This past week I taught one course on the different Schools of Spirituality in the Catholic Church to those preparing to become permanent deacons. In that course we learned about Dominican, Benedictine, Jesuit, Carmelite, Salesian and other schools of spirituality. While I do not have the room to put the entire course in the bulletin I thought that I would share at least a portion of that course on prayer.
In spirituality “prayer” may have a multiplicity of meanings. For instance, it may refer to an activity or to a state of mind. There are styles of prayer and forms of prayer. The Season of Lent is an appropriate time to learn about the different forms of prayers, since prayer is an integral part of the Lenten fast.
There are at least four different forms of prayer: (1) Blessing and Adoration; (2) Prayer of Petition (asking for what we need, including forgiveness); (3) Prayer of Intercession (asking for what others need); and (4) Prayer of Thanksgiving (for what God has given and done).
Prayers of blessing and adoration express praise and honor to God. Some good examples include the Te Deum, the Glory be, or the Gloria. This form emphasizes God’s power and the wonder of His creation. Prayers of petition are perhaps most familiar to all of us. We ask God for what we need, including forgiveness, mercy, strength, and so on. This type of prayer helps us change our minds so that we ask God for what He knows is truly good for us. God knows what we need even before we ask Him of course, but he wants us to ask and so grow in our trust and love of Him. His providence has already anticipated our prayers from the beginning of creation itself to provide for our daily bread. Some examples include the Memorare, and Kyrie at Mass.
Prayers of intercession help fulfill the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Here we ask God on behalf of others. This is particularly important for the souls in purgatory who need our intercessory prayer so that they will be purified and made ready for heaven. This type of prayer emphasizes that we are not isolated individuals in this life, but part of the living Body of Christ. The Hail Mary is an example. Finally we have prayers of thanksgiving. St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us that the spiritual life begins with gratitude. Thanksgiving instills in us that everything we have comes to us as a gift from God (our health, our families, our friends, and our existence). It is right and just to give him thanks. Grace before meals and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Prayer after Communion are good examples of this.
Just a quick note: The Our Father and the Mass are two of our most perfect prayers not only because they come directly from Christ, but because they encompass all of these forms of prayer.