Ideas for what to include in a personal prayer book?

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ameliepoir

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Hello all,

I’m a new Catholic and still have a lot to learn about Catholic spirituality and traditions. Recently, I bought a nice leather book and I want to make it a sort of personal prayer guide for daily use. I have a general idea of what to include in it, but I would love suggestions for prayers or other elements that would make good additions to the book. Please note that I don’t have a lot of prayers and habits memorized like many people who were raised in the faith do, so I’m going to include even very basic things. Here’s my plan so far:
  • table of contents
  • 10 commandments
  • beatitudes
  • nicene creed, apostle’s creed
  • rosary guide
    -transcribe short passages from scripture related to mysteries (and maybe some other texts for the extra-scriptural ones? Any suggestions for this?)
  • reconciliation guide, act of contrition
  • liturgical seasons, some feast days and holy days of obligation
  • four seasonal Marian anthems
  • photo of Therese of Lisieux (she is my confirmation saint)
  • prayers and potpourri (I’d like to add to this section in the years to come as I learn and see new things):
    -Our Father, Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen, O God, Miraculous Medal Prayer
    -A Novena to St. Therese (any suggestions for this?)
    -Angelus guide
    -poetry, quotes, devotional cards
Thank you in advance for your assistance! God bless
 
Plenty of pictures for inspiration and meditation.

Your own prayers, composed spontaneously, and written out.
 
I have an older paperback missal. They are good for 3 months and then thrown away. If you can find one you can cut out the prayers and hymns and use a glue stick to put into you book. Add anything you want such as prayer cards and personal thoughts or even poetry. Its yours and it will bring you comfort just putting it together. Enjoy your journey.🙂
 
ameliepoir said:
Hello all,

I’m a new Catholic and still have a lot to learn about Catholic spirituality and traditions. Recently, I bought a nice leather book and I want to make it a sort of personal prayer guide for daily use. I have a general idea of what to include in it, but I would love suggestions for prayers or other elements that would make good additions to the book. Please note that I don’t have a lot of prayers and habits memorized like many people who were raised in the faith do, so I’m going to include even very basic things. Here’s my plan so far:
  • table of contents
  • 10 commandments
  • beatitudes
  • nicene creed, apostle’s creed
  • rosary guide
    -transcribe short passages from scripture related to mysteries (and maybe some other texts for the extra-scriptural ones? Any suggestions for this?)
  • reconciliation guide, act of contrition
  • liturgical seasons, some feast days and holy days of obligation
  • four seasonal Marian anthems
  • photo of Therese of Lisieux (she is my confirmation saint)
  • prayers and potpourri (I’d like to add to this section in the years to come as I learn and see new things):
    -Our Father, Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen, O God, Miraculous Medal Prayer
    -A Novena to St. Therese (any suggestions for this?)
    -Angelus guide
    -poetry, quotes, devotional cards
Thank you in advance for your assistance! God bless
Click to expand...
catholiccompany.com/pieta-prayer-book-i15307/
brizek.com/prayer/pieta.htm
 
For the rosary scripture passages I would look at the app laudate. I really like the way the go through each mystery.

I would definitely make sure you include
-the Saint Michael the Archangel prayer
-maybe a section for the prayer requests you get so you can make sure you don’t forget them. (I know that’s something I struggle with)
-certain prayers to any favorite saints you have. For example if it were my book I would find a prayer to st. Dymphna
-favorite bible verses
-guardian angel prayer
  • the prayers/songs used every time during benediction/adoration. (Ex
    O salutaris, tantum ergo,
    Priest/Deacon: You have given them Bread from heaven (P.T. Alleluia)
ALL: Having all sweetness within it (P.T. Alleluia)
Priest/Deacon: Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood, help us to experience the salvation won for us and the peace of the kingdom, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

ALL: Amen.

The divine praises, and holy God we praise Thy name)

-the Divine Mercy Chaplet
-the Memorare
And -the stations of the cross

(Sorry this is kind of long)
 
Are you going to carry this around with you, or will it be on your prayer table or home altar?

Sounds like people are writing the encyclopedia for you! LOL 😃
 
pianistclare said:
Are you going to carry this around with you, or will it be on your prayer table or home altar?

Sounds like people are writing the encyclopedia for you! LOL 😃
Click to expand...
Haha! I really appreciate the suggestions 🙂

I’d like to carry the book with me to church and maybe even work (I’m starting as a teacher at a Catholic school where I’ll lead students in the rosary, Angelus, etc.). The book is maybe the size of a missal? It’s much too big for my pockets, but it would definitely fit in my purse.
 
ameliepoir said:
Haha! I really appreciate the suggestions 🙂

I’d like to carry the book with me to church and maybe even work (I’m starting as a teacher at a Catholic school where I’ll lead students in the rosary, Angelus, etc.). The book is maybe the size of a missal? It’s much too big for my pockets, but it would definitely fit in my purse.
Click to expand...
it’s nice to have a book.
However, if at school, remember that you have access to internet, and if you find you need something, it’s no big deal to pull something up from a reliable Catholic site.
God bless!
 
pianistclare said:
it’s nice to have a book.
However, if at school, remember that you have access to internet, and if you find you need something, it’s no big deal to pull something up from a reliable Catholic site.
God bless!
Click to expand...
It’s a classical school, so I’ll be very unplugged. But of course, I’m definitely relying on sites like this for preparation. 🙂
 
You probably don’t need a table of contents at this point. I think I would rather keep it simple and not have to refer to a table of contents, esp if it were my intent to carry it with me. Try not to over complicate your book for now. It isn’t how many prayers, but the quality of the prayer. If you wish to make a “bigger” or more available prayers for your book, you can make one for home use as well. Don’t worry about memorizing everything for now. Stick with the basics and the rest will fall into your heart as time moves you forward. Lots of plain ol’ prayers for you.:gopray2:
 
I have made my own personal prayer booklet. If you want to get some ideas, I can email you the Microsoft Publisher file. Or the PDF. Just pm yr email address. I have an earlier version in Mediafire.

These are the prayers in the latest version.

St Michael the Archangel Prayer
Saints’ Quotations on Prayer
How To Pray The Rosary
Mysteries of the Rosary
Prayers of the Rosary
The Rosary in Latin
Marian Consecration Prayer
Prayer to the Two Hearts
Double Great Novena
The 15 Prayers of St Bridget
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Prayer of St Gertrude
Prayer to St Gertrude
Prayer to St Joseph
Miraculous Medal Prayers
St Benedict Medal Prayer
The Miracle Prayers
-Prayer To Apply The Blood of Christ
-Prayer Before Reading the Bible
-Prayer For Salvation
-Prayer of Healing
-Prayer To Break Generational Curses
-Prayer Against Fear
-House Dedication Prayer
Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
Litany of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
Consecration to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
St Gertrude Rosary
Aspirations
Sacramentals
Five Crowns Promised by God
Armour of God
Spiritual Communion
Keys to Heaven
Anima Christi
Indulgences
Original St Michael the Archangel Prayer
Three Very Beautiful Prayers
Angel of God Prayer

Planning to add the Heroic Act of Charity next.

You can also check out the prayers in the Pieta prayer book online.
Took me 5 years to type everything… procrastination was my enemy
The Pieta Prayer Booklet felicerose.blogspot.my/p/the-pieta-prayer-booklet-incomplete.html?m=0
 
I have two 1/2 sheet-sized notebooks - one for adoration and one for my home prayers. Both are works-in-progress In the home book I currently have…

Sacred Heart Daily Offering
Sacred Heart Daily Covenant Renewal
Litany of the Sacred Heart
A list of my daily prayer intentions - this gets updated about monthly
the Litany of Humility
a Prayer for Humility
Daily Prayer for Priests
Prayer of Abandonment
Flos Carmeli
2 different 20 mystery Rosary meditations
the Divine Mercy Novena
the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
the Litany of Contrition
a 48-page Examination of Conscience

I use plastic sleeves for the 3-ring Adoration notebook. The home one is an ARC notebook and I have a special punch for those sheets.
 
You have been busy! You might include some very good quotes from C K Chesterson, the words of great saints or a few very beautiful poems or even the words from some songs. In the back of the LOTHs there are several nice poems to go to as a guide.
 
I’ve read so many beautiful prayers upon your suggestions. Thank you for that.

My little book is really beginning to come together. I’ve included several prayers and a novena to St. Therese, a picture of her, quotes from different saints (mostly passages from Story of a Soul, which is so comforting to me), scripture passages (ten commandments, beatitudes, and 1 Corinthians 13), a rosary guide with accompanying scripture, a short way of the cross, a daily examen, litany of humility, an act of contrition. I’m writing in pen, and luckily I’ve only made a few mistakes so far.

This project has really helped me in two ways. First, it’s a great reference. For example, I’ve been to confession several times, but still haven’t memorized the act of contrition… I also use the scripture passages and daily examen as my go-to examination of conscience. Secondly, simply the act of writing the journal by hand has been so prayerful! Going forward I definitely want to incorporate some writing into my daily prayers - both transcribing formulaic prayers and “free writing” an examination of my day and conversations with God. I would recommend this exercise to anyone with a pen and paper.
 
I’ve been putting together a Word document version of a prayer book that I can print and fold in half and put a nice cover on. But your idea of hand writing one in a notebook really intrigues me. It would be a great idea… and a lesson in patience, which I frequently lack. It would take much more time and effort than simply cutting and pasting.

Thanks for the idea, and for all the suggested prayers posted!
 
You could include

Prayers for the dying

Prayers for the holy souls in purgatory

Prayers for conversions

Prayers for priest, religious and all clergy

Prayers for the pope,

Prayers for vocations to the priesthood and religious life

Prayers for those who are sick

Prayers for the poor

Prayers for homeless

Prayers for those in danger

Etc

Also include some prayers to your favourite saints and also some novena prayers for when you want to pray for a prayer request
 
ameliepoir said:
Hello all,

I’m a new Catholic and still have a lot to learn about Catholic spirituality and traditions. Recently, I bought a nice leather book and I want to make it a sort of personal prayer guide for daily use. I have a general idea of what to include in it, but I would love suggestions for prayers or other elements that would make good additions to the book. Please note that I don’t have a lot of prayers and habits memorized like many people who were raised in the faith do, so I’m going to include even very basic things. Here’s my plan so far:
  • table of contents
  • 10 commandments
  • beatitudes
  • nicene creed, apostle’s creed
  • rosary guide
    -transcribe short passages from scripture related to mysteries (and maybe some other texts for the extra-scriptural ones? Any suggestions for this?)
  • reconciliation guide, act of contrition
  • liturgical seasons, some feast days and holy days of obligation
  • four seasonal Marian anthems
  • photo of Therese of Lisieux (she is my confirmation saint)
  • prayers and potpourri (I’d like to add to this section in the years to come as I learn and see new things):
    -Our Father, Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen, O God, Miraculous Medal Prayer
    -A Novena to St. Therese (any suggestions for this?)
    -Angelus guide
    -poetry, quotes, devotional cards
Thank you in advance for your assistance! God bless
Click to expand...
You can certainly compile such a book but do you know about the Divine Office, which is the daily prayer of the Church? Christian Prayer is a shorter version for lay people: catholicbookpublishing.com/products/100. Or Shorter Christian Prayer: catholicbookpublishing.com/products/103, which would be easier to carry to school. Either one is fine, although Christian Prayer has more content. You can get supplements to help you find which parts you are to pray and when. It’s also good to find someone who is experienced in praying the Office to help you.

While it’s fine to pray devotional prayers, they aren’t part of the liturgies of the Church. And you could get quite bogged down trying to pray so many prayers a day and thus miss the whole point of praying them. 🙂 Devotions are aids to faith, but the Divine Office is practicing the faith as the Church prescribes for us.
 
ameliepoir said:
Hello all,

I’m a new Catholic and still have a lot to learn about Catholic spirituality and traditions. Recently, I bought a nice leather book and I want to make it a sort of personal prayer guide for daily use. I have a general idea of what to include in it, but I would love suggestions for prayers or other elements that would make good additions to the book. Please note that I don’t have a lot of prayers and habits memorized like many people who were raised in the faith do, so I’m going to include even very basic things. Here’s my plan so far:
  • table of contents
  • 10 commandments
  • beatitudes
  • nicene creed, apostle’s creed
  • rosary guide
    -transcribe short passages from scripture related to mysteries (and maybe some other texts for the extra-scriptural ones? Any suggestions for this?)
  • reconciliation guide, act of contrition
  • liturgical seasons, some feast days and holy days of obligation
  • four seasonal Marian anthems
  • photo of Therese of Lisieux (she is my confirmation saint)
  • prayers and potpourri (I’d like to add to this section in the years to come as I learn and see new things):
    -Our Father, Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen, O God, Miraculous Medal Prayer
    -A Novena to St. Therese (any suggestions for this?)
    -Angelus guide
    -poetry, quotes, devotional cards
Thank you in advance for your assistance! God bless
Click to expand...
I have a spiritual book I write in and one of the things I add are Bible verses.
 
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