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| Praying Hands (1508) by Albrecht Durer |
ON VOCAL PRAYER
Vocal prayer is a salutary form of prayer that always works. It will
maintain its surpassing value and efficacy for us and for those we pray for
until we die. The person who is well disposed in vocal prayer will receive many
other graces of prayer, in the words of Jesus, “Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). We might not say the words of formal written prayers
aloud, but if we speak them in our minds and hearts, it is also vocal prayer,
only silent. We do not “graduate” from vocal prayer to other forms of prayer,
leaving vocal prayer behind. Vocal prayer is conversation with God that has
perennial relevance to our spiritual life. Our only “graduation” is, by the
mercy of God, our passage into eternal life.
Distraction in prayer is normal. The remedy during prayer is to simply lead our attention back to the words and their meaning. When we join our heart to the meaning of the words, it is true prayer. And then there is the prayer of the heart without words.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho