A GREAT SYMPHONY OF PRAYER IN THE JUBILEE OF THE CHURCH - IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER… THE DOOR OF THE CHRISTIAN PRAYER

The art of prayer.

It is a fact. There is no Christian life where there is no prayer: without prayer one cannot have spiritual progress, nor does one put one's hand authentically to apostolic works which are effective edification of the Church. There are various types of Christian prayer: vocal prayer, mental prayer (meditation), adoration and contemplative prayer, also called prayer of the heart. Liturgical prayer itself benefits greatly from this prayerful fabric cultivated in the most varied forms, according to what the context of the moment and the inner dispositions of the person praying allow. In fact, there is no existential situation that cannot be fruitfully turned to prayer, and this is great news!

Regardless of the concrete forms it takes from time to time, Christian prayer is the actualization of our filial relationship with God, it is the frequenting of our Bridegroom and Master; it is spending time with the angels and saints; under the benevolent gaze of Mary. To pray is to be in the Divine Presence which already indwells us by grace; it is truly an anticipation of heavenly life, in the highest form that is permitted on this earth.

In this year's itinerary, we will focus in particular on vocal prayer, that is, prayer that is realised through the recitation of pre-prepared texts, and often attended to by generations of faithful who have gone before us.Vocal prayer retains absolute dignity and great fruitfulness. If practised properly, with due attention and personal appropriation of what is recited, vocal prayer in no way mortifies the personal relationship with God, but rather helps to keep it alive throughout the day, punctuating the course of the day (and night!) with many small ‘divine appointments’, which are the secret of union with God. To be truly effective, vocal prayer in fact presupposes a certain union with God that we can call diffuse prayer: it is a desire to be with Him, to live habitually in His presence, to manifest to Him naturally what is happening in us and around us.

It is therefore a grace that well-formulated prayers, long practised by believers, are made available to us, so as to help us say to God what we might be unable to verbalise or even imagine. Thus, little by little, one feels accommodated by a text that might initially have seemed almost foreign. By practising it, that text becomes ‘ours’, begins to speak to life and, at the same time, puts the right words in our mouths to talk to God about the most important business of all: our spiritual health.

The Christian's common prayers therefore offer an authentic school of prayer, secure because they are guaranteed by the Church, inexhaustible because they reach into the mystery of God.

They are truly the treasure of the little ones and the poor, because they transmit intact faith, which is the greatest good we have, and they re-propose in the form of prayer the great truths of Christianity. These are prayers that Christians have passed on from generation to generations, imprinting on them the sensitivity of each language and culture. Their voices resonate in ours, when we pray these texts, in a moving sense of continuity that is a reflection of the catholicity of the Church.

Reciting these prayers makes one feel at home. Perhaps because they were learnt as children, they give off a sense of home, of intimacy, that lends itself well to communal recitation within the family.

The fact of knowing them by heart, then, offers the advantage of being able to take these texts calmly, ‘ruminating’ them in personal meditation, so that they release their spiritual fragrance. They are the prayers of the little ones, hence of anyone who really wants to be a little one of Jesus, a poor one in spirit. They are the heritage of us Christians, the mark of unity and baptismal equality among all the faithful.

No scruples, though. It is not necessary to ‘exhaust’ these prayers every time we recite them, as if we had to pay attention to every detail in order to make a good prayer. The treasure remains ours, and even what we fail to grasp today, or are barely able to grasp, will still be available to us for the future. Sometimes all it takes is just a little insight to brighten up a day or unveil a truth that lay there, without our ever having paid attention to it.

In the name of the Father... Generally speaking, the quality of prayer depends largely on how one is disposed to it. The moments preceding the actual prayer, those of immediate preparation, are decisive in reclaiming the soul and anticipating possible difficulties or distractions. The sign of the cross is traditionally the gateway to prayer. It reminds us first of all that we are in the presence of God. This sense of God's presence and of his majesty is the great secret of prayer, which imparts to it the familiar tone of dialogue, without losing its high seriousness. The sign of the cross, drawn with devotion on one's body, reminds us first of all whom we are addressing ourselves to: He is the Creator of the cosmos, the providential Ruler of the universe, the Redeemer who sacrificed Himself on the cross.

This is why we reproduce the sign of the cross on our body, almost ‘entering into it’ physically. It is God's embrace over our lives, it is the pledge of the Lord's unwavering love, which cost Jesus his passion. It is the badge of us Christians, which in fact was given to us on the very day of our Baptism.

The sign of the cross rhythms the fundamental stages of our life; we can reproduce it on ourselves every day, at rising and at rest, before meals or setting out on a journey; or at any moment or at any place for inspiring ourselves and others; and we can also draw it on others as a sign of blessing, especially on our children.

It is a programme of life, our beloved sign of the cross. With it, we ideally touch the seat of our faculties: mind (head), will (heart), operative capacities (shoulders), so that our whole person becomes a space of encounter with the divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. It is easier to reach the heights of prayer if we follow the common path, the one indicated by simple, almost humble practices, capable, however, of preserving the precious treasure of faith. Such is the sign of the cross, the door to Christian prayer. Learning to make the sign of the cross means learning to pray; it resounds its richness. And learning to pray means being Christian, seriously.

Fr. Marco Panero, SDB