every layperson
who desires a rich prayer life should, at a minimum, keep the Morning Prayer,
Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer.
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Learning to use the Liturgy of the Hours can
be a daunting task because the daily texts change according to various holy
days and seasons.
Just follow very carefully the
General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (found in Volume 1
of the four-volume set) and the instructions in the section called the
Ordinary (found in each volume).
And use the Saint Joseph Guide
for the Liturgy of the Hours (a small booklet that serves the entire
year, available in any good Catholic bookstore) as a valuable help for locating
the correct sections to use each day.
Step-by-step instructions
for praying
The Liturgy of the Hours
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