1. The Prayer of Mary
Before the Incarnation Mary’s prayer cooperated with the Father’s plan with Christ’s conception
She who was full of grace in turn offered herself to the will of the Father with her fiat: “to be wholly God’s because he is wholly ours.”
Before Pentecost Mary’s prayer cooperated with the formation of the Church, Christ’s mystical body

4. The Prayer of Mary, cont.
Mary intercedes at Cana, a sign of the feast of the wedding of the Lamb
She is at the foot of the Cross in the hour of the new covenant
Mary is the Mother of God and of the Church
She is the daughter of Zion and new people of God
The Magnificat, the praise of God who pours out his grace on the “poor”, is the song of the Church

8. The Age of the Church The Holy Spirit came to the disciples in prayer
“devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and to prayers.” Acts 2:42
Typical of all prayer: founded in faith, authenticated by charity, and nourished in the Eucharist
The Church uses scriptural prayer which is developed in the liturgical and spiritual traditions.

9. The Forms of Prayer Blessing and Adoration Petition Intercession
Thanksgiving
Praise

10. Blessing and Adoration
God and man, gift and acceptance are united in dialogue with each other
Two-fold movement: the Spirit who descends through Christ from the Father, and our prayer that ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ
Blessing recognizes holiness, asks to be holy, or makes holy
Adoration is the attitude of the creature before its creator, love and humility, assurance of supplication

11. Prayer of Petition
Petition is the most usual and spontaneous form of prayer. “To Pray” means “to ask”
We are not our own beginning, the master of our adversity, nor our own end
Asking for forgiveness is the first step in the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer. “God, be merciful to me a sinner”
We can pray for every need, but we pray for the kingdom first, and those things needed for it to come

12. Prayer of Intercession
A prayer of petition in imitation of Jesus, the one mediator, between God and man
The Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us
Intercession is characteristic of a heart attuned to God’s mercy, and participated in the intercession of Jesus
The first Christian Communities lived the life of intercessory communion intensely, with no boundaries

13. Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Eucharist is a thanksgiving in which the Church reveals and more fully becomes what it is
Every event and every need can be part of an offering of thanksgiving
Jesus is always present in our thanksgiving, his returning creation to the Father

14. Prayer of Praise
Praise, in this context, differs from blessing and adoration in that praise is not a response to what God has done for us, but a response to who God is. HE IS
It embraces the other forms of prayer, especially in the Eucharist
In praise, the Spirit joins our spirit, bearing witness that we are adopted in the Son and give glory to the Father
The Gospel of Luke, the Psalms, and Revelation show forth praise well

15. Part Two: The Tradition of Prayer
Learning the virtue of praying through the believers in the Church

16. Revelation 22:1
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb… “A symbol: the river of life will serve to light the way for our gradual discovery. I ask the readers to let themselves be carried along by this river’s slow but deep running current…the wellspring is ever the same, but the living water that flows form it is ever new.” Jean Corbon, The Wellsping of Worship, 14.

17. The Word of God
Scripture teaches us the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ
Reading the Bible should take the form of a dialogue with God
Seek in reading and you will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be open to you by contemplation

18. The Liturgy
In the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and communicates the mystery of salvation, which is continued in the heart that prays
The heart is the altar upon which we offer the sacrifice of ourselves in fulfillment of the priesthood of our baptism
Prayer assimilates the liturgy. Even when in secret, prayer is of the Church and a Trintarian communion

19. The Theological Virtues
Faith, Hope, and Charity are the first habits and acts of the grace soul
We enter the door of prayer through faith, to seek the face of God and to hear his Word
Hope is the virtue of prayer because we are still pilgrims on the way and we need to ask for things
Love is most active in the prayer that leads to union with God

20. Today We encounter God in the present, not the past or future
Time, as well as the providential ordering of history, is in he Father’s hands
We can go to God in prayer concerning all things: pray always

21. The Way of Prayer
The living tradition of prayer always has a cultural, historic, and social context
There are words, melodies, gestures, iconography
The magisterium has the duty of discerning the fidelity of these things
Prayer always has meaning in relation to Jesus

22. Prayer to the Father Christ is the only way to Christian Prayer
We always, no matter the form of the prayer, pray in the name of Jesus
The Sacred Humanity of Jesus is the way that the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to the Father

23. Prayer to Jesus We pray to the Father, but also to Jesus
The name “Jesus” contains all: YHWH saves, God and man, the whole economy of salvation and creation
Invoking the name of Jesus makes him present, so his name contain the presence that it signifies
The “Jesus prayer”, the invocation of his name, and devotion to the Sacred Heart are good practices

24. Come, Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit’s prevenient grace draws us to prayer
We ask Him to come and live in us
The Holy Spirit’s anointing permeates our whole being
He is the interior master of Christian Prayer
It is the same Spirit who acts in all forms of Christian prayer

25. Mary
Her faithful consent all through her life makes Mary the Mother of all of Jesus’ brother and sisters
We are united to Mary through the sacred humanity of Jesus
Jesus is the Way, Mary is the sign
God is magnified for the great things done through Mary for all humanity, and we ask Mary for help because she knows the humanity which her Son espouse inside of her. She is the perfect pray-er

26. The Hail Mary
Hail Mary: We are caught up in the joy of God over the humility of his Handmaid
Full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Mary is the new ark of the covenant, prepared to receive God
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus: Mary, like Abraham, is “parent” of all believers, the one through whom all nations are blessed
Holy Mary, Mother of God: St. Elizabeth calls Mary “the mother of my Lord”. Mary is our mother too. Her “let it be done to me” is her prayer for us too. Trust in Mary’s prayer is abandonment to the will of God.

27. Hail Mary cont.
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Mary is the Mother of Mercy, the All-Holy-One. The trust with which we surrender our lives broadens as we surrender ourselves even in death. She was present at he Son’s death, and can lead us to him.
The Rosary is said in the West, the Akathistos and the Paraclesis are said in the Byzantine churches, and other popular hymns in are sung in other Eastern churches

28. Guides for prayer
There are spiritualties, Elijah to Elisha and John the Baptist
The home
Ordained ministers and religious
Catechesis, Prayer groups
Spiritual direction
Places, churches, monasteries, “prayer corners” pilgrimages