The wealth of Catholic Prayer

[jennstall]

I’ve been meditating on the riches of our Catholic traditions of prayer after reading through the comments in the Centering Prayer thread and the thread I started on memorization and I have to say that I’ve never really realized before just how much we have in our tradition just when it comes to prayer. So I thought I’d make a list of different types of prayers that Catholics do. Please feel free to add anything I’ve left out since I’m sure there is much more and I’d love to hear about your favorite forms of prayer and how you practice them.

I think Mass is our ultimate community prayer, culminating in the reception of the Eucharist, but since Mass is an obligation I thought it would be interesting to look at the things that we choose to do on our own or with others.

Eucharistic Adoration
Liturgy of the Hours
The Rosary
Chaplets
Litanies
Novenas
Lectio Divina

My favorite is the Rosary as it is the Rosary that brought be back home to Catholicism, but Eucharistic Adoration is quickly growing in my esteem and I think it would already be my favorite devotion if I were able to attend Eucharistic Adoration as easily as I can pray the Rosary. I hope there is a big surge in Perpetual Adoration during the Year of the Eucharist because I would love to know that I can go and sit with Jesus anytime of the day or night.

As for the Rosary, I currently pray at least one set of mysteries daily. I joined the Confraternity and right now I’m using the 105 Live streams of Vatican Radio to teach myself the Rosary prayers in Latin. My relationship with the Rosary grows ever deeper the more I explore how to pray it with mindfulness. I have read the Pope’s document on the Rosary and I’ve just started reading Montfort’s Secrets of the Rosary and they’ve both really opened my eyes a lot to the riches of the Rosary and how it draws us ever closer to Christ and his Blessed Mother.

Now please share your favorite devotions with me as I’d love to learn more

 

[mkw]

Of course, topping the list would be the Holy Mass. But in decending order…

1. Rosary, alone or in a group
2. Liturgy of the Hours, we do this every Friday at daily
3. Devine Mercy Chaplet, I only do this on my own. I sing it, and WOW what a rotten voice I have. My apologies to God

I do the Rosary, about 4 different kinds, every day. Just my all time favorite devotional prayer. It gives me such a feeling of peace and what a wonderful feeling knowing it must please our Holy Mother to hear this devotion said with love.

 

[cmcruz]

The Catholic prayer tradition is such a blessing! As a convert, I was used to just spontaneous prayer–repetition was considered “vain words.” So now that I am a Catholic, I love the Church’s rich history and complex understanding of the Christian’s prayer life. One thing I most appreciate about the Church is its universality, so I appreciate those prayers that unite me in a special way to the rest of the faithful: for example, praying the Angelus at noon or the Liturgy of the Hours.

The Rosary has also been a special devotion for me, as I have tried to cultivate a deep love for the Blessed Mother since converting. And the Rosary is so versatile–there are many ways to go about meditating on the mysteries. I like the guides that provide an event for each bead of the decade, as they keep my mind more focused. (They have one, for example, at www.rosary-center.org)

A devotion that was not included in the list but that I have come to appreciate are the ejaculatory prayers of the Church. I use these to keep me aware of God’s presence throughout the day.

Another practice my husband and I have tried to include in our prayer lives is the use of Latin, the official language of the Church. We are currently trying to memorize our before-meal and after-meal prayers in Latin. And my husband has been practicing the Creed and the Our Father in Latin. We have found that this makes us feel very united to the long tradition of the Church.

Eucharistic adoration, novenas, litanies…all of these have given me such graces! Thank God for the Church and its wisdom.

 

[jeffreedy789]

disclaimer - i’m asking, i’m not criticizing. i don’t know, and i wish to. so please don’t take my question in a critical way.

how is it beneficial to pray the rosary in latin?

 

[Annunciata]

jeffreedy789:

disclaimer - i’m asking, i’m not criticizing. i don’t know, and i wish to. so please don’t take my question in a critical way.

how is it beneficial to pray the rosary in latin?

I was wondering the same thing? Annunciata

 

[hydrochief]

I got this out of a K of C magazine, but I can’t remember where it originated… I use it as a prelude to my daily Rosary.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen”

I say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy after the Rosary.

Now and again I’ll say the Guardian Angel prayer… Especially when I find myself in dagerous situations due to my job.

 

[stellina]

About a month ago I got the Manual of Prayers for the North American College in Rome (it’s sold on EWTN). Although it was obviously designed for seminarians, it is recommended for us lay people too, & it is a truly wonderful “encyclopedia” of prayers (for lack of a better word). The reason why I sought it out was so I could learn some prayers in Latin, as I’m a cradle Catholic of Italian descent & felt that I should learn a little after going to a couple of “High” Masses in Rome (all chanted & in Latin except for the homily, which is in vernacular) celebrated by cardinals. Nearly all of they prayers are in Latin and English, and there are even a few in Italian as a courtesy to the College’s host nation.

As for the actual forms of prayer, let’s see… there’s so much there… There’s a very good explanation of the rosary & novenas. There are several litanies and many prayers of individual saints. It is basically divided into occasions like morning & evening prayer, prayer before communion, etc. Part of the reson why I like it so much is that traditional prayer forms have a high “comfort level” for me, even though I was born only during Vatican II (I must be one of those slightly younger orthodox that I keep hearing about ).

 

[jennstall]

jeffreedy789:

disclaimer - i’m asking, i’m not criticizing. i don’t know, and i wish to. so please don’t take my question in a critical way.

how is it beneficial to pray the rosary in latin?

I don’t pray the rosary in Latin so much because I think it is more beneficial to pray it in Latin, but because I’m trying to learn Latin and learning the most common prayers that Catholics say seems the best way to start. Since I already know those prayers by heart in English, it is easier for me to understand the Latin without having to sit there with a dictionary and look up each word and I also don’t feel compelled to translate in my head as I pray in Latin so it teaches me how to start thinking in Latin which is what it takes to truly master a second language – thinking in that language.

However, that said because I don’t think in Latin (yet) I find once I’ve memorized the prayer in Latin it helps me to go a bit deeper while meditating on the mysteries because I’m not focusing as much on the words that I’m saying, but more on the mysteries that I’m praying. I also find it to be deeply meditative. I often feel like I’m moving into a more contemplative experience of prayer due to my more intense focus when I use Latin instead of English. I’m not sure why that is so, but it may be the rhythms of the language and syntax are conducive to it.

Also, one of the reasons I want to learn Latin is because it is the official language of the Church and for me I like knowing that when I pray in Latin I’m carrying on the tradition of many saints throughout the centuries who also prayed in this language. Plus, it just sounds really beautiful. I love the sound of the words.