CHAPTER THREE - THE LIFE OF PRAYER
2697 Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we
tend to forget him who is our life and our all. This is why the Fathers of the spiritual life
in the Deuteronomic and prophetic traditions insist that prayer is a remembrance of
God often awakened by the memory of the heart "We must remember God more often
than we draw breath."[1] But we cannot pray "at all times" if we do not pray at specific
times, consciously willing it These are the special times of Christian prayer, both in
intensity and duration. 2698 The Tradition of the Church proposes to the faithful certain
rhythms of praying intended to nourish continual prayer. Some are daily, such as
morning and evening prayer, grace before and after meals, the Liturgy of the Hours.
Sundays, centered on the Eucharist, are kept holy primarily by prayer. The cycle of the
liturgical year and its great feasts are also basic rhythms of the Christian's life of prayer.
2699 The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer
responds according to his heart's resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer.
However, Christian Tradition has retained three major expressions of prayer: vocal
meditative, and contemplative. They have one basic trait in common: composure of
heart. This vigilance in keeping the Word and dwelling in the presence of God makes
these three expressions intense times in the life of prayer.
ARTICLE 1 - EXPRESSIONS OF PRAYER
I. VOCAL PRAYER
2700 Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer
takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to him to whom we
are speaking in prayer: "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number
of words, but on the fervor of our souls."[2]
2701 Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his disciples, drawn by
their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the Our Father. He not only
prayed aloud the liturgical prayers of the synagogue but, as the Gospels show, he raised
his voice to express his personal prayer, from exultant blessing of the Father to the
agony of Gesthemani.[3]
2702 The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of
our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience the need to translate our
feelings externally. We must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our
supplication.
2703 This need also corresponds to a divine requirement. God seeks worshippers in
Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that rises from the depths of the soul.
He also wants the external expression that associates the body with interior prayer, for it
renders him that perfect homage which is his due.
2704 Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer
most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer, however, cannot neglect vocal
prayer. Prayer is internalized to the extent that we become aware of him "to whom we
speak;"[4] Thus vocal prayer becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer.
II. MEDITATION
2705 Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of
the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The
required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and
Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy
icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of
spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the "today"
of God is written.
2706 To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with
ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to
reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the
movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting
truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"
2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters.
Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they
come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower.[5] But a
method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the
one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.
2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization
of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the
conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries
above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This
form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to
the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.
III. CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
2709 What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion
mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means
taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us."[6]
Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves."[7] It is Jesus, and in him, the
Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek
him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner
prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.
2710 The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will,
revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only
when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to
give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always
meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of
health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in
poverty ant in faith.
2711 Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we
"gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit,
abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter
into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back
to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be
purified and transformed.
2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who
agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by
loving even more.[8] But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the
Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor
and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his
beloved Son.
2713 Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a
gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty. Contemplative prayer is a
covenant relationship established by God within our hearts.[9] Contemplative prayer is a
communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, "to his
likeness."
2714 Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the
Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell
in [our] hearts through faith" and we may be "grounded in love."[10]
2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me":
this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy curé used to say while praying
before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our
heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us
to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation
also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior
knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him.[11]
2716 Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such
attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and
the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the "Yes" of the Son become servant
and the Fiat of God's lowly handmaid.
2717 Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come"[12] or "silent
love."[13] Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds
the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us
his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption
enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.
2718 Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us
participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the
Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our
charity will manifest it in our acts.
2719 Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the
extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith. The Paschal night of the
Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb - the three intense
moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak")
brings to life in prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with [him] one hour."[14]
IN BRIEF
2720 The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the
Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feasts of the liturgical year.
2721 The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer:
vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the
recollection of the heart.
2722 Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates
the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to
his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.
2723 Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire.
Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the
reality of our own life.
2724 Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze
of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves
real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.
ARTICLE 2 - THE BATTLE OF PRAYER
2725 Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always
presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as
well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle.
Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he
can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live,
because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of
Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The "spiritual battle" of the
Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.
I. OBJECTIONS TO PRAYER
2726 In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions
of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort
of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and
postures. Many Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is
incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they "don't have the time." Those
who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer
comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone.
2727 We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of
"this present world" can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant. For example, some
would have it that only that is true which can be verified by reason and science; yet
prayer is a mystery that overflows both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others
overly prize production and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still
others exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and the beautiful;
whereas prayer, the "love of beauty" (philokalia), is caught up in the glory of the living
and true God. Finally, some see prayer as a flight from the world in reaction against
activism; but in fact, Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from
life.
2728 Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer:
discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have "great
possessions,"[15] we have not given all to the Lord; disappointment over not being
heard according to our own will; wounded pride, stiffened by the indignity that is ours as
sinners; our resistance to the idea that prayer is a free and unmerited gift; and so forth.
The conclusion is always the same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome these
obstacles, we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.
II. HUMBLE VIGILANCE OF HEART
Facing difficulties in prayer
2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words and their
meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom we are praying,
in vocal prayer (liturgical or personal), meditation, and contemplative prayer. To set
about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is
necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached
to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for
him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle,
the choice of which master to serve.[16]
2730 In positive terms, the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires
vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on vigilance, he always relates it to
himself, to his coming on the last day and every day: today. The bridegroom comes in
the middle of the night; the light that must not be extinguished is that of faith: "'Come,'
my heart says, 'seek his face!'"[17]
2731 Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness.
Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God, with no
taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones. This is the moment of
sheer faith clinging faithfully to Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. "Unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if dies, it bears much fruit."[18]
If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle
requires conversion.[19]
Facing temptations in prayer
2732 The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith. It expresses
itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual preferences. When we begin to pray,
a thousand labors or cares thought to be urgent vie for priority; once again, it is the
moment of truth for the heart: what is its real love? Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a
last resort, but do we really believe he is? Sometimes we enlist the Lord as an ally, but
our heart remains presumptuous. In each case, our lack of faith reveals that we do not
yet share in the disposition of a humble heart:
"Apart from me, you can do nothing."[20]
2733 Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia. The spiritual
writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical practice, decreasing
vigilance, carelessness of heart. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."[21]
The greater the height, the harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is, it is the reverse
of presumption. The humble are not surprised by their distress; it leads them to trust
more, to hold fast in constancy.
III. FILIAL TRUST
2734 Filial trust is tested - it proves itself - in tribulation.[22] The principal difficulty
concerns the prayer of petition, for oneself or for others in intercession. Some even stop
praying because they think their petition is not heard. Here two questions should be
asked: Why do we think our petition has not been heard? How is our prayer heard, how
is it "efficacious"?
Why do we complain of not being heard?
2735 In the first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God or
give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly concerned whether or
not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other hand, we demand to see the results of
our petitions. What is the image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be
used? or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
2736 Are we convinced that "we do not know how to pray as we ought"?[23] Are we
asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before we ask
him,[24] but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their
freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what
he wants.[25]
2737 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your
passions."[26] If we ask with a divided heart, we are "adulterers";[27] God cannot
answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life. "Or do you suppose that it is in vain
that the scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in
us?'"[28] That our God is "jealous" for us is the sign of how true his love is. If we enter
into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.
Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him; for
he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer.[29]
God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive
what he is prepared to give.[30]
How is our prayer efficacious?
2738 The revelation of prayer in the economy of salvation teaches us that faith rests on
God's action in history. Our filial trust is enkindled by his supreme act: the Passion and
Resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer is cooperation with his providence, his plan of
love for men.
2739 For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit in us and on the
faithful love of the Father who has given us his only Son.[31] Transformation of the
praying heart is the first response to our petition.
2740 The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition. He is its model,
he prays in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son seeks only what pleases the Father,
how could the prayer of the children of adoption be centered on the gifts rather than the
Giver?
2741 Jesus also prays for us - in our place and on our behalf. All our petitions were
gathered up, once for all, in his cry on the Cross and, in his Resurrection, heard by the
Father. This is why he never ceases to intercede for us with the Father.[32] If our prayer
is resolutely united with that of Jesus, in trust and boldness as children, we obtain all that
we ask in his name, even more than any particular thing: the Holy Spirit himself, who
contains all gifts.
IV. PERSERVERING IN LOVE
2742 "Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father."[33] St. Paul adds, "Pray at all times in the Spirit,
with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance making
supplication for all the saints."[34] For "we have not been commanded to work, to keep
watch and to fast constantly, but it has been laid down that we are to pray without
ceasing."[35] This tireless fervor can come only from love. Against our dullness and
laziness, the battle of prayer is that of humble, trusting, and persevering love. This love
opens our hearts to three enlightening and life-giving facts of faith about prayer.
2743 It is always possible to pray: The time of the Christian is that of the risen Christ
who is with us always, no matter what tempests may arise.[36] Our time is in the hands
of God:
It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone, or
seated in your shop, . . . while buying or selling, . . . or even while cooking.[37]
2744 Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do
not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin.[38] How can the Holy
Spirit be our life if our heart is far from him?
Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what
is difficult, easy.... For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man
who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin.[39]
Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly
damned[40]
2745 Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same love and the
same renunciation, proceeding from love; the same filial and loving conformity with the
Father's plan of love; the same transforming union in the Holy Spirit who conforms us
more and more to Christ Jesus; the same love for all men, the love with which Jesus has
loved us. "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he [will] give it to you. This I
command you, to love one another."[41]
He "prays without ceasing" who unites prayer to works and good works
to prayer. Only in this way can we consider as realizable the principle of
praying without ceasing.[42]
ARTICLE 3 - THE PRAYER OF THE HOUR OF
JESUS
2746 When "his hour" came, Jesus prayed to the Father.[43] His prayer, the longest
transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole economy of creation and salvation, as
well as his death and Resurrection. The prayer of the Hour of Jesus always remains his
own, just as his Passover "once for all" remains ever present in the liturgy of his Church.
2747 Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer the "priestly" prayer of Jesus. It is the
prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his sacrifice, from his passing over (Passover)
to the Father to whom he is wholly "consecrated."[44]
2748 In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated in Christ:[45] God
and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and time; the love that hands itself
over and the sin that betrays it; the disciples present and those who will believe in him by
their word; humiliation and glory. It is the prayer of unity.
2749 Jesus fulfilled the work of the Father completely; his prayer, like his sacrifice,
extends until the end of time. The prayer of this hour fills the end-times and carries
them toward their consummation. Jesus, the Son to whom the Father has given all
things, has given himself wholly back to the Father, yet expresses himself with a
sovereign freedom[46] by virtue of the power the Father has given him over all flesh.
The Son, who made himself Servant, is Lord, the Pantocrator. Our high priest who
prays for us is also the one who prays in us and the God who hears our prayer.
2750 By entering into the holy name of the Lord Jesus we can accept, from within, the
prayer he teaches us: "Our Father!" His priestly prayer fulfills, from within, the great
petitions of the Lord's Prayer: concern for the Father's name;[47] passionate zeal for his
kingdom (glory);[48] the accomplishment of the will of the Father, of his plan of
salvation;[49] and deliverance from evil.[50]
2751 Finally, in this prayer Jesus reveals and gives to us the "knowledge," inseparably
one, of the Father and of the Son,[51] which is the very mystery of the life of prayer.
IN BRIEF
2752 Prayer presupposes an effort, a fight against ourselves and the wiles of the
Tempter. The battle of prayer is inseparable from the necessary "spiritual battle" to act
habitually according to the Spirit of Christ: we pray as we live, because we live as we
pray.
2753 In the battle of prayer we must confront erroneous conceptions of prayer, various
currents of thought, and our own experience of failure. We must respond with humility,
trust, and perseverance to these temptations which cast doubt on the usefulness or even
the possibility of prayer.
2754 The principal difficulties in the practice of prayer are distraction and dryness. The
remedy lies in faith, conversion, and vigilance of heart.
2755 Two frequent temptations threaten prayer: lack of faith and acedia - a form of
depression stemming from lax ascetical practice that leads to discouragement.
2756 Filial trust is put to the test when we feel that our prayer is not always heard. The
Gospel invites us to ask ourselves about the conformity of our prayer to the desire of
the Spirit.
2757 "Pray constantly" (1 Thess 5:17). It is always possible to pray. It is even a vital
necessity. Prayer and Christian life are inseparable.
2758 The prayer of the hour of Jesus, rightly called the "priestly prayer" (cf. Jn 17), sums
up the whole economy of creation and salvation. It fulfills the great petitions of the Our
Father.
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