ROMAN CATHOLIC PRAYER

Roman Catholic Prayer
There are various forms of prayer appear in the Bible with the most common form being petition. This is the simplest form of prayer. It has been termed the "social approach" to prayer. Under petition, a person confronts God in prayer directly, to ask for their needs to be fulfilled. God may or may not choose to answer. This is the primary approach to prayer found in the New Testament and most of the Church writings.

What should we pray and on what day. Below is a brief table:

Day


Dedication


Rosary Mystery commonly prayed:

Sunday

Resurrection of the Holy and Undivided Trinity


Glorious
Monday

The Holy Ghost and Souls in Purgatory


Joyful
Tuesday

Holy Angels


Sorrowful
Wednesday

Saint Joseph


Glorious
Thursday

The Blessed Sacrament


Joyful
Friday

Christ's Passion and His Sacred Heart


Sorrowful
Saturday

The Blessed Virgin and her Immaculate Heart.


Glorious


Month


Dedicated to:
January

The Holy Name and Childhood of Jesus
February

The Holy Family
March

Saint Joseph
April

The Blessed Sacrament
May

Mary
June

Sacred Heart of Jesus
July

The Precious Blood
August

Immaculate Heart of Mary
September

Seven Dolours (or Sorrows) of Mary
October

The Holy Rosary (or the Holy Angels)
November

Souls in Purgatory
December

The Immaculate Conception



Philosophy of Roman Catholic Prayer
Union with God is the paramount goal of religion for some Catholics. Catholics believe that God seeks unification with His children - Mankind. Prayer is the expression of the soul seeking to speak with God. St. Therese of the Child Jesus explains: "For me, prayer is an uplifting of the heart, a glance toward heaven, a cry of gratitude and of love in times of sorrow as well as of joy" (Story of a Soul). Catholics seek to elevate the heart and mind to God. Prayer, as discourse with a friend, is not constrained, but rather is spontaneous. Certain prayer events are organized, of course, as in the case of the Breviary, or the Mass, or other liturgical events; yet even during such events the specific discourse between the soul and God may be spontaneous. A Psalm, for example, may offer different meanings depending on the mood of the person praying. For the Catholic, prayer is love, and to "Pray always" (Lk 18:1) is to love always.


The Catholic grows spiritually through the life of prayer. A classic way to distinguish among phases of growth is three-fold: beginners start on the "purgative way", later comes the "illuminative way" with "affective prayer", and eventually one may experience the "unitive way". Catholics who have been especially helpful in developing an understanding of prayer include St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, both Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church. In the purgative way, the Catholic attempts to leave behind a life of sin, for "sin is iniquity" (Jn 3:4). The Catholic is enjoined to recall that "my sin is always before me" (Psalms 51:5). Growth toward holiness is ongoing, as the Apostle writes "he that is holy let him be sanctified still" (Apoc 22:11).

Next, in the illuminative way, the soul seeks the imitation of Christ to "have the light of life" (Jn 8:12). There is a famous book by Thomas à Kempis titled The Imitation of Christ. While in purgative prayer one is mostly engaged in vocal prayer, in the illuminative way one tends to be more affective along the lines suggested by St. Therese, above. Affective prayer of this sort may best permit us to fulfill the command "always to pray and not to faint" (Lk 18:1). Last, in the unitive way the soul now seeks to say "I live now not I; but Christ livith in me!" (Gal 2:20). For Roman Catholics, the Eucharist is a key expression of this union with Jesus.

Philosophical paradoxes of prayer
There are a number of philosophical paradoxes involving prayer to an omnipotent God, namely:
• If a person deserves the recipient of the prayer to give him the thing he prays for, why doesn't he receive it, even without prayer? And if a person is not deserving of it, then even if that person does pray and request it, should it be given just because of his prayer?
• Why should it be necessary to pray with speech? Doesn't the recipient know the thoughts of all people?
• If the recipient is omniscient (all-knowing) then doesn't that mean that they would know what we are going to ask for, even before we pray?
• How can a human being hope to change the mind of the recipient of the prayer? Why should human prayers affect those decisions?
• Do human beings actually have the ability to praise an omniscient and omnipotent entity? Praising is difficult to do without describing, yet how can a finite human being know anything about the entity's ultimate nature? This question was the subject of heated debate among many religious philosophers; one such debate took place in the 14th century between Gregory Palamas and Barlaam of Calabria.
• The prerequisite of asking for a favour is faith in the recipient of the prayer. But asking to change an aspect of creation seems to be expressing a dissatisfaction with the way things are - and hence not trusting the "plan"


Many of these questions have been discussed in Jewish, Catholic and Muslim writings from the medieval period onward. The 900s to 1200s saw some of the most fertile discussion on these questions, during the period of Neo-Platonic and Neo-Aristotelian philosophy. Discussion of these problems never ceased entirely, but they did fall mostly from the public view for several centuries, until The Enlightenment reignited philosophical inquiry into theological issues.

The Act of Prayer
Praying has many different forms.
• Prayer may be done privately and individually, or it may be done corporately in the presence of fellow believers.
• Some outward acts that sometimes accompany prayer are: ringing a bell; burning incense or paper; lighting a candle or candles; facing a specific direction (i.e. towards Mecca or the East); making the sign of the cross.
• A variety of body postures may be assumed, often with specific meaning (mainly respect or adoration) associated with them: standing; sitting; kneeling; prostrate on the floor; eyes opened; eyes closed; hands folded or clasped; hands upraised; and others. Prayers may be recited from memory, read from a book of prayers, or composed spontaneously as they are prayed. They may be said, chanted, or sung. They may be with musical accompaniment or not. There may be a time of outward silence while prayers are offered mentally. Often, there are prayers to fit specific occasions, such as the blessing of a meal, the birth or death of a loved one, other significant events in the life of a believer, or days of the year that have special religious significance. Details corresponding to specific traditions are outlined below.

Approaches to Catholic Prayer
There are a variety of approaches to understanding prayer:
• The belief that the prayer is listened to, and may or may not get a response;
• The belief that prayer is intended to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, rather than to influence the recipient;
• The belief that prayer is intended to train a person to focus on the recipient through philosophy and intellectual contemplation;
• The belief that prayer is intended to enable a person to gain a direct experience of the recipient;
• The belief that prayer is intended to affect the very fabric of reality itself.
The existence of prayer is attested in written sources as early as 5000 years ago. Anthropologists believe that the earliest intelligent modern humans practised something that we would recognize today as prayer.

Vocal
Vocal prayer, of course, is prayer made with the lips, normally producing sound. Practices of vocal prayer vary across denominations, but have common themes:
• Renouncing distraction, often by closing the eyes
• Presenting oneself by bowing the head, placing hands together, or making the sign of the cross
• Making a request for grace, enlightenment or assistance
• Invoking the name, glory, or life of Jesus
• Closing, often with "Amen"

The prayer is supposed to receive the full mental and spiritual effort of those involved, whether speaking or listening. Even if a standard wording is used, mechanical recitation is discouraged. Vocal prayer may be prayer of petition, perhaps the simplest form of prayer. Some have termed it the "social approach" to prayer. In this view, a person beseeches God for a need to be fulfilled; God is thought to listen to prayer and to be free to grant the request or not. Vocal prayer may also subsume prayer of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, intercession, and communion. Particularly common vocal prayers include the Lord's Prayer; the Psalms; the Jesus Prayer; the Hail Mary; the Canticles throughout the Old and New Testaments; Grace, a prayer of thanksgiving usually before, sometimes after, a meal; and prayers associated with the rosary and the prayer rope.