The prayers of the Church and of her saints, rather than stifle my ability to express myself to God, enlarged it. I slowly came to see how the spontaneous - what seemed to me, the more “authentic” - prayers I offered at the beginning of my faith journey were those of a child. They were heartfelt and sincere but, in retrospect, they seemed focused upon my life and the small circle of lives touching mine. They were limited by my lack of knowledge regarding both the deepest needs and movements of the human heart and how prayer could be more than thought and words.
The prayers of the Church are those of an adult with two thousand years of spiritual depth and know-how. When I listened to her pray, especially at Mass, I was called out of myself, called to pray for and with the whole Body of Christ – on earth, in purgatory, and in heaven! I was called to pray, fast, and do penance both for my sins and my brothers’ and sisters’. Left to myself I don’t know how I ever could have arrived at the realization that all of our daily activities, even suffering, can be transformed into prayer! (My spontaneous prayers now take all of this into account.)
And studying the gospels
and the religious life of Jewish people in first century Palestine convinces me
that the Church did not arrive at the content or manner of her prayer
lightly. I found the same concerns and
practices in the prayer of Jesus himself! The Church’s rich spiritual life is
the work of the same Holy Spirit through whom Jesus poured himself out in
prayer to the Father.
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