492 THE HEART THAT PRAYS

YOUCAT Lesson 492

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

492  Does my personal prayer have something to do with the prayer of the Church?

In the Church’s public worship, in her Liturgy of the Hours and in Holy Mass, common prayers are recited that come from Sacred Scripture or from the Tradition of the Church.  They unite the individual with the praying community of the Church.  [2655-2658, 2662]

Saint   John Vianney, Priest, is the patron saint of parish priests. He is often referred to as the “Cure of Ars”.  He is internationally known for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish in Ars, France because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings. Catholics attribute this to his saintly life, mortification, his persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and his ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His feast day is August 4. ..... 492

Christian prayer is not a private matter, but it is very personal.  Personal prayer becomes purified, expands, and is strengthened when it regularly flows into the prayer of the whole Church.  It is a great and beautiful sign when believers throughout the earth are united at the same time in the same prayers and thereby sing one hymn of praise to God.  188

“Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous ordinances.”  Psalm 119:164

“You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised…And man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you…You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

“Prayer is nothing other than attention in its purest form.”  Simone Weil (1909-1943, French political activist, philosopher, and mystic)

[2655-2658, 2662]

The Liturgy of the Church

2655 In the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and communicates the mystery of salvation, which is continued in the heart that prays. The spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar. Prayer internalizes and assimilates the liturgy during and after its celebration. Even when it is lived out "in secret,"( Compare Matthew 6:6.)⁶ prayer is always prayer of the Church; it is a communion with the Holy Trinity.( General Introduction Liturgy of the Hours 9.)⁷ --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

* The theological virtues

 2656 One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of faith. Through the signs of his presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we seek and desire; it is his Word that we want to hear and keep. --CCC

2657 The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us-to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us. The psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry."( Psalm 40:2.)⁸ As St. Paul prayed: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."( Romans 15:13.)⁹ –CCC

2658 "Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."( Romans 5:5.)¹⁰ Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer; whoever draws from it reaches the summit of prayer. In the words of the Cure of Ars:  --CCC

I love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. . . . My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.( St. John Vianney, Prayer.)¹¹ --CCC