Prayer or the act of lifting one's mind to God is an essential part of our lives. Offered through the virtue of religion, our Catholic Church Fathers spoke of prayer as talking to God and asking the proper things of Him. Explaining to God want we want for ourselves or others through our prayers allow us to focus intently on our relationship with God. Prayer can assist us in allowing our minds to concentrate on the proper things to ask of God when often times we just cannot express ourselves or when life's distractions disrupt our Catholic prayer life.
One should be aware that the prayer of the Catholic Church is far more than the memorized vocal prayers, devotional prayers (such as the Rosary) or the prayers we say together at Mass. For over a thousand years, the Church has developed rich prayer forms such as contemplative prayer (Christian meditation), liturgy of the hours, prayer using scripture, and prayer using nature, to name a few. For centuries, only priests, monks and cloistered nuns participated in many of these prayer forms, but today we recognize the value these spiritual practices have for lay people.
In a culture where New Age spirituality can be attractive to many people, including youth and young adults, it is important for Catholic students to receive the information that we have our own beautiful treasury of prayer – ways to draw closer to God that are perhaps less familiar, but not difficult. The following are just a few of the prayer traditions: Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican, Franciscan, Ignatian, and there are others. Here at St. Thomas More we blessed to have many ministries and groups that share in various forms of prayer. Therefore, we hope that nobody feels isolated or alone in thinking that have no one to pray with them or for them.
For more information on the various Prayer ministerial opportunities please follow the sub-links in the Navigation menu, and if you are interested in assiting us in any way please contact the Ministry Leader involved.