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"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of things from God."St John Damascene
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In the Gospels we often read that Jesus went to a quiet place to pray. Prayer was essential to the life of Jesus and it is essential to the life of the Christian.
Prayer may be public or private. It can be spoken or sung, or receited quietly. Payer can use forumlas composed by others or it can spontaneous. Prayer somethimes doesn't use words at all. Prayer is a communiction with God that builds up our relationship with him.
Catholics use a wide variety of different prayers and methods of praying. Some of the Chruch's traditional prayers are printed below.
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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women; and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Hail, Holy Queen
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you we cry, the children of Eve; to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this land of exile. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us; lead us home at last and show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus: O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
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Glory to the Father
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Grace before Meals
Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts which we are about to receive from your goodness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Act of Contrition
O my God, I am very sorry for my sins because they have offended you who are so good; and with the help of your grace I will try not to sin again. Amen.
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The above prayers are a very small smaple of the treasury of prayers Catholics use.
Prayer can be as simple as talking to God several times throughout the day, as you would with a friend, and sharing with him your thoughts and plans and feelings.
Another beautiful way of praying is by reading the Gospels prayerfully and meditatively, savouring each word and asking the Holy Spirit to show you the meaning of the passage for your life.
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