A Daily Dose of God

 

Chapter 3 “The Church Has Many Forms of Prayer”

 

Where does the word prayer derive “… from ‘to ask.’  Originally it referred to the act of requesting.  Prayer has evolved into a name for ‘… a whole variety of forms.”  [p.43]

 

“… in everyday life there are the most varied forms of speech, and it cannot be any different in the case of prayer.”  [p.48]

 

 

“The petition is addressed to God the Father: it is God who must act, because the need cries out to heaven.”  [p.50]

 

 

In Mass the priest offers (prays) the Collect.  “First all the people are called to pray; prayerful silence follows.  Then comes the address to God … to God the Father alone ….  The Roman collect is a petition, but … it is also confessional praise.”  [p.50-51]

 

 

“All the external forms of prayer remain, but they are transformed into a kind of prayer that has no name …. Petition is transformed into adoration.”  [p.53]

 

 

“… the Kyrie eleison at the beginning of the Mass was originally a cry for help.  Its first meaning was ‘Lord, have mercy!’  it contains everything - the sum of suffering, hopes, expectations, trust, affections, surrender, adoration - in its very essence.”  [p.54]

 

 

Today when you pray address your cries to God the Father, who longs to hear your voice.  Remember we pray in the Trinity, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

Saint Thomas More, plead for us.

 

May God Be Praised!