Short Prayers for Everyday Spirituality
When I entered the convent, a custom prompted us to think of God all day long. Every hour a bell rang over the PA, and we prayed a lengthy ” hour prayer.” This is no longer done, and it has never been done in regular homes as far as I know. Yet, we are still to fulfill St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray always.” How can we do this amidst packing lunches, chauffeuring, cooking, working, and the sundry other things that pack our days and absorb our minds? One trick is to sprinkle short one-line prayers throughout the day. These “arrow prayers” are said to pierce the heavens.
Not only do short prayers serve to keep us mindful of God, they can be powerful. In the Gospels, Jesus brought about miracles with very few words: “Peace, be still” and storms were calmed; “Stand up, take up your mat, and walk” and paralytics were cured; and “Lazarus, come forth” and a dead man walked out of his tomb.
I must admit my most frequent short prayer is “Help.” Others are the short prayers we probably learned in Catholic school, such as “My God, I love you”;”Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me”; “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours”; and “Jesus, Mary, Joseph.”
We can pray these prayers whenever we think of it or when there is a lull in our activities. Some people use a crutch and associate something with the prayer. For example, after I learned that Thomas Merton was electrocuted by a fan, I began to pray “Jesus, Mary, Joseph” whenever I plugged a cord into an outlet! One woman prays an aspiration whenever she touches a doorknob—not because it’s dangerous, but because it is her chosen cue to say a prayer. Other situations that might call for a short prayer are getting into a car (Angel of God), taking a test or going for an interview (Holy Spirit, inspire me), hearing a siren (God, protect them), or passing a cemetery (Eternal rest . . .).
Nowadays the most popular short prayer is the Jesus Prayer, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The Catechism states that just the name “Jesus” is a prayer. It’s a beautiful and effective one. By the way, when we hear this name used profanely, we might immediately offer the short prayer, “Praised be the name of Jesus.”
Most of us have the practice of calling on St. Anthony of Padua when we’ve lost something. But we can also speak to other saints during the day, in particular, our patron saint, for example, “St. Catherine, pray for me.”
A lovely prayer is to say “God bless you” and not only when someone sneezes.
What short prayers are part of your life or your family’s life? When do you pray them?
Speaking Up for Jesus’ Sake
The oft-quoted advice of St. Francis is “Preach and if necessary use words.” Sometimes words are very necessary, but we are reluctant to use them. The first time I was invited to speak to catechists at a national convention, I didn’t think I could do it. As an extreme introvert, I needed time to ponder this. Besides, according to a newspaper article, public speaking is the number one human fear. A friend counseled, “If you can teach, you can talk.” I said yes to the invitation. I managed to speak without fainting on the stage, and I continue to speak to audiences. Admittedly, for the first few times before a talk, I was awake all night, filled with dread. I still have nightmares that I’m facing an audience and my prepared talk is missing! Once when Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere was addressing a large audience, his microphone fell to the floor. He remained as cool as a cucumber. Afterwards I commented to him on how comfortable he appeared speaking compared to my stage fright. He said, “Look at it this way. Those people are ready to love you.” This helped. Now speaking has become one of my main ministries, and I actually enjoy it. (more…)
Angels, Guardian Angels, Seraphim, Cherubim and Other Holy Spirits
This week my new book, The Catholic Companion to Angels, will be out. In honor of the occasion, for my blog I am posting the introduction to the book:
A Catholic women’s group once invited me to give a talk on angels. My first reaction was, Why angels when there are far weightier topics the Church should be concerned about today? The women’s request reflected our culture’s fascination with those mysterious creatures, a fascination that some would say borders on angelmania.
We are surrounded by angels in more ways than one. Their representations, ranging from muscular warriors to plump, rosy cherubs, are found just about everywhere. Statues of angels stand in mute adoration in churches, watch over our loved ones’ graves in cemeteries, and entice us in gift shops. (more…)
Praying to God like a Friend
Usually when I’m on retreat as I walk around our province center property, I encounter beautiful works of creation like a blue heron or a deer resting in a field. This past week on the day of our retreat when we were to go outside and enjoy “God’s Playground,” I expected similar treats and hoped to capture them with my camera. As I walked all the way up the hill what did I see? Nothing! Then as I made my way to our cemetery, there on the path was a big, ugly toad basking in the sun. I said to the Lord, who clearly has a sense of humor, “Aw, c’mon! A toad?” Now I felt comfortable speaking this way to God in light of what Pope Francis recently said about praying like Moses: “Say what’s what: ‘Look, Lord, I have this problem in my family, with my child, with this, with that . . . What can you do? Now see here, you can’t leave me like this!’ . . . . And also scold the Lord a little: ‘Hey, you promised me this, and you haven’t done it’ . . . Like that, like you talk with a friend.”
Song as Prayer
At our July 4th Mass, we sang every verse of every song, something Catholics rarely do. It got me thinking about the major role song plays in our lives. I believe we are the only earthly creatures that can 
sing, not counting birds who each have their own sound (except for the mockingbird). Whale sounds too might be considered song, but not like ours. Song is woven throughout our entire lives. Chances are that during our first years on earth our mothers sang us to sleep with lullabies. Then we learned children’s songs like “Are You Sleeping, Brother John?” and camp songs like “Found a Peanut.” In school we added to our repertoire in music class. Famous singers are among the most popular and richest people on earth. Some are called American idols! One of the most beautiful things I ever heard was at an opera when at one point a soprano’s voice seemed to shiver in the air. It was indescribable. (more…)
