Volume 2 - No. 1 - March, 1956 - PRAYER - A Catholic Quarterly

Sep 29, 2026

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A Catholic quarterly issue focused on prayer as a creature’s response to God, exploring how worship and worship-derived adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and petition arise from recognizing God’s worth. It presents prayer as both naturally liturgical and naturally contemplative, strengthened through ritual, symbol, sacrament, and sacrifice, and also through silent personal communion. The editorial argues for a balanced life of prayer that integrates public worship and private devotion, emphasizing mental prayer before and after Mass and protecting each person’s right to direct access to God.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages72

Reading Time3 h 1 min

AccessFree to download

Public and Private Prayer

God Speaks

Editorial

A Balanced Life of Prayer

Spiritual Life

Volume 2,No.1 March,1956 PRAYER Conrad Pepler,O.P. L.L.Keyes,R.S.C.J. Gabriel of St.Mary Magdalen,O.C.D. Peter-Thomas of the Sorrowful Mother,O.C.D. plus: GIFT FROM LOVE Wm.A.McNamara ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Fr.Christopher of the Blessed Sacrament,O.C.D. Fr.Matthew of St.Teresa,O.C.D. Fr.Edward of the Sacred Heart,O.C.D. Fr.Richard of the Immaculate Conception,O.C.D. SPIRITUAL LIFE A Catholic Quarterly PUBLISHED BY THE DISCALCED CARMELITE FATHERSFATHER WILLIAM OF THE INFANT JESUs,O.C.D.,Editor | Vоіиме 2 | Мавсн, 1956 | No.1 | | --- | --- | --- | Contents . 2 Editorial . . 5 The Revival in Liturgical PrayerConrad Pepler,O.P. . The Prayer of Recollection .. 16Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen,O.C.D. Prayer and Art .25 L.L.Keyes,R.S.C.J. 33 Devout Participation in Holy WeekFather Shawn G.Sheehan The Monk in Quadragesima . .. 35Sister Miriam of the Holy Spirit,D.C. The Art of Prayer . . .. 36 Father Peter-Thomas of the Sorrowful Mother,O.C.D. 42 Gift From Love William A.McNamara BOOK REVIEWS Portrait of Saint Luke,A.H.N.Green-Armitage·48Juliana of Norwich,P.Franklin Chambers.49My Friends the Senses,Charles-Damian Boulogne,O.P.··52A Soul of Silence,M.M.Am.du Coeur de Jesus,O.C.D.·.54Two Portraits of St Therese of Lisieux,Etienne Robo55Parish Priest,Eugene Masure .60 ·· · ·· * Editorial PRAYER in all its grades and kinds is a response of the creatureto the Creator.The response is a deep-seated,fundamental instinctin man that begins to grow as soon as a man recognizes,howeverdimly,God's worth.Literally,that is what worship means:worthand worship have the same derivation.It is the recognition of Godthat evokes the response of adoration,praise,thanksgiving,andpetition,as well as a relentless quest for ever greater knowledgeand love,raised to the highest pitch of awareness. # Public and Private Prayer This kind of response is cultivated,sustained,and enriched-on the one hand-by Ritual,Symbol,Sacrament,and Sacrifice;on the other-by silent,solitary,and highly personal communionwith God.These two aspects of prayer are not expressed separately,as opposed to one another,but together,hand in hand.Man isnaturally liturgical.That is what G.K.Chesterton meant whenhe said:"If a man cannot kneel he is in irons;if he cannot prayhe is gagged."But man is also naturally contemplative."I want tosee God”is not the importunate cry of St.Teresa alone;it isevery man's ardent,impelling longing born of the“inveteratemysticism of the human heart." # God Speaks It is good to regard prayer as a response.It helps to keep inmind the priority of God’s approach:that "He has first loved us,"that He is the One who said,“I stand at the door knocking.” God has uttered His word.He has revealed Himself.The worldis crammed with God.We are fenced in by His presence.Every-thing is a sign,a sample,or a symbol of him.It is impossible toescape His hounding enticements. # EDITORIAL 3 Our response to God's besetting charity is our prayer.A perfecthuman response will necessarily involve prayer that is both litur-gical and contemplative.They are not the same thing,but theyare essential aspects of the same Godward movement of the soul.Both the one and the other are a response to the same Reality.Our response to the divine overture is not whole,adequate,balancedunless it grows and develops in the liturgy and culminates incontemplation. # A Balanced Life of Prayer Any sharp contrast drawn between public worship and privatedevotion is a false dichotomy.The Church has no two-track systemof prayer—one for liturgists and one for mystics.St.Benedicttold his monks to "prefer nothing to the Opus Dei."He meant thatno other monastic activity,however sacred or pressing,shouldbecome more important than the liturgy,which is,in the wordsof Pius X,"the primary and indispensable source of the trueChristian spirit."We are also told by our present Holy Fatherthat "the most pressi

FAQs

How does the issue define prayer in relation to God?

Prayer is presented as a response of the creature to the Creator, growing from recognizing God’s worth and evoking adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and petition.

What does the editorial say about the relationship between public worship and private devotion?

It rejects a false split between public worship and private devotion, teaching that the Church has one prayer life that integrates liturgical and contemplative dimensions.

Why is mental prayer emphasized in preparation for and after Mass?

Mental prayer is described as the best means of preparation before Mass and thanksgiving after Mass and Communion, enabling mastery over oneself, detachment from creatures, and faithful fulfillment of duties.

Sep 29, 2026

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