By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
What is prayer? There are many definitions. The CCC quotes, the Eastern Father of the Church, Sant John Damascene’s classical definition: “Prayer is the lifting up of the mind and heart to God.” The first woman Doctor of the Church Saint Teresa of Avila defines payer essentially as FRIENDSHIP—spending a long time in silence with the one I know loves me! Another concise catechetical; definition for prayer is the following: “Prayer is listening to God, speaking to God and loving God.” The Doctor of grace Saint Augustine quips up with a charming one-liner on prayer: “He who prays well lives well; he who lives well dies well; he who dies well, all is well.” Finally, another noteworthy quote on prayer is a comparison easy to understand: “What air is to the lungs so is prayer to the soul.” In a word, the soul that does not breath prayer is destined to suffocate and die in the spiritual life.
Saint Alphonsus wrote a short treatise on prayer with the title Prayer, the key to salvation. This great Doctor of the Church is also quoted in the CCC with these sobering words: “He who prays will be saved; he who does not pray will be damned.” Prayer is a matter of life and death in our spiritual life. Given the supreme importance of prayer we would like to list a number of helps to encourage us to not only take prayer seriously but also to put it into practice and God-willing to be an Apostle of prayer.
1. CONVICTION. We will never carry out any objective or noble enterprise if we do not believe that it is of capital importance. It is our hope that the above short one-liners on prayer will serve to motivate us to undertake the journey of prayer, not only to pray but strive to plumb the depths of prayer. Saint Teresa of Avila asserts the following: “We must have a determined determination to never give up prayer.” The key is perseverance. (Read Lk. 18:1-8). The widow won over the ruthless judge due to her insistence and perseverance.
2. TIME. Saint Benedict, the Founder of the Order of the Benedictines, was famous also for the basic Rule for Religious life. Also, he is known for a famous one-liner on prayer—ORA Y LABORA—meaning we are called to both pray and to work. Saint Teresa of Avila expresses what might appear to be obvious: “You learn how to pray by praying.” If you like: “Practice makes perfect.” Saint Mark presents Jesus in the very first chapter as rising way before dawn and being absorbed in prayer. (Mk. 1) Face it: if we do not give time to prayer, we will never learn the art of prayer.
3. PLACE. Jesus had His place—the Garden of Gethsemane. We should have our own prayer-corner, oratory, of if you like, “Get-away, to get to God.” Perhaps some solitude, corner in your home; perhaps a place in nature. The best place, if possible, would be in front of the Blessed Sacrament. This was the favorite refuge and oasis for Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. He was faithful to his Holy Hour for more than 50 years as a priest. He called it his “Hour of power.”
4. SILENCE. In any case, so as to enter into communion with God there must be an ambience and milieu of silence. Remember the prophet Elijah encountered God not in the fire, nor earthquake, nor storm but rather in the gentle breeze. Samuel in the Temple could hear God’s voice in silence and consequently spoke out: “Speak Lord for your servant is listening.”
5. CLEAN THE INNER WINDOWPANE. At times prayer may prove to be tedious, difficult and even fruitless because our heart, mind and conscience is not right with God. In a word, we are loaded down with sin and our conscience is smeared and saturated with unconfessed sins. With Confession the Precious Blood of Jesus cleans the inner window so that we can contemplate the Face of God in prayer.
6. VOCAL PRAYER. Usually, we start out in our prayer journey by learning vocal prayer: the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Act of Contrition, Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity… Any prayer said with purity of intention, faith, and confidence is pleasing to God. This includes the use of vocal prayers.
7. SPIRITUAL DIRECTION. Many of the great saints insist on having a guide, or if you like a Spiritual Director to help us in our journey to the summit of the mountain of prayer. Among the most prominent saints who insist on the indispensable importance of Spiritual Direction to grow in holiness and to grow in our prayer life are the following: Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Faustina Kowalska, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Saint Francis de Sales. Blind spots can easily block our growth; adequate and methodical spiritual direction can help us enormously in our prayer growth.
8. FAMILY PRAYER. Most of us live in the context of the family. Actually, the Second Vatican Council states that the family is the domestic Church. How important it really is when the family spends time on a daily basis in prayer. Pope Saint John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary quotes the Rosary-priest, Father Patrick Peyton: “The family that prays together stays together.” The same Pontiff insisted that we pray for two special intentions: for the sake of the family as well as for world peace! How important these intentions now more than ever!
9. MARRIED COUPLE AT PRAYER. When I preside over weddings very often, in my homily I summarize the book of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen “It takes three to get married” — the husband, the wife and Jesus Christ. In a word, husband and wife must find times and place to pray together as a couple. This is the super-glue that will hold the marriage and family together.
10. BIBLE: PRIMARY TEXT. Saint Teresa of Avila said that she would never go to prayer without taking with her a book as an aid to enter into prayer. Of all the textbooks to help us in prayer by far the greatest is the Bible—the Word of God. Other spiritual books can be of great utility, but the Bible, God’s very Word, has pride of place.
11. PSALMS. Then in the Bible itself the Book of Psalms has pride of place with respect to explicit prayer. There are 150 in total, many attributed to King David. This Book of Psalms, inspired by the Holy Spirit, express the total emotional gamut of the sentiments present in the human heart. Praise, thanksgiving, supplication, joys and sorrows, hopes and dreams, wonder and awe, contrition due to failure and sin, fears and doubts—all of these and many more can be discovered in the rich treasure trove of the Book of the Psalms.
12. READING ON PRAYER. Information on almost any topic is at our fingertips today; this is true also in the realm of prayer. With proper spiritual direction you can discover what would be the best material to read with reference to prayer. Once we have a literary guide this can point us in the right direction, and we can start to plumb the depths of prayer. No reason to be immersed in ignorance today!
13. CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Of the modern writings on prayer Part IV in the (CCC) Catechism of the Catholic Church is a gem, a jewel and a literary masterpiece on prayer. The reading may be somewhat dense but it is worth the effort. The Catechism itself states that prayer is not always easy. Quite the contrary it can be compared to the wrestling match that Jacob had all night with the angel. As in any activity worthy of pursuit there must be the exertion of blood, sweat and tears. The athletes put it this way: “No pain, no gain!”
14. ASK FOR PRAYERS. Jesus stated: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Whoever asks receives; whoever seeks finds; and whoever knocks the door will be opened to him. (Mt. 7:7ss) Ask a friend or a prayer-partner to pray for you to help you to grow in prayer. We are family and we should not be afraid to ask for help.
15. LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. Brother Lawrence could summarize his growth in holiness with regard to one simple concept: LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD! Our goal should be such that wherever we go, whatever we are doing, that we are constantly aware of God’s all-embracing ubiquitous Presence. In the Acts of the Apostles Saint Paul quotes the Greek poet in these words related to God’s omnipresence: “In Him we live and move and have our being.”
16. MEDITATION GUIDE. A sure guide to launch us into the deep waters of meditation is the classic of Saint Francis de Sales, “Introduction to the devout life.” One of the greatest spiritual classics The Doctor of the Church, Saint Francis de Sales offers a series of easy-to-follow meditations to introduce us into the art of mental prayer, or if you like, meditation.
17. SPONTANEOUS PRAYERS: FIERY DARTS THAT PIERCE THE CLOUDS. Another great help for prayer-growth is the frequent launching of short prayers, fiery darts to pierce the clouds. You should choose some of your favorites. We will offer a few choice examples of these fiery darts:
- “Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.”
- “Sacred Heart of Jesus I trust in you.”
- “Jesus, I trust you!”
- “Sweet Heart of Mary be my salvation.”
- “The Lord is my Shepherd there is nothing I shall lack. (Psalm 23:1)
18. PRACTICE OF THE DAILY EXAMEN. This form of prayer Saint Ignatius would insist that all of his followers do with great faithfulness on a regular basis. To be as simple as possible in the explanation you simply rewind the film/movie of your day and walk through it with the Lord Jesus at your side. Spend some time in thanksgiving; repent over failures and propose for the future.
19. SPIRITUAL RETREATS. We would be remiss if we did not mention the great importance of a more prolonged experience of prayer in the context of a spiritual retreat. Ignatian Retreats over the years have proved to be most fruitful. Time blocks vary! It could a weekend retreat, five-day retreat, eight-day retreat or even a month Ignatian Retreat. If done well, with good will and proper direction these retreats can catapult us into the deeper realms of prayer.
20. MOST HOLY ROSARY. The centuries old practice of the recitation of the most Holy Rosary should never be by-passed or skipped over as irrelevant. (Read “The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis de Montfort). This wonderful prayer praised by countless saints and Popes embodies several modes/forms of prayer that can serve as a sure path to holiness and growth in prayer. The Rosary offers vocal prayer, mental prayer or meditation, contemplative prayer, affective prayer and can be a conduit and means to deeper mystical prayer. It can be prayed alone, or in the family, or in Church, or even on the road on the Highway to Heaven.
We would like to conclude with one of the teachings of one of the Spiritual Directors of Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Peter of Alcantara on the value of mental prayer or meditation: “In mental prayer the soul is purified from its sins, nourished with charity, confirmed in faith, and strengthened in hope, the mind expands, the affections dilate, the heart is purified, truth becomes evident, temptation is conquered, sadness dispelled, the senses renovated, the drooping powers revive, tepidity ceases, the rust of vices disappears. Out of mental prayer issue forth, like living sparks, those desires of heaven which the souls conceive when inflamed by the fire of divine love. Sublime is the excellence of mental prayer, great are its privileges; to mental prayer heaven is opened; to mental prayer heavenly secrets are manifested and the ear of God is ever attentive. (St. Peter of Alcantara, Treatise on prayer, first part, c. i.)
Like fish in water may we all be deeply immersed in prayer and attain the heights of holiness that God has designed for us now so that Heaven will be ours for all eternity.
