What are the essential forms of prayer?

The basic forms of prayer: blessing, adoration, petition, atonement,  reparation,love,intercession.thanksgiving and praise.

Blessings come to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father. Because God blesses the human heart, it can return, (praise and adore) him who is the source of every blessing. Through blessing, our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father.

Through adoration, we exult the greatness of the Lord who made us and the Almighty power of the Saviour who sets us free from evil. It is a respectful silence in the presence of the "ever great" God.

By prayers of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures ever in need God.We are sinners who have turned away from our Father. Our petition is already a turn back to him. The first movement of the prayer of petition is to ask for forgiveness: "God be merciful to me a sinner!" It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back communion with God and our neighbor, so that we receive from God whatever we ask.

In a prayer of expiation or contrition, we acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for his forgiveness and mercy. The Confiteor or Penitential Rite at the beginning of  Mass, and the Agnus Dei (or Lamb of God) before Communion, are prayers of expiation, as in the Act of Contrition.

A prayer of reparation is one that aims to repair the sins of others and the outrages and many offenses and sacrilages committed against the Holy Trinity and the Immaculate Heart of Mary . A "Holy Hour of Reparation" before the Blessed Sacrament and the five first Saturdays devotion" is an example of this form of prayer/devotion.

Prayers of love or charity are expressions of our love for God, the source and object of of all love. The act of charity is perhaps the best example of a prayer of love.

Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. In intercession , he who prays looks "not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," even to the point of praying for those who do him harm. The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: for all men , for Kings and all who are in high positions, for persecutors and for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel.

Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church. Every joy and suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's life: "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess 5:18).

Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God.

It lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God. Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them towards God. The Eucharist contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is "the pure offering" of the whole Body of Christ, it is the sacrifice of praise."

[ See CCC 2623-2649]

 

"What is the devotion of the "Three Hail Marys"

The three Hail Marys are recited in honor of the three great priviledges bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary by the most Blessed Trinity - the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, and the Merciful Tenderness of the Holy Spirit.

When reciting the Rosary, why do we say five decades of the Hail Marys,  Joyful Mysteries,Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, it is a perfect number or is it a reminder of the 150 Psalms? What is the history of the Rosary?

There is a connection with Mary's Psalter (the Rosary) and the recitation of the 150 Psalm (psalter) of the Bible, as in ancient times, monks and clergy used to recite the entire psalter every day. But, as many people in that day were either illiterate or could not afford a psalter, the practice of saying one hundred and fifty Pater Nosters (Our Fathers in Latin)developed as an alternative to remind them of the 150 Psalms.

Now coming to the Rosary, according to tradition, it was St. Dominic de Guzman (in the 12th century) to whom Our Lady revealed the praying of the 150 Hail Marys along with his preaching of the salvation mysteries to combat the great heresy of his day. (The Dominicans were preachers). Saint Dominic though of the "Rosary"as a crown of roses on the head of the heavenly Queen. With the introduction of the Rosary, a new kind of psalter- the Marian Psalter - the Rosary - came into being. Rosary Beads usually contain 50 beads in groups of ten (the decades), with an additional large bead before each decade. These numbers were chosen to match the 150 Psalms, therefore 159 Hail Marys (the 15 Mysteries

When Greece was threatened by the Turks, back in 1571, the Italian navigators prayed the Rosary. They attributed the victory of the Battle of Lepanto (today Navpaktos) on October 7, 1571to our Lady. Then, in the sixteenth century, the feast of "Our Last of Victory" which was later the feast of "Our Lady of the Rosary" on 7th October was established by Saint (Pope) Pius V to commemorate that victory. The Pope, then, himself a Dominican, issued an apostolic letter establishing the twenty Mystery form of the Holy Rosary as the official, Church-authorized version. This was the prescribed format for the next four centuries. In the year 2002, Pope Jonh Paul II published an apostolic letter that added five more Mysteries (The Luminous Mysteries), making a total of twenty authorized Mysteries.

The Rosary is an "epitome of the whole Gospel." It is a contemplative prayer, and it has great intercessory power and every Catholic should pray it regularly. The Rosary - in Arabic- "misbahah", "praise tool", is NOT at all meant to "praise the Virgin, as if she were a goddess", but to praise the Lord through and with Mary who had sung: "My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." As a master of fact, the "Hail Marys" are preceded by the Lord's Prayer ("Our Father") and always followed by the "Glory" - not to Mary - but to the triun One God. The Muslim world has also a "misbahah", for the praise of Allah, with 33 beads - which, multiplied by three, reach the number of 99, the traditional "best names of Allah" (al-assmaa' al-husana). This is an opportunity to clarify that the Church never worshipped- not ever advocated the woeship of the Virgin Mary as a goddess, though , we might find among individuals, sometimes, some exaggerations in popular devotion, contrary to the Scriptures and also according to the Church directives. [ See CCC 2678 ]

By praying the Rosary,doesn't it seem that we are placing Mother Mary higher than God. since the 'Hail Mary' far outnumbers the 'Our Father'and 'Glory Be'?

Of course, our devotion must be to God the Father through Jesus Christ. However, the intercession of our Mother Mary is to take us to Jesus Christ and to God the Father. As John Paul II said,"To Jesus to Mary". Her intercession is not independent of Jesus Christ,like in the normal family the role of the mother is not separated(or should not be) from the one of the father.We venerate the  Virgin Mary (we don't adore her, we adore only God) because she is the Mother of God and she wants us to be with him. Besides, the prayer "Hail Mary" is almost all taken from the Gospel,which, along with the tradition of the Church, is the    source of Jesus Christ's teaching, and we glorify her for the (fruit of thine womb 'Jesus, who is the center of this prayer. Ask the Virgin  Mary to help you to know Jesus Christ better and  she will do it.         

During the season of Lent should we say the Sorrowful Mysteries every day?Or we can say all the mysteries like we normally do?

During Lent we can either recite only the Sorrowful Mysteries or as usual all the Mysteries.The Rosary is a private prayer,so there is no official rule from the Church about it. Personally, I prefer to say all the Mysteries as usual because we have to contemplate on the whole life of Jesus and not only on    one part of it. Even during Lent, we should meditate on his birth and other aspects of his life.The mystery of Jesus has to be concentrated in complete vision, with the help of all the mysteries and at all times of the year.

WHO ARE THE SERVANTS (EDUCATORS) OF PRAYER?

All of us who believe , pray and lead others to pray are indeed "servants of prayer". The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer where children learn to pray "as the Church" and  to persevere in prayer. Ordained ministers (Priests and Deacons) are also responsible for the formation in prayer of their brothers and sisters in Christ. They lead the People of God to the living waters of prayer: the Word of God , the liturgy, the theological life (the life of faith, hope, and charity). Many have consecrated their whole lives to prayer. Hermits, monks, and nuns, since the time of the desert fathers, have devoted their time to praising God and interceding for his people.The Catechesis for children, young people, and adults aims at teaching them to meditate on The Word of God in personal prayer, practicing it in liturgical prayer, and internalizing it at all times in order to bear fruit in a new life.
Prayer groups, indeed "schools of prayer." are today one of the signs and one of the driving fources of  renewal of prayer in the Church. Above all, it is the Holy Spirit who guides and animates the believer in prayer.

MEDITATION

Is a prayerful quest engaging thought , imagination, emotion, and desire.Through meditation, the mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" If is a time to let God speak to us! We are helped in our meditation by books, the Sacred Scriptures, holy icons, liturgical texts, writings of the spiritual fathers and other works of spirituality. The Rosary as a form of prayerful reflection is of great value in the knowledge of the Mysteries of our Lord Jesus.

WHAT IS THE CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER?

St. Teresa the great mystic says: "Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who know loves us." Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention  is fixed on the Lord himself. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what St. John Vianney used to say while praying before the tabernacle. Contemplative prayer is is the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith and we may be rooted in love. In contemplation, the Holy trinity conforms man to his likeness.We come to know God in an ever more living and intimate manner which results in a closer and more fruitful union with him. 

[See CCC 2700-2724 ]

What is better: to pray or to meditate?

To arrive at perfection,says St. Bernard, we must meditate and pray: by meditation we see what we want; by prayer we receive what we want. Some people spend a great deal of time in reading and in meditating, but pay but little attention to prayer. there is no doubt that spiritual reading and meditation on the eternal truths, are very useful things, "but," says  St Augustine, "it is of much more use to pray." By reading and meditating we learn our duty; but by prayer we obtain the grace to do it."It is better to pray than to read: by reading we know what we ought to do; by prayer we receive what we ask." What is the use of knowing our duty, and then not doing it, but to make sure us more guilty in God's sight? We may read and meditate as we like, but we shall never satisfy our obligations, unless we ask of God the grace to fulfill them.                                                                                                          

Does the Church have an approved means of meditation that we can use?

The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola which is a program of meditations, prayers,considerations, and contemplative practices can help Catholics become more fully alive in their faith. The Ignatian method of prayer uses visual imagination to draw nearer to God.

 These exercise are divided into segments which focus upon a different theme - human sin; Christ's life on earth, Christ's death on the cross and Christ risen life. A key theme throughout the Spiritual Exercises is discernment and the need to discern good desires and evil desires in one's life.

How is Personal Prayer Important for Spiritual Growth?

St Paul urges us to "pray constantly" (1Thes 5:17), but to make progress we must- first, foremost and always - set aside regular private time for personal prayer. Every spiritual master in the history of the Church has taught that holiness begins and ends in personal prayer - even if we participate in public liturgies or other group prayer - we will never draw close enough to the Lord.
Private, personal prayer is the way we open ourselves to grace by unmasking our hidden nature and revealing our true selves to God. In silent prayer we grow in faith. We are transformed.
 In this context, I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of lectio divina: the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture

accomspanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with openness of heart.The ultimate goal of personal prayer is mystical union with God.