A Guide to Prayer

The lifting of our minds and hearts to God in prayer is in response to God’s call. Even the act of looking for ways to pray is in response to God’s invitation. In Scripture we hear, “Lord teach us to pray.”( LK 11:1). Jesus taught us His most beautiful prayer to the Father. Here in this space you will find a general guide to prepare yourself for prayer along with suggestions for Scripture to use as you begin this journey. Notice these are only suggestions to get you started. From this or similar beginnings follow God’s lead as you become aware of the Divine Presence in every aspect of your life.

See the Guide

Practical Suggestions for Prayer Times

Suggestions are made to create a prayer space that is comfortable and facilitates prayer. There is a list of various types of prayer that can help you explore how God is present in your life and how you might respond. There is also a suggested plan for shared prayer.

Improve your prayer life

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is a traditional way of praying the Scriptures that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, ultimately, pray from God's Word so that the Word of God may penetrate our hearts and that we may grow in an intimate relationship with the Lord.

"Lectio Divina" is a Latin phrase which means "divine reading" and describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us. It consists of 4 parts: Lectio (Reading the Scripture) Meditatio (Meditate on the Scripture) Oratio (Pray with the Scripture) Contemplatio (Rest with the Scripture).

Learn to pray in the way of Lectio Divina

Use the daily liturgical readings to approach a prayerful reading of scripture according to the monastic way of Lectio Divina. This web site was created by the Carmelites.

http://ocarm.org/en/calendar-date/2010

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Prayer Traditions of the Church

This list is by no means a compendium of prayer traditions but merely a listing of more recognized types of Catholic prayer. It is meant to raise awareness of the different types of prayer. The most important aspect of prayer is to begin!

View the Prayer Traditions

Liturgy of the Hours

eBreviary
This site offers daily PDF printouts (Adobe Acrobat format) of the Liturgy of the Hours Morning, Evening and Night Prayer:
eBreviary

Universalis
This site has an both an html version of the liturgy of the hours and a version that you can download to your handheld! Each day's Morning, Evening, and Night prayer is made available along with Mass readings, Liturgical Calendar and the Office of Readings, including those great non-biblical readings from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church! The site follows the calendar and liturgy of the Roman Rite:
Universalis

The Rosary

How to Recite the Rosary
This guide describes how to recite the rosary including the common prayers and the four sets of mysteries (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, Glorious):
Guide to Reciting the Rosary

Virtual Rosary
Pray the Rosary on your own computer or Palm. Easy to download - It will even remind you to pray everyday!:
Virtual Rosary

Parish Blessing & Home Enthronement of Bibles

Parish Blessing

Parishes are encouraged to bless the Bibles of their parishioners at weekend Masses. Prior to the weekend of blessing, the faithful are asked to bring their Bibles to Mass for them to be blessed. We have developed a sample Bible Blessing for parishes to use for this ritual.

Parish Rite of Blessing Bibles
     English  |  Spanish  |  Vietnamese

Home Enthronement

Families are encouraged to reserve a special place of honor in their homes for the enthronement of the family bible. The rite of enthronement is available for download, with instructions for families to enthrone the Bible in their homes.

Home Bible Blessing and Enthronement
     English  |  Spanish  |  Vietnamese