Monday, February 14, 2005
Lenten Prayer
Our RCIA class tonight will cover Lent. I don't think I can add much to all the posts on all the Catholic Blogs and other web sites concerning Lent and its meaning. I do like The Lenten Prayer Of St. Ephraim The Syrian:
I don't think we'll be covering the last chapter of Michael Pennock's "This is Our Faith," which is a chapter on prayer. The book covers the Catechsim pretty well, but overall, I liked Alan Schrek's "The Essential Catholic Catechism" better. Both books say that humility is the foundation of prayer. We (humanity) don't know how to pray as we ought and God comes to aid us in our weakness with the Holy Spirit. We should pray simply, be precise and persistent. The "Our Father" is the perfect prayer, containing blessings and adoration for God, petitions for ourselves, intercession for others, thanksgiving for God's blessings and praise for God just because "He Is." We should follow the acronym A.C.T.S. in prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.
O Lord and Master of my lifeAnd if you click on the link to the prayer above, there is a nice discussion of Lent.
take from me the spirit of sloth
faint-heartedness,
lust of power
and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility,
patience,
and love to thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King
grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my brother;
for Thou art blessed unto the ages of ages.
Amen.
I don't think we'll be covering the last chapter of Michael Pennock's "This is Our Faith," which is a chapter on prayer. The book covers the Catechsim pretty well, but overall, I liked Alan Schrek's "The Essential Catholic Catechism" better. Both books say that humility is the foundation of prayer. We (humanity) don't know how to pray as we ought and God comes to aid us in our weakness with the Holy Spirit. We should pray simply, be precise and persistent. The "Our Father" is the perfect prayer, containing blessings and adoration for God, petitions for ourselves, intercession for others, thanksgiving for God's blessings and praise for God just because "He Is." We should follow the acronym A.C.T.S. in prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.
