Prayer Routines

[<3 PopeFrancis]

Daily Mass followed by an hour of selected prayers including the Rosary Divine Mercy, different prayers  and of course Holy Hour as often as possible.

[Guest]

As I see things: Prayer I think is something unique and personal.  There is a quote from Dom John Chapman OSB "Pray as you can not as you can't" and something to follow providing one seriously desires to pray and has a an ongoing prayer relationship with God.  Hence there are probably going to be as many different routines as there are people serious about their spiritual life and relationship with God.  I don't think one routine is any better than another.  Nor is it about time spent, but the loving heart I bring to prayer when I pray and however I might be praying.

Nor do I think that prayer is always stopping and spending time in prayer - while this for sure is necessary in a day for those serious about prayer.  I can also pray as I go about my day sometimes in short aspirations either known aspirations, or a simple word or two of love to The Lord now and then.  St Therese said “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”   ........and that can be a prayer for me or anyone too.

There might be times when I am happily cruising along with an established stop and pray type of routine - and then for some reason or other I need to vary it, change it.

The big help to my mind is ongoing spiritual direction.........this will ensure that I am not varying or changing due to laziness or due to some other spiritual problem, or something else entirely that I need to address.  Spiritual direction can also help discern the way I really can pray as I can rather than the head up against ye olde brick wall when I try to pray as I can't.

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Of course, those in Third Orders etc. might by virtue of their rule of life have fixed daily prayers of a formal type nature.  I have a rule of life approved by my SD and there is a daily formal routine of prayer - however, the rule embraces that this can be varied if necessary.  St Albert in his ancient rule for Carmel wrote as the concluding paragraph of his rule:

Quote

"[24] Here then are a few points I have written down to provide you with a standard of conduct to live up to; but our Lord, at his second coming, will reward anyone who does more than he is obliged to do. See that the bounds of common sense are not exceeded, however, for common sense is the guide of the virtues."

 

[StMichael]

For the last 6 months, I have been doing a constant rotation of novena's.