Tag Archives: mental prayer

Prayer in Lent

Prayer is one of the three principal focuses of our Lenten discipline, along with fasting and almsgiving. In this meditation we consider how:

  • Christ himself gives us an example of fervent and assiduous prayer
  • Prayer unites us with Christ and helps us become true friends with him
  • Prayer can take four forms
  • Prayer requires effort
  • We can improve our prayer life in Lent in a number of ways

Mental prayer

 

 

It has often been said that the quality of our interior life is the quality of our prayer. In this meditation we use especially the Catechism of the Catholic Church and St Josemaria’s book The Way to consider how we can improve our personal conversation with God in mental prayer through such means as:

  • Saying slowly and with attention the words of the Introductory Prayer
  • Responding promptly to the initiative of God, who invites us to pray
  • Engaging in the “battle of prayer”, whether we feel like it or not
  • Committing ourselves to regular times for prayer and being faithful to them
  • Fighting the distractions which inevitably come

 

A daily plan of spiritual life

vocal prayer and mental prayer

 

Anyone who wants to achieve an important goal has a  plan of daily activities to reach it: the athlete, the student, the business person. Our goal is the most important of all: eternal salvation, heaven. Our happiness here and hereafter depends on it.  In this meditation we consider how:

  • We are called to love God with our whole heart and in order to achieve that we must spend some time with him each day
  • We are called to eternal life with God in heaven, the goal of our whole life
  • Like the student, the athlete, the business person, we need a daily plan of activities to achieve our goal
  • We can dedicate some time each day to such activities as mental prayer, Holy Mass, the Rosary, spiritual reading, reading of the New Testament, the Angelus, morning prayers, the examination of conscience, etc.
  • We can achieve this by having regular times for prayer spread out throughout the day

Life of Prayer

vocal prayer and mental prayer

 

 

 

In our hectic life it is essential to find the time each day to stop and converse with God in prayer. In this meditation we consider:

  • Why we should pray
  • The different forms of prayer
  • The qualities our prayer should have
  • How to deal with distractions in prayer