Daily Prayer

[mkipp]

I am new to the Catholic Faith and I begin the RCIA classes this fall. I wanted recommendations on daily prayers or passages of scripture that I could use to start the day in a peaceful and godly way. The more people I tell that I am doing this seem to think I am nuts. I just want to keep focused on god as the journey that I am on.

 

[beckycmarie]

I am new to the Catholic Faith and I begin the RCIA classes this fall. I wanted recommendations on daily prayers or passages of scripture that I could use to start the day in a peaceful and godly way. The more people I tell that I am doing this seem to think I am nuts. I just want to keep focused on god as the journey that I am on.

Hi mkipp,

Here’s a book I’ve been using that has been very helpful for me. It’s a daily devotional based on The Imitation of Christ. It contains a reading followed by a prayer, all in a few short paragraphs. I use it as the basis for my morning meditation.

You can get the book for around $6.00 on Amazon.com.

My Daily Bread by Anthony Paone

Here’s a little blurb about the book:

My Daily Bread by Fr. Paone with its short daily reflections provides a summary of the spiritual life. You can understand in easy-to-read language the key principles of the way of purification, the way of imitation and the way of union. The work here presented “My Daily Bread” is a summary of spiritual doctrine so simplified and arranged that everyone can come to a knowledge and practice of the principles of the spiritual life. It is divided into three books which treat respectively of the three ways of Spiritual Life. (1) Purification - we must reform that which has been deformed in us by sin. (2) Imitation - we must conform to Christ that which has been reformed. (3) Union - we must transform through Christ that which has been conformed. This book must be read, not only with the head, but with the heart. We must think and pray. This daily exercise will transform belief into realization, theory into practice. This work has been authored by the Rev. Anthony J. Paone, S.J. May it prove a helpful guide to daily spiritual growth. May it help souls to persevere in the holy resolutions which they make at the time of confession, Holy Communion, missions, retreats, or any moment of grace. While written primarily for the layman in the language of the layman, it will prove helpful to the priest and religious.

 

[sawman]

Dear mkipp,
I have found" Magnificat" magazine to be a real help with daily devotions. It’s got morning and evening prayers as well as the readings for mass every day. It’s a handy pocket size. it also has nite prayers and other assorted articles.

I cannot afford the subscription now but this magazine made a huge difference in my prayer life. If fundage is a problem,I think the subscrition is some thing like $50.00 for two years,my wife uses a different meditation magazine called “Word among Us” she really likes it.

At our parish they offer “Word among Us” for free at the parish center. You may want to check at your parish to see if they have a free issue to ceck out. There are many other ways to do what you want, these helps were very effective for us.

Peace!

 

[cheeto1]

Almighty God, you have given us this day.
Strengthen us by your power, and keep us from falling into sin,
So that everything we say, and think, and do,
May be at Your service and for the sake of Your kingdom.
We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

 

[Andruschak]

I am new to the Catholic Faith and I begin the RCIA classes this fall. I wanted recommendations on daily prayers or passages of scripture that I could use to start the day in a peaceful and godly way. The more people I tell that I am doing this seem to think I am nuts. I just want to keep focused on god as the journey that I am on.

When all else fails, a daily Rosary fills in quite nicely.

(In my case, I have to watch out for my cats, who think that I am playing with one of their toys )

 

[RobNY]

I am new to the Catholic Faith and I begin the RCIA classes this fall. I wanted recommendations on daily prayers or passages of scripture that I could use to start the day in a peaceful and godly way. The more people I tell that I am doing this seem to think I am nuts. I just want to keep focused on god as the journey that I am on.

Here’s a couple standards:

1. Liturgy of the Hours. If you want to pray Morning and Evening prayer then the Christian Prayer abridged version (which is something like $35) will cover you completely.
2. Prayerfully reading Scripture and meditating on it. (Start anywhere you want, and keep at it). There are some books like Too Deep for Words, Thelma Hall, on lectio divina (sacred reading).
3. The Rosary.

I definitely recommend the first two most highly for the morning. Morning prayer out of the liturgy of the hours is a great way to start your day. Even when it is sung in community it doesn’t take more than 15 minutes. Without song it won’t take that long.

And the Christian Prayer book is something you can grow into. You may only be able to do morning prayer at first, but sometimes you may feel like evening prayer (and it has that too). It also has Compline (night prayer, right before bed). Plus, it has selections from daily prayer and the office of readings. So on a day you have more time, you can do Evening Prayer, etc. And if you end up doing all of it, you can always upgrade to the full four-volume Liturgy of the Hours with the entire daily prayer settings and office of readings.

And don’t worry, you’re not crazy. You’re responding to grace. The Scriptures say to pray always and without ceasing, not just when you need stuff. Since prayer is about coming to union with God, it’s something we all need very much. They’re the crazy ones.

-Rob

 

[InLight247]

If you want to start simple and pleasant, you can check out this daily prayer online.
It provides different languages for your choice:
Catalan - Chinese - Croatian - Czech - English - French - German - Hungarian - Indonesian - Irish - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Latvian - Maltese - Polish Portuguese - Romanian - Russian - Slovenian - Spanish - Swedish

Here is the website:sacredspace.ie/
A clean and authentic website, by Jesuits in Irland.

God bless you on your journey!

 

[twosweetgirls]

“Magnificat” and “Living With Christ” are excellent magazines to subscribe to! Praying the Rosary is another great suggestion (don’t be surprised if you become addicted to it!). The Liturgy of the Hours and the book Christian Prayer are also great helps to daily prayer.

 

[beckycmarie]

Dear mkipp,

One thing I love about our Church is the rich variety of devotions one can choose from. You could get as many different answers to your question as there are people in the forum.

Just give the ones that appeal to you a go, and the Holy Spirit will lead you to the devotions that will suit your needs.

 

[brigid12]

I like to start out the day with my renewal of consecration to Mary, prayer to St. Michael (sometimes it feels right at the end of the day, also), intercessory prayers and (often) novena, a little Bible reading (my pick), then some meditative prayer (after which I often, if I’ve time, will write in my spiritual journal). It sounds like a lot, however my day goes so much better that I can’t stand not to be able to have that time with Him. I just make sure I plan to have 45-60 min more from the time I wake to getting going for the day.
During the day I fit in the Rosary (while driving, a few decades here and a few there while doing mindless chores, sometimes the whole thing at once - not as common as it may get to be when I’m retired).
When I get in bed at night and after a quick examination of conscience, I read something lighter but still spiritual like the writings of a Saint. If I read something secular right before sleep I get bad dreams and don’t sleep as well. If I haven’t finished all Rosary decades I’ll finish it then, however I don’t seem to be able to say more than a decade without falling asleep.