Needing help with prayer

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chezel1984

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As someone who is currently seeking full communion with the Church and attends weekday Mass, I really need help regarding prayer. I’ve always prayed to God and assumed this to stay the same but I am very interested in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours). I would love to know more about this please and recommend anything that can assist me along the way? My parish priest gave me a copy of A Simple Prayer Book and have been reading them a lot. However, I do not know what I am supposed to do whether I should mark myself with the sign of the Cross beforehand or not?

Also, I would like to know how I can reflect on the Mysteries as I pray the Rosary too. I have got my Rosary beads and have observed the Rosary being prayed after weekday Mass, which I really am keen to join in sometime (however, I think that I need to be a Roman Catholic first but not sure).

Please bear in mind that my prayer life was very vibrant as a Pentecostal but Catholic prayer - especially the Rosary - leaves me in total awe and deep reverence for God.

Any help to the above would be wonderful!

God bless!
 
Hello and welcome, chezel1984, 🙂

Here is an excellent website for the Liturgy of the Hours:

divineoffice.org/

As for the sign of the cross, my habit is to make it whenever I pray, both to start and end the prayer. (Sort of like if you’re used to saying “In Jesus Name” at the end of all your prayers.)

As for the Rosary, everyone is welcome to pray it … you don’t have to be Catholic. It’s an awesome prayer!

As for meditating on the mysteries, hopefully someone else can help answer … for me it’s all I can do to get through the entire Rosary without becoming distracted … but it’s well worth praying!

:blessyou:

~~ the phoenix
 
chezel1984 said:
As someone who is currently seeking full communion with the Church and attends weekday Mass, I really need help regarding prayer. I’ve always prayed to God and assumed this to stay the same but I am very interested in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours). I would love to know more about this please and recommend anything that can assist me along the way? My parish priest gave me a copy of A Simple Prayer Book and have been reading them a lot. However, I do not know what I am supposed to do whether I should mark myself with the sign of the Cross beforehand or not?

Also, I would like to know how I can reflect on the Mysteries as I pray the Rosary too. I have got my Rosary beads and have observed the Rosary being prayed after weekday Mass, which I really am keen to join in sometime (however, I think that I need to be a Roman Catholic first but not sure).

Please bear in mind that my prayer life was very vibrant as a Pentecostal but Catholic prayer - especially the Rosary - leaves me in total awe and deep reverence for God.

Any help to the above would be wonderful!

God bless!
Click to expand...
Welcome! I also generally mark myself with the sign of the Cross before and after prayer. Does your parish do Morning Prayer ever? That might be a good intro to the Divine Office.

As far as the rosary goes, rosary-center.org/howto.htm#loaded has a good guide on how to pray the rosary; they also have the different mysteries and points to reflect on for each one. You can meditate on all of the points, though I usually am drawn to one or two and
meditate on those, or even just on the words of the prayers you’re saying. Also, if there’s a group praying the rosary after mass, you could just go up to someone and ask to join in 🙂

One of my favorite forms of prayer when I was in the transition from Protestant to Catholic was lectio divination, a really deep prayer with scripture or spiritual reading. If you’re interested, I’d look into that.

Good luck!
 
the_phoenix said:
Hello and welcome, chezel1984, 🙂

Here is an excellent website for the Liturgy of the Hours:

divineoffice.org/

As for the sign of the cross, my habit is to make it whenever I pray, both to start and end the prayer. (Sort of like if you’re used to saying “In Jesus Name” at the end of all your prayers.)

As for the Rosary, everyone is welcome to pray it … you don’t have to be Catholic. It’s an awesome prayer!

As for meditating on the mysteries, hopefully someone else can help answer … for me it’s all I can do to get through the entire Rosary without becoming distracted … but it’s well worth praying!

~~ the phoenix
Click to expand...
I consider myself Catholic but I still say “In Jesus’ name” at the end of all my prayers because of what Jesus said about praying to the Father in his name. :rotfl::juggle::byzsoc::hey_bud: :slapfight:
❤️ Just thought the icons were cute, they don’t mean anything…

ALSO, ON THE ROSARY: I like to watch videos that both recite the rosary and have visual thematic pictures on the screen to help my meditation. I have one that I watch sometimes. It is like a recording on a CD of the rosary recitation except there are beautiful pictures that are shown, each associated with a different mystery. Watching videos like this help me concentrate. I also have concentration problems.
 
By all means, pray the Rosary! Pray the vocal prayers as you meditate. God bless you.
 
I start all my prayers (including the Divine Office) with the Sign of the Cross, and end with one as well.

In praying the Divine Office, if you are beginning with Invitatory Psalm, you make the Sign of the Cross over your lips, and say: “Lord open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.”

When the Gospel Canticles are part of the Hour’s prayer, you make the Sign of the Cross when you begin them. (These are the Canticle of Zechariah - Morning Prayer, the Canticle of Mary* – Evening Prayer, and the Canticle of Simeon – Night Prayer).

You make another Sign of the Cross at the benediction at the end of each hour – “May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.”
 
If you wish to pray longer in private, you might want to look into the prayer of meditation.

Just google “Catholic meditation”.

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.
 
Hello,
I also have been looking into ways to deepen my prayer life. Along the way, I came across a form of prayer called Lectio Divina (Divine Reading). As you settle into prayers like the Liturgy of the Hours, this is a way to enhance that prayer (and is fully encouraged by the Church).

An excellent book on this is written by Karl Schultz “How to Pray With the Bible.” However, it can be done with any text offered by The Church, mystics etc.
 
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