The Simplicity of Prayer

Part 5

People often find it difficult to pray because they have an exaggerated notion of prayer, not really understanding what it means and erroneously believing that it consists in very lofty thoughts, which must be expressed in correspondingly elevated words and sentences; where are the Our Father and Hail Mary!  How unaffected the thoughts and the words of the centurion, the leper, the blind man, and others mentioned int he Gospel, who sought help from our Lord and were heard!

Neither is it necessary for a prayer to be long to be perfect; it need not be said in any particular place or at any special time; nor need it be said kneeling, or standing.  We may turn our hearts to God at all times, in all places, and in any posture of body, whether we be in the street or in the church, at home or abroad; and this is not only prayer, but devout prayer.

The Necessity of Prayer

Part 4

God has not merely counseled, but has commanded us to have recourse to prayer: "We ought always to pray, and not to faint." (Luke xviii. 1);  "Ask, and it shall be given you" (Matt vii. 7). Again, we are dependent creatures, ans as such are bound to render honor and gratitude to the Author of  our being.  We are frail creatures subject to all kinds of infirmities and unable to do anything meritorious of eternal life without God's grace. Since, therefore, God has decreed to give His special help only to those who seek it, prayers becomes a necessity, if we are to save our souls.  "He who prays," says St. Alphonsus, "will certainly be saved, he who does not, will certainly be damned."

The Benefits of Prayer

Part 3

From its very nature we can understand how rich in benefits is prayer.  It honors God and helps us both in soul and body.  We are God's children, and as a child honors its father by speaking reverently to him, by manifesting its love for him, by showing that it depends upon him for its needs and by begging forgiveness of offenses committed, so do we in these various ways give honor to God through prayer.  Moreover, by this holy exercise we obtain for ourselves all we need both spiritually and temporally; we are strengthened against temptation and our natural weaknesses; our life is ennobled and filled with virtues and we are better fitted for heaven.  In the words of St. Lawrence Justinian, prayer, "pleases God, gets what it asks, overcomes enemies, changes man." Rightly, then, has it been called incense ascending before the throne of God, or a golden key which unlocks for us the treasures of heaven.

SAINT AGNES
Virgin and Martyr
(†304)

Saint Agnes was twelve years old when she was led to the altar of Minerva at Rome and commanded to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised her hands to Christ, her Spouse, and made the sign of the life-giving cross. She did not shrink when she was bound hand and foot, though the manacles slipped from her young hands, and the heathens who stood around were moved to tears. Bonds were not needed for her; she hastened gladly to the place of her torture.
When the judge saw that pain had no terrors for her, he inflicted a sentence comporting an insult worse than death: she was condemned to be taken to a house of infamy and her clothes stripped off. "I have an Angel with me," she said, "and he will guard me. Christ, whom you do not know, surrounds me like a wall which cannot be forced." And so it occurred. The Spouse of Virgins revealed, by a miracle, His custody of the pure in heart: her hair grew miraculously to such a length that she was entirely covered by it. The place to which she was taken was illuminated by a brilliant, inexplicable light; and there she knelt down to pray. At that site a Church has been built in honor of this young maiden's victory over impurity. Only an impudent suitor, the cause of her arraignment as a Christian, dared approach her, and her Angel struck him dead at her feet. His father prayed Agnes to raise him up again by her magic arts; she answered that magic was not responsible for his death, but only the young pagan's lack of respect for God. She said she would pray to Him that her Lord's glory might be manifested by the miracle his father requested, and it was granted to her prayer.
At length the sentence of death by the sword was passed upon her by a subordinate judge. For a moment she stood erect in prayer, then bowed her neck to the sword, rejoicing that the time of her liberation had arrived. The Angels bore her pure soul to Paradise. A week after her death, Saint Agnes appeared to her parents as they were praying at her tomb; she was amid a choir of virgins clothed in golden robes and crowned with garlands. She begged them not to weep for her as for one dead, telling them rather to rejoice with her in her happiness.
Reflection.
 Her innocence endeared Saint Agnes to Christ, as it has endeared her to His Church ever since. Even as penitents we may imitate her innocence in our own sphere. Let us strictly guard our eyes, and Christ, when He sees that we desire to keep our hearts pure for love of Him, will fortify our resolution and bless it.

The Kinds of Prayer


Part 2

There are two general kinds of prayer, mental and vocal.  The first consists in thought only, as when we think reverently of God, of His eternity, immensity, power, goodness, mercy, and the like; or whenever our mind dwells with pious reflection on divine things, such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, the Blessed Virgin or the saints, the future state of souls, heaven, purgatory, and the life to come.  The contemplation of God, of His attributes, or of any divine truths, which arouses pious affections or occasions good resolutions, comes under the head of mental prayer.  As we can reflect in our own way and with sentiments of love on the persons of our friends and relatives who are far away, as we can think of their qualities of mind and soul, of all they have done or been to us, so in our minds alone, without the use of words, we can think affectionately and interestedly of God and of divine truth; and this is what is meant by mental prayer.  No special method or system is required for this act of religion.  Neither is it necessary to single out mediation any particular divine subject.  Rather we should dwell on those mysteries which appeal to us most, and from contemplation of which we derive most spiritual fruit. Doubtless the life of our divine Saviour is the most attractive and fruitful subject of our pious thoughts, since it is the easiest to dwell on and the most universal in its appeal.

Vocal prayer adds to mental prayer the use of words, or external expression of our thoughts.  Its usefulness lies in the fact that it helps the mind to fix and hold attention, that it reinforces our thoughts thus increasing fervor and devotion, and that it joins the homage of the body to that of the soul.  Here again, for private prayer, no expressions are necessary, although the most beautiful vocal prayers are those which have been handed down to us from our Lord, the Holy Scriptures and the Church.


From Blessed be God

How to Pray

(10 Part Series)

The Nature of Prayer

Part 1

Prayer is a communing with God.  It is sweet converse held between the soul and its Maker, whether by means of words or thoughts only. It is a lifting of our minds and hearts to the loving and Almighty Father Who made us, in order to praise and adore Him for all His greatness and goodness, to thank Him for the unbounded and numberless benefits we have received from Him, to petition His bounty for the many favors we need and to ask His pardon for our offenses.  As a child goes to its father to express its filial love and devotion and to obtain the satisfaction of its wants, as a friend talks to a friend, so in prayer the pious soul speaks to God and communes with its Creator.

From Blessed be God prayer-book

"God did not become man, nor did He found His Church for any vague generality.  God really knows only the individual.  With Him, and with His Church, it is always the solitary soul which is the possession and eternal responsibility of the single person.  Hence God's Christmas greeting is directed to you.  You are to be as self-conscious as was the great and generous St. Paul, who was dominated by the one all-powerful and all pervasive idea: Dilexit me--et tradidit sem itipsum pro me--'He (God) loved me --and gave Himself up for me.'  The personal pronoun is personal--and meant to be so by your personal God."

"Love Does Such Things"
 Rev. M. Raymond

"Resolve to pray when you have excellent excuses for not praying: when you are ill, exhausted, tempted, sad, traveling, enjoying yourself, or in a bad mood.  Resolve to pray when everything else about the spiritual life seems to go-- when you do not feel charitable or serene or devout.  Resolve to pray even if there is no time to pray--to pray at intervals whenever a moment appears between activities.  Safeguard your prayer by avoiding remote distraction as well as immediate distractions; which means you must get rid of whatever you think is a hindrance to your union with God.  Ask Him to help you keep this pledge.  Although your own strength may fail you, remember that union with God is what He wants of you, and therefore He will give you the grace to fulfill your pledge.

Holiness for Housewives, Dom Hubert Van Zeller

“The Lamb of God-His Christmas gift to you- was to be laid in a manger which stood in a cave that had been hollowed out of one of the chalk hills near Bethlehem. That cave and manger are really the center of your world. Almighty God was the sculptor. Year after slow year, with wind and rain, He sculptured. Only in the fullness of time did He consider His work finished. It took Him centuries to arch the roof to that span which would allow the bleat of the Lamb to sound down all future centuries so that no one born of woman might ever say he was without a perfect Christmas gift. He worked aeons to make the entrance wide enough for all mankind. And during all this time he had you in mind! It is not often you think of wind and rain as instruments in the hands of God who is working for you. But now that you have been reminded how the Cave was fashioned, every storm of wind and every shower of rain will be the Voice of God speaking lovingly to you. And when you find yourself in the midst of spiritual storms, you will know that God is hollowing out a befitting birthplace for His Son, sculpturing a cave where His Christ may be born anew-and nothing else. Since He labored so long and lovingly over the cave in which Jesus was to stay for but a few hours, how, think you, will He labor over that soul of yours which is to hold Jesus all the days of your life? Every day is Christmas Day-for Christ is born anew.”

Love Does Such Things, Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.