Mike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada HomepageMike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada

learning to pray

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Hail Mary

Photo Credit: Old Wallpaper from lifeteen.com
Photo Credit: Wallpaper from lifeteen.com

When I began to seriously investigate my faith, one of the things I was really struck by was Pope St. John Paul II’s devotion to Mary.  It seemed like every homily he gave and every letter or book he wrote ended with some sort of recourse to the Mother of God.  When I began to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, I realized how fitting this was – the Church’s official prayer ends each day with a prayer dedicated to Mary.

Arguably the most recognizable Catholic prayer is the Hail Mary:

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you.  Blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death, amen.

The prayer itself is quite simple and has a history going back several centuries.  The form by which we pray it today found its final form in the sixteenth century – concluding a journey that took centuries. [Read more…] about Hail Mary

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Committing to Prayer

Photo Credit: Zach Alexander on Flickr (Creative Commons License)
Photo Credit: Zach Alexander on Flickr (Creative Commons License)

I recently heard a theologian suggest that eternity (Heaven) depends to a certain degree on how willing you are to pray: if you can’t carve a small space out for God in this life, how can you expect that either of you will want to spend eternity together? God has always been the perfect gentleman – at His first coming He was born in a quiet, hidden way, and was known in His infancy only to those who sought Him with sincere hearts: shepherds, wise men, and a handful of holy individuals who were watching for him from the temple. To everyone else, he was just another baby, just another child.  As St. John says, there is for each of us the possibility that Christ might be so much more:

“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” -1 John 1:12-13

We all struggle with prayer.  There are moments where we feel more or less devoted  – but this is, more often than not, because of how invested we are in a thing we are asking for or hoping for than because of what we hear or how God meets us in our prayer.  Many times it seems like we are talking to ourselves or to an empty sky because we don’t hear anything back – but the response isn’t the point.  We ought to pray because prayer opens us up to God – it disposes us, should He wish to speak, to hearing what He has to say.  Prayer helps us discover the purpose of our lives, peace in the midst of chaos, and the ability to love others in ways we couldn’t do ourselves.

The world has been captivated by Pope Francis – the joy and kindness which he radiates in all that he does, whether it be his morning Masses or the gifts he bought for the poor of Rome.  Time even named him “Person of the Year” in 2013!  The thing is that Pope Francis’ secret is simple: his joy is simply the joy of living in relationship with Christ – a relationship that is founded in daily prayer.

If you’re convinced, here are a few things I’d recommend you do in order to give you a chance to succeed: [Read more…] about Committing to Prayer