Personal Prayer Rooms

[Benedictus]

This is a picture of my prayer corner.

I can imagine that space gives great focus with dim light and candles. Who is the meditation teacher in the picture Swami Mommy?

In my old house I had a windowsill that was very low and deep. I used that as a prayer corner and used to sit on the edge of my bed to pray, facing it. This is how it looked. I don't know how I will arrange things in my new place yet. I am only renting one room and there isn't much space.

Nice icons. I love those rosary beads

[He is Risen!]

Beatitude, your crucifix looks like it came from the Sisters of Bethlehem.  Did you get it from Livingston Manor?  I love their icons/ artwork but don't know how to shop them from KS, do you know if they have an online store or catalog?  I don't have a trip to NY or France in my budget right now!

[Spem in alium]

My bedroom is my personal chapel, but I do have particular areas with religious items. One of my shelves has a plant, a small statue of Mary and Jesus (which is actually one of the most beautiful I've ever seen), a cross, a relic of St George Preca, an impression of the seal of St John XXIII, and an icon of the Holy Family. I also have several other statues and items around; one of my favourites is a small wooden cross my father carved for me. I particularly like to have battery-operated candles, which are great for nighttime meditation. 

A note about the seal: there are only a limited number made from the original seal after the Pope dies, and before the seal is broken. When I was with my family in Rome in 2006, we went to the Vatican Museums. My parents bought the last four seals they had left, enough for me and for my three siblings. When I left to enter the convent, they gave mine to me.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Spem in alium

[juchu]

Man, wish I had the space!  

You do not at all need a lot of space!

My cell is very small - i have a small bed and about the same size of free space next to the bed and then maybe 1.5 m2 when i enter the door where there is a little drawer and a small desk.

I have a prayer corner to sit down next to my bed and then i look into the directon of the desk where i have a colored cloth hanging from the desk and before that i have icons, a bible, candles ... and i put things according to what i am living, maybe a painting i made, etc.

But of course i have the advantage that i do not own too many things

Just to say that even with a maybe 4-5 m2 room you can make your own prayer corner. We have our chapel, of course, etc. but for example the "looking back on the day" i do often in my cell and sometimes i also do my lectio in my prayer corner and not on my desk.

[beatitude]

Beatitude, your crucifix looks like it came from the Sisters of Bethlehem.  Did you get it from Livingston Manor?  I love their icons/ artwork but don't know how to shop them from KS, do you know if they have an online store or catalog?  I don't have a trip to NY or France in my budget right now!

It is from the Sisters of Bethlehem. I bought it from their monastery in the Holy Land after years of never daring to. (I loved it, but I thought I would break it within minutes - beatitude-proofing the environment isn't easy and it generally means having nothing ceramic.) But it's been safe so far.

I spent yesterday unpacking and setting up my new place! I have a floor-to-ceiling bookcase and I have used the two lowest shelves for the prayer corner - the bottom one for devotional books and the second one for my crucifix, my icon of Jesus and Bl. Charles, and an olivewood statue of Mary that I brought with me from Bethlehem. It's the perfect height when I'm kneeling on my prayer stool. In an effort to live more simply, I am not shopping for non-essential things for a year, or I would get a little lamp to illuminate the area during prayer, one with a colourful shade. (I would use candles, but those are definitely not beatitude-proof.)

The shelf is not wide enough to accommodate an other icon. So I put my Visitation icon on my desk and I have it to look at while I work. On the wall above my bed I have an image of Mary and Christ that was created by one of the brothers of Taize: not an icon as such,an abstract painting with just a hint of a face. It is called 'Our Lady, comfort of those whose lives are precarious'. I like having a holy image wherever I look, but not so many that I feel cluttered.

[marigold]

 I have used the two lowest shelves for the prayer corner

I have to laugh - I did a double take when I read that! We're always looking for surfaces at just the right standing height to put candles and books on! Likewise the comments about chairs strike an odd note - sometimes I actually forget we're all from various religious traditions.

 

Edited August 26, 2015 by marigold

[Swami Mommy]

Benedictus, my meditation teacher is Swami Chidvilasananda.  See:  www.syda.org.

 

This is a photo of my meditation teacher.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Swami Mommy

[AccountDeleted]

Here's a picture of my teacher.  

Edited August 26, 2015 by nunsense

[Swami Mommy]

Great picture, Nunsense!  I only posted a photograph because Benedictus specifically asked who my meditation teacher was.  No disrespect for Christ nor any attempt to proselytize was intended.  As a participant in a Catholic forum, I honor all forms of faith and devotion to God.  I was born and raised Catholic myself.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Swami Mommy

[:o)Katherine:o)]

I have always been curious to see what people use for home alters and prayer rooms! Thank you to everyone for sharing your pictures and descriptions. I used to have a prayer corner in my room with a chair, crucifixes, some prayer books, a rosary and candles. I recently purged my belongings and my entire room has now become a prayer room. I have icons, statues and candles on my bookshelves if I want to sit on the floor or kneel. I also have a counter under my window in my room and shelves that hang around the windowsill. I have icons and statues with candles on the shelves and large icons and statues on the counter. I have a large crucifix on my counter as well. I positioned my bed next to the window/counter so that I can sit, kneel, or lay on the bed for prayer and meditation. It has been a beautiful transition and has added more of a sense of focus in my prayer life.

[Egeria]

This is mine. I actually could have made a separate prayer room, but have realized that (at least at this stage) I actually like to have my prayer space in the space where I live and work most of the time. In between prayer times, the analogion (the stand the books are on) is usually folded up against the wall. 

I used to have a bookshelf under the icons with the oil lamp, other icons, books, incense, etc. on it, but the arrival of adolescent cats put an end to that and I made a hanging lamp, with the books, and icons for particular feasts etc., getting a place on a bookshelf on the other wall.

I recognize what Marigold says about standing height, as Orthodox Christians usually stand for prayer. However, when praying silently and/or praying the Jesus prayer I usually kneel and/or sit back on my haunches and/or on a prayer stool. That works well in this space as I can be further away and still be orientated towards the icons. 

[Gabriela]

This is mine. I actually could have made a separate prayer room, but have realized that (at least at this stage) I actually like to have my prayer space in the space where I live and work most of the time. In between prayer times, the analogion (the stand the books are on) is usually folded up against the wall. 

I used to have a bookshelf under the icons with the oil lamp, other icons, books, incense, etc. on it, but the arrival of adolescent cats put an end to that and I made a hanging lamp, with the books, and icons for particular feasts etc., getting a place on a bookshelf on the other wall.

I recognize what Marigold says about standing height, as Orthodox Christians usually stand for prayer. However, when praying silently and/or praying the Jesus prayer I usually kneel and/or sit back on my haunches and/or on a prayer stool. That works well in this space as I can be further away and still be orientated towards the icons. 

Wow. Nice!

[Egeria]

In an effort to live more simply, I am not shopping for non-essential things for a year, or I would get a little lamp to illuminate the area during prayer, one with a colourful shade.

Seeing this reminded me of something I once wrote on how to make an oil lamp, or more precisely the little metal thing that holds the wick of an oil lamp. I had always been frustrated at not being able to find them around here, and then worked out how to make one very simply myself. It may not be the best thing do yourself, Beatitude, as one has to be careful not to cut one's fingers, but I post in case anyone is interested... to show that one can make an oil lamp with next to nothing. 

"Simply take a normal tea lamp and burn it until it's up. With an ordinary scissors cut the side of the tea lamp (which I think is made from aluminium) off so that you have a strip of pliable metal. Watch out that you don't cut your fingers on it. Fold it double so that you have a strip of metal just over half a centimeter wide. Make a hole in the centre of the strip with a nail or something. Take the little round metal thing that had held the wick of tea lamp. Open it up a bit more with aforementioned nail, pushing it into the hole made in the metal strip. Take a thinnish piece of cotton wool, roll it into something approaching a cord and pull it through the holes in the metal. Shape the metal strip so that it hangs over a glass. Fill the glass with oil. Light the lamp and pray..."

You can't see it that clearly, but here is an example of one that I made...

[TheresaThoma]

That is amesome with the oil lamp. I would love to try that.

I also have Icons and images around my apartment. In my living room I have framed copies of the Lords prayer and the Creed. They are nicely done in a kind of manuscript style. I was given each of them when I was going through RCIA during the scrutinites. Between them is a photo that my friend took (and developed herself) it is of a bible a rosary and a lit candle. She framed it and gave it to me at my baptism.

In my bedroom I have a crucifix which is like the one on JPII's crosier. It is one of my most treasured possessions. My friend got it from her uncle who is a priest who bought it in the Holy Land. She had it for a while and when I moved back home she gave it to me. After my dad passed away for the first week or so I would cry myself to sleep holding that crucifix and a rosary. It was a great source of comfort. Wherever I go it doesn't feel like home until I have put that crucifix up.I also have a small icon from Sacre Coeur in France. It was painted (written) by the nuns who live at the Bascilca of the Sacred heart in Paris. The icon is of St John resting his head on Jesus' breast at the last supper. I bought it at the Basilica on the feast of the Sacred Heart so it has extra deep meaning for me. I like having religious items around the house as it helps me focus on Christ throughout my normal day.

[Benedictus]

Benedictus, my meditation teacher is Swami Chidvilasananda.  See:  www.syda.org.

Thanks. Lovely picture too