How Do I Pray Now? (As I Can, Not As I Did)

The last person we'll hear from about "praying now" was surprised to find that retirement was not what she'd envisioned.

    "My attention span is shorter than it was in my younger days. My youthful plans for later years included day-long-prayer-marathons, when I knew I would take time to just sit and be with God!
     Now I have the time that once eluded me, but I no longer have the powers of concentration. This realization has been sobering. However, I am helped by seeing that I'm not actually in 'dryness,' nor is it that I've lost interest in prayer, nor am I 'lazy' if I sit down and fall fast asleep. It's just that my body and my mind are not as young as they were even a few years ago.
     My call is to pray as I can, not as I did. The important thing, for me, is to set aside the time - whether in one solid chunk or in ten-minute segments throughout the day - with the firm intention to give that time to God. I am seeing anew the truth that the Lord is my strength. May He be praised forever!"

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"It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction."  (St. Edmund)

"Physical condition or advancing of age are not obstacles to a perfect life. God does not look at external things, but at the soul." (Pope St. John Paul II)


Painting: Carl Vilhelm Holsoe, in US public domain due to age

How Do I Pray Now? (All I Have to Do is Respond)

From yet another friend:

     "In the past, I relied on Christian music and spiritual reading to help me pray. Often I took time for a walk or to sit in the back yard and be still. I learned not to answer the telephone every time it rang but to wait until it was convenient for me to do so.
     Discipline is very hard for me but slowly I am surprised by the new doors God is opening as a result of my efforts, which are beginning to bring peace and joy.
     I have also felt direction for a world situation that needs prayer.
     Now I'm back to Ralph Martin's book 'The Fulfillment of All Desire,' and for me it is huge. It is teaching, inspiring, and leading me to change my life.
     I have realized that God led me to my cloister. All I have to do is respond."    

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"As soon as we wake up, turn to the Lord, thank Him for another day, dedicate it to Him and ask His help for living it in a way pleasing to Him. Take a substantial time for personal prayer (including spiritual reading) as early in the morning as feasible. Attend daily Mass as often as possible. As far as circumstances permit, pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Withdraw into the cell of our souls periodically during the day to remember the Lord, to be aware of His presence and speak to Him. We can do this even in the midst of activities." (Ralph Martin, The Fulfillment of All Desire, Emmaus Road Publishing, 2006. Emphasis mine!!)



Painting:  Peter Vilhelm Ilsted, in US public domain due to age

How Do I Pray Now? (Sometimes With a Printed Prayer)

Whoever thought up holy cards was undoubtedly inspired. These little gems have turned thoughts back to God for centuries, helping focus distracted minds and world-weary hearts.

One collector of holy cards shared "how she prays now" by writing the following...

     "I have been amazed at the great fruit that has come from my commitment to pray several short times a day - sometimes simply reading a holy card or a printed prayer of a saint, making the intention to pray it from my heart. What great things God is doing with this little exercise!
     These initially brief prayer times have been growing in frequency, length, and fervency - and I have begun to recognize why prayer in shorter segments is working for me at this season of my life. 
     I am more likely to go to prayer in the first place when I do so with the idea that I'll stay there for a few minutes. With this attitude, I am not as likely to be tempted by thoughts that I need to clean the kitchen or work on a project before I can be free to take time to pray."

What kinds of prayers are we likely to find on a holy card? I'm sure we each have our favorites. Here are just a few that my friend has found helpful on busy days... 

"Heavenly Father, I offer You all that I shall think or do or say this day, uniting it with what was done by Jesus Christ, Your only Son. Amen."

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishment. But most of all because I have offended Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love.  I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen."

"Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but hear and answer them. Amen."






 
Holy cards in US public domain due to age

How Do I Pray Now? (It Changes With the Seasons)

Reading through my cache of rediscovered 'cloistered heart' letters, I ran across a few sharings from friends struggling to pray in the midst of everyday demands. Because I personally find these motivating, I will try to post several of them over the next few days.

"I have been paying closer attention to my days to see exactly when and how I am praying," wrote one homemaker. "My spur of the moment thought would be 'it's a hodgepodge!'  But a closer look shows me it is not as chaotic as I thought. 
     I have been studying the daily Mass readings; this gives me an opportunity to think about them more in depth.
    My life lately has been more 'Martha' than 'Mary.' I begin the day with my Morning Offering and thanking God for the new day. It is a grace-filled time for me.
    The rest of my day is filled with little thoughts, prayer aspirations, lighting a candle while I cook.
    When I can manage to escape my chores for a few minutes, I sit on my yard swing and pray. 
    When I drive I listen to hymns on my car CD payer. 
    When I think about my children, I turn my thoughts into prayers for them. I sing. I sing a lot!  
    While ironing or doing work with my hands, I sing. I often make up my own songs to suit my thoughts or the situations of the moment.
    I go to Mass several times a week. I try to pray from the Liturgy of the Hours before Mass. I go for Eucharistic Adoration each Friday, even if I can stay only a few minutes.
    So you see, at the present my prayer life is nothing formal, but it is active. 
    More and more I realize that my prayer life changes with the seasons."
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"You don't know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and as soon as you have said 'Lord, I don't know how to pray!' you can be sure you've already begun." (St. Josemaria Escriva)

"Mediocrity Has Deep Roots"

Among my recently uncovered treasures from a friend, I found the following excerpt from one of my favorite books...

Someone asked Father Thomas Dubay: "is it realistic to suggest in our century that busy lay men and women in an extremely complex and driven society habitually 'go off some place where they can be alone and pray?' Not a few people would accuse you of trying to monasticize lay life."

Father's response: "Yes, I am well aware of the criticism, but it is superficial and off target. The crucial question is not what I am or am not trying to promote, but what the Lord and His saints, married as well as religious, have done and what He and His Church teach. 
     The monasticizing objection probably stems from a subconscious tendency we wounded humans have to dilute the radical call of the Gospel. People given to one-step thinking love to put labels on what they do not like, and then think they have disposed of the matter. Mediocrity has deep roots. 
     Lay men and women today who are serious about prayer - and I know from personal experience with them - completely reject this criticism. Yet, you ask whether contemplative solitude is realistic in our day and in all states of life. The answer to your question is an emphatic affirmative. Especially in our complex and driven society, as you put it, do we need healthy solitude with God. Solitude is a time for unwinding, for BE-ing. Modern men and women are over-stimulated, over-worked, over-met, over-talked, over-amused. That is one reason so many are superficial and trivial. There is no chance for them to grow and develop beyond where they are. 
     In solitude we begin to possess what we already have. Seeds can begin to grow. In Christ we already have everything, but over-activity and over-stimulation smother it." (Thomas Dubay SM, Seeking Spiritual Direction, Servant Books, 1994, p. 173)

I look at these words and wonder: is anything smothering the "everything" Christ has provided for me? Am I over-amused, over-stimulated, over-anything? 

A question I will be taking into my own next solitude with God is: "Lord, I am over-what(s)?"

(Seeking Spiritual Direction can be found at this Amazon link.)