July 16, 2006 On Prayer

The Habit of Prayer

“The habit of prayer is no burden to any one, for we can pray worthily at any time, in any place, and any posture. Even the motion of the lips is not necessary; the mind and heart can be engaged in it when we read or converse or go about our daily work. Moreover prayer produces a delicious feeling of hope and rest in God; and this feeling is worth more than the happiness that wealth can purchase or the world give.
God respects not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how elegant they are; nor the music of our prayers, how melodious they are; nor the logic of our prayers, how methodical they Pray.”

The Power of Prayer

“[Prayer] has no delegated grace to avert any sense of suffering; but it supplies the suffering… with endurance: it amplifies grace by virtue, that faith may know what she obtains from the Lord, understanding what–for God’s name’s sake–she suffers. But in days gone by, withal prayer used to call down plagues, scatter the armies of foes… Now, however, the prayer of righteousness avers all God’s anger, keeps bivouac on behalf of personal enemies, makes supplication on behalf of persecutors… Prayer is alone that which vanquishes God. But Christ has willed that it be operative for no evil: He had conferred on it all its virtue in the cause of good. And so it knows nothing save how to recall the souls of the departed from the very path of death, to transform the weak, to restore the sick, to purge the possessed, to open prison-bars, to loose the bonds of the innocent. Likewise it washes away faults, repels temptations, extinguishes persecutions, consoles the faint-spirited, cheers the high-spirited, escorts travelers, appeases waves, makes robbers stand aghast, nourishes the poor, governs the rich, upraises the fallen, arrests the falling, confirms the standing. Prayer is the wall of faith: her arms and missiles against the foe who keeps watch over us on all sides. And, so never walk we unarmed. ”
Tertullian on prayer (He lived and wrote about the year 160.)

Liturgical Prayer … the public, daily prayer of the Church, that is, of Christ and his people, one element of the prayer which the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy describes as the sacred action surpassing all others … the primary and indispensable source of the true Christian spirit. CL n. 7, 14

Prayer: which is intimately related to the Eucharist and, which the Church understands, as a preparation for, and a continuation of the action of the Eucharist throughout the day.

Prayer which is about the sanctification of time, that is, of each day, and is linked with the Feasts and Seasons of the Liturgical Year as well as with the natural rhythms of the day, especially the alternation of light and darkness.

Prayer: which relies heavily on Scripture, the psalms and the canticles; as well as readings from the old and new testaments for the bulk of its content.

Prayer: which has a long history in the Church, going back to first centuries; prayer which originated in gatherings of the people with their bishop and later spread to monastic and other religious groups.

Prayer: which has a basic formal structure; both within the day and within each individual hour.

Prayer: which is prayed communally in formal Church gatherings, in informal groups of the faithful, and even in families; but, which may also be prayed by individuals who are not able to pray it in common. Whether prayed communally or by individuals, the Liturgy of the Hours is always the liturgical prayer of the Church: the prayer of Christ the priest and of the Body of Christ, the Church throughout the world and the Communion of Saints in heaven.

The Liturgy of the Hours is the daily prayer of the Church which is prayed at certain significant times of the day. It includes the Invitatory and a number of “hours”.

Invitatory ~ This is the opening prayer of the Office and is prayed at the beginning of the day before the first hour of the Office.

Morning Prayer (Lauds) ~ This hour is prayed at sunrise or in the early morning. It is one of the two most important (hinge) hours of the Office and, if possible, should be prayed in common.
Daytime Prayer (Terce, Sext, None) ~ In the post-Vatican II reform of the office, it is suggested that one of these hours, that which is most convenient for the individual, be prayed. The daytime hours are:
~Midmorning
~Midday
~Midafternoon

Evening Prayer (Vespers) ~ This hour is prayed at sunset, i.e. late afternoon or early evening. It is the second of the hinge hours and, like Morning Prayer, should be prayed in common if possible.
Night Prayer (Compline) ~ This is the “bedtime” hour of the Church’s daily prayer and is ordinarily prayed just before retiring.

Office of Readings (Matins, Vigils) ~ This is the only hour which does not have a designated time. In the reforms of the Second Vatican Council it was determined that, because of the varied schedules of people today it would be better to leave to the group or individual praying, the ability to establish the time for the praying of this meditative hour of reflection on Scripture and the writings of the great spiritual authors.
The Liturgy of the Hours follows the same liturgical calendar as that used for Mass and so the day of the Liturgical Year celebrated at Mass will be celebrated in that day’s office as well. The Church understands the Liturgy of the Hours to be both a preparation for the Eucharist and the extension of the action of the Eucharist: praise and thanksgiving offered to God, throughout the day.

The Ordo ~ This is the Liturgical Calendar of the Church printed according to a given calendar year. In addition to Ordos which are printed for particular dioceses (e.g. the one for the dioceses of New York and Albany published by Paulist Press), most publishers of editions of the Liturgy of the Hours annually offer an ordo specifically keyed to their edition. Your first copy of this Ordo is usually included when you purchase a particular edition of the Office. This Ordo will be a GREAT HELP in determining which celebration should be prayed on any given day as it gives you the page numbers in that edition for each hour of that day.

SOME BASIC INFORMATION ON THE ARRANGEMENT OF SEASONS AND FEASTS IN THE LITURGICAL YEAR

This information is provided to give some additional help in understanding the complex arrangement of seasons and feasts. It is arranged as follows:

• SUNDAYS
• WEEKDAYS
• TYPES OF CELEBRATIONS IN THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR
• SOLEMNITIES
• FEASTS
• MEMORIALS
• KINDS OF MEMORIALS

SUNDAYS

Sundays are the core of the Church’s liturgical year. Every Sunday is considered by the Church to be a “little Easter.” As a result of this, Sunday celebrations have several characteristic features:

• The Church’s celebration of Sunday begins on the evening before, i.e. on Saturday evening. From very early in her history the church began the celebration of major feasts with prayer on the evening before, and so one mark of the most important celebrations in the Church’s calendar today is this extended liturgical day. Each Sunday and Solemnity (major celebration) begins on the evening of the day before with Evening Prayer I (First Vespers). Evening Prayer II (Second Vespers) is celebrated on the evening of the day itself.

• Each new week of the Liturgical Year begins on Sunday. In Ordinary time, for example, the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time, begins with the Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time. The subsequent days of the week are known as Monday of the Twenty-Second week, Tuesday of the Twenty-Second week, etc.

• Normally Sunday celebrations are not replaced by any other feast. The only exception to this is that Sundays in Ordinary Time and in the Christmas Season are replaced by Solemnities of Our Lord, Our Lady and the Saints and by some Feasts which, in a given year, fall on a Sunday. Some Solemnities and Feasts which, when they fall on a Sunday will be celebrated instead of the Sunday ordinarily assigned to that day are:

Birth of John the Baptist June 24
St. Peter and Paul, Apostles June 29
Transfiguration August 6
The Assumption of Our Lady August 15
The Exaltation of the Cross September 14
All Saints Day November 1
All Souls Day November 2
The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica [The Mother and Head of all the Churches of the city (Rome) and of the world. (Inscription by Pope Clement XII)} November 9

• In the United States the Solemnity of Epiphany is always celebrated on a Sunday in the Christmas Season and the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi) is always celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday.
(cf. the table giving the order of precedence of liturgical celebrations)

WEEKDAYS

On weekdays the celebration to be used will be either that of the Liturgical Season (Lent, Easter; Advent, Christmas, Epiphany; Ordinary Time) or of the calendar day. Several kinds of celebration may occur on weekdays. These include:

• Weekdays of the liturgical season, i.e. of Lent, Easter, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ordinary Time (Proper of the Season)

• Weekdays of the calendar of celebrations of Our Lady and the Saints, arranged according to calendar dates. (Proper of the Saints)

TYPES OF CELEBRATIONS IN THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR

Celebrations are divided into different categories according to their relative importance in the life of the Church. The order of these celebrations going from most important to least important is:
• Solemnities
• Feasts
• Memorials (obligatory)
• Memorials (optional)

SOLEMNITIES

Solemnities are the most important celebrations in the life of the Church. In addition to solemnities in the Universal Calendar, certain celebrations are solemnities for one particular church or religious congregation, but not for all. These would include the patron of a parish, e.g. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, or the founder of a religious congregation, e.g. Saint Francis of Assisi for Franciscans. Saint Patrick’s Day is observed as a Solemnity in the Archdiocese of New York because St. Patrick is the patron of the Archdiocese.
Things to know about solemnities include the following:

• Solemnities begin with Evening Prayer One on the preceding day.

• To find Hymns, Prayers, Readings and Psalms for a given Solemnity one should look first at what is unique to this particular celebration. These texts will be found in the Proper of the Saints, or, for some solemnities of the Lord, in a special section for Solemnities. In the case of Easter, Christmas, Epiphany and a few others, these texts will be found in the Proper of the Seasons.

• What is not found in the Proper for the day will be taken from the Commons, e.g. the Common of Our Lady, of the Dedication of a Church, etc. The proper will give you the page reference in the common for those prayers which it does not contain and which will be supplied by the common.

FEASTS

Feasts are the celebrations of slightly lesser importance than solemnities. Things to know about feasts include the following:

• Most Feasts (with a few exceptions) are celebrated within the calendar day and begin with the morning office.

• To find those parts of the office which are specific to a particular feast one should look first at the calendar date in the Proper of the Saints.

• What is not found in the Proper for the day will be taken from the Commons, e.g. the Common of the Apostles, of Martyrs, of Virgins, etc. The Proper will give you the page reference in the Common for those prayers which it does not contain and which, therefore, must be supplied from the Common.

MEMORIALS

Memorials are celebrations of other saints and events in the life of the Church. In developing her calendar the Church seeks to strike a balance between:

• giving primary emphasis to the major liturgical seasons in which the life of the Lord is yearly placed before her people and

• providing opportunities to celebrate Our Blessed Mother and other people who have faithfully lived the Christian life and can serve as models and examples for those on the same road to commemorate events which have in some way been milestones in the life of the Church or of a community within the Church.

For this reason, and also because the Church is world-wide and not all individual saints are equally important to all members of the Church, some memorials of saints are commemorated by the universal church, others by smaller groups for whom those saints have a special significance.

KINDS OF MEMORIALS

Obligatory Memorials ~ In order to help her members to keep in their vision the world-wide community of believers, the Church calls for the universal celebration of some saints from every age and every continent, designating them as Obligatory Memorials in the Universal Calendar. These are memorials which the Church asks everyone to celebrate, unless the celebration is superseded by a season or feast of greater significance.
Optional Memorials ~ At the same time there are some saints who, although not widely known, have great significance for a local area, culture or nation, or for those whose baptismal name places them under his or her patronage. While not wishing to deprive those who venerate these saints of the opportunity to do so, the Church does not wish to impose this obligation on the entire Church. These saints are celebrated as “optional” memorials, meaning that a community or individual may choose whether or not to celebrate that particular saint.

How to Tell an Obligatory Memorial from an Optional Memorial ~ In the Proper of the Saints, after each date and name, the rank of the celebration is given in red. Obligatory Memorials will have “Memorial” printed in red below the name of the saint or event being commemorated. If there is nothing printed under the name the celebration is an optional memorial.

Things to know about memorials include the following:

• Prayers which are specific to the celebration of a particular saint will be found on the calendar day in the Proper of the Saints. As a general rule, when a Memorial is celebrated everything found in the Proper of the Saints for that day should be used.

• Unless provided in the proper for the day, the Hymn for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and the Office of Readings may be taken either from the weekday in the four week Psalter or from the common appropriate to the saint being celebrated, at the choice of the community or individual praying the office. (The Proper for the individual saint or event will tell you the correct Common for the day’s celebration.)

• Unless provided in the proper for the saint or event being observed the Psalms and antiphons for Morning and Evening Prayer and for the Office of Readings are taken from the current weekday in the Four Week Psalter.

• In Morning and Evening Prayer, apart from anything provided in the Proper, everything from the reading to the Intercessions inclusive may be taken either from the common appropriate to the saint being celebrated, or from the current weekday in the Four Week Psalter. When an antiphon for the Gospel Canticle is provided in the Proper for the day it should be used. If it is not provided there, the antiphon used may be chosen either from the common or the current weekday, depending on the choice made above.

• In the case of Obligatory Memorials, or when an Optional Memorial is to be celebrated, the prayer should be taken from the Proper of the Saint being celebrated for that day.

• In the Office of Readings, unless provided in the proper, the psalms and the first reading are taken from the current weekday of the four week Psalter. The closing prayer is taken from the Proper of the Saint. For obligatory memorials the second reading is taken from the Proper of the Saints. For those who choose to celebrate an optional Memorial the second reading is taken from the Proper of the Saint if one is provided; if not, the second reading may be taken either from the common or from the current weekday of the four week Psalter.

Where to find the rank of a specific celebration ~ The Universal Roman Calendar gives the rank of all of the celebrations it contains. Ranks of other celebrations can best be found in the Ordo for a given year.

Special Celebrations for Dioceses, Parishes and Religious Congregations ~ In addition to celebrations in the General Roman Calendar, dioceses, parishes and religious orders have their own proper celebrations. For example, the Feast of Saint Patrick is celebrated as a solemnity in the Archdiocese of New York because he is the patron of the Archdiocese. The patron saint of a parish should be celebrated as a solemnity in that parish and, if it falls in Ordinary Time, may be transferred to the nearest Sunday. The same holds true of the feastday of a founder or foundress of a religious order which is celebrated as a solemnity by the members of that order. Finally, the anniversary of the dedication of its cathedral in a given diocese and the anniversary of the dedication of the church in a parish are observed as solemnities by the people served by that diocese or parish.

From: www.Adoremus.com….Online Monthly Bulletin

Another great site is: http://www.catholicliturgy.com/