Prayer journal - what book do you use?

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LongingForLight

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Do you have a prayer journal? If so, what do you use to write in? Is it something special, and if so, what is it and why is it meaningful to you?

I’m trying to get ideas. I want to start writing letters to God, but I want something special to write them in. Sort of like picking out just the right stationary for a love letter, y’know?
 
I think that’s a really beautiful idea. I’ve never done a prayer journal but I’ve kept many different journals over the years and I find for things so personal I want to write in something that reflects that so I’ll buy slightly more expensive notebooks than I normally would and I like them to be beautiful. So I’d think maybe for what you want to do you could try something similar, if I were doing a prayer journal (which I am quite tempted to do now) that’s probably what I’d choose. Or try and find a journal with perhaps a Christian cover, like something with a cross or Scripture quote on it.
 
Quite a few years ago my (now ex) sister-in-law gave me a beautiful Thomas Kinkade journal with Scripture passages in it. IDK where that is now actually… hmmm :confused:
Anyway, then about four years ago my parents gave me another much thinner journal that… SIGH… Look, I know they mean well, but I just don’t go for the contemporary kitschy “Jesus slogans” on a lot of marketable products today. It’s just a little disrespectful, IMHO. However, since I can’t figure out where I left the Kinkade journal, I took a beautiful free prayer card I got in the mail (which I’d like to have another one but I can’t find it anywhere) of the Resurrected Jesus and placed it on the cover over the “Jesus slogan”. There’s scripture passages inside (albeit only Protestant ones and somewhat “fortune cookie” at that) and I’ve found that many times what I write in there lines up with the Scripture passage on the page.
It’s more of a Spiritual journal inasmuch as it encompasses all of my thoughts, prayers, ideas, reflections on faith than just prayers, but I like having the Scriptural passages on my page and a (much improved) cover. It just puts your mind in the right place to write down what you want to keep.
Catholics haven’t, as far as I know, caught up to this particular “marketing pitch” so I’m not sure if you’ll find a Catholic styled journal out there, but that’s totally what I’d go with. Something that’s distinct to the contents. 😉
 
I’m a devotee of the Moleskine notebooks. The one I am currently using is the Pocket Memo Lined edition, hard cover. I have a “church purse” where I keep my daily missal, my little notebook, a book I’m reading, a bunch of holy cards, Kleenex, and a [nice pen](http://www.sharpie.com/enUS/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=SharpiePenRetractableFinePoint(Sharpie Catalog)). I write down my intentions for the day for the mass, for the offering, and for my Rosary. My priest says to always have an intention for the main Mass (say, offering the prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgutory), and then also to have specific offerings for the paten and chalice (for example, offering for the conversion of souls). I also dedicate my rosary prayers each day as an offering for an intention.

I also write prayers that I like, or passages from books that I am reading. I’ve written a couple of St. Therese prayers and quotes in there recently, as well as some notes on prayer from a book I am currently reading. Also, once or twice, I’ve been known to take notes during the homilies. Because our parish’s priests give AWESOME homilies.

I also do some personal journaling sometimes, but not too often, unless it relates to insights that I received that day during reading or mass times.

The nice part about the pocket sized notebooks that flip up is that they’re easy to pull out, jot a note, and stick back in the purse in the middle of a prayer, or rosary, or homily. There’s also a pocket in the back where I can keep a few holy cards of my fave prayers that I haven’t quite memorized yet.
 
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