On Wednesday I joined colleagues from Catholic schools across our diocese of Arundel and Brighton in Crawley to talk about prayer and liturgy.
A commonly used definition of prayer is ‘the raising of one’s mind and heart to God.’ This definition was given to the Church by St John Damascene, and many other saints have provided their own contributions to help us understand what prayer means.
St Therese of Lisieux wrote: ‘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.’
Another saint, John Vianney, wrote: ‘Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.’
On the importance of prayer, St Francis de Sales wrote: ‘Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer each day except when we are busy—then we need an hour.’ I am particularly fond of this quote!
When they asked him how they should pray, Jesus taught his apostles the Lord’s Prayer. But like any good teacher, Jesus taught not only by his words but by his actions and example. The Gospels tell us in many places that Jesus took himself away to a quiet place to pray. Whenever he was busy, whenever he was faced with decisions or critical points in his ministry, the Gospels tell us that Jesus prayed.
Prayer can take many many different forms. Whatever the form, the intention is the same: to raise mind and heart to God, and to seek to enter more deeply into his love. Even if half an hour or an hour every day seems a step too far, half a minute or a minute a day will still bring blessings; for blessings flow from prayer.
