Transcript

Throughout this program, we've discussed various forms of prayer, such as mental prayer and liturgical prayer.

Mental prayer is concerned with intimate conversation between the soul and God.

And liturgical prayer is the official worship that we as the body of Christ offer to God.

Another important type of prayer is called devotional prayer, or sometimes referred to just as devotions.

These include prayers such as the rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Stations of the Cross, for example.

The prayers found at the end of each of our chapters are also short, traditional devotional prayers.

Unlike liturgical prayer, devotions are not typically regulated by the church but spread through popular piety.

That is, the religious fervor of practicing Catholics.

Devotions may be connected to a sacramental object, like the Miraculous Medal or they may simply be a collection of prayers, as with novenas.

Novenas are prayers prayed on nine successive days for a particular request.

Many devotions have been started and spread by visionary saints, whereas others emerged gradually from ordinary Catholics.

Devotional prayers often embody particular mysteries of the faith and allow them to permeate the whole of our life.

For example, praying the Stations of the Cross, as many Catholics do during Lent, helps us to meditate on the mystery of Christ's suffering and death.

The stations help us to follow Christ spiritually through the many arduous steps of his passion.

Catholics enjoy a great freedom in choosing the devotional prayers that best suit them and help their life with prayer.

It's a way to personalize our practice of the faith.

One way to become acquainted with devotional prayers is to simply read a book of traditional Catholic prayers.

You can experiment with different prayers and choose a few that you like.

It's a good idea to choose a handful of devotional prayers to pray each day.

For example, it's customary to pray the morning offering when one wakes up in the morning or to pray to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death, before going to bed.

There's a potentially infinite number of devotional prayers and devotions available, so don't be overwhelmed.

You shouldn't feel like you need to do all of the devotions you learn about.

Experiment with several and choose some to do on a regular basis.

There's a great variety of devotional prayers, and it would be impossible to name all of them here, but there's one that stands above the rest and that's the rosary.

The Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a devotional prayer that was promoted by the early Dominican friars.

Our Lady, as in this chapel, is often depicted giving the rosary to St. Dominic.

The rosary has subsequently become one of the most important devotional prayers in the church to the point of being an icon of Catholicism itself.

The history of the church and the experience of Catholics reveal that the rosary is an incredibly powerful prayer.

Many favors have been obtained through the rosary, and the rosary plays a key role in many people's conversion.

It's a privileged instrument of the Blessed Virgin Mary and an extension of her own motherly intercession.

Meditating on the mysteries of the rosary puts us in touch with Christ's life and with the events of his life and the many graces he won for us by his deeds and sufferings.

Catholics should know how to pray the rosary and cultivate a habit of praying it often, even daily.

It's also important for Catholics to cultivate a devotion to the saints.

Holy men and women have lived the faith over the centuries, and they stand as role models for us and they also intercede before God on our behalf in heaven, and we have thousands to choose from whom we can invite to be our special intercessors.

You may be led to cultivate a devotion to a particular saint because you share their name or because you've been impressed by their life and want to imitate them.

It's a great idea to choose several saints to pray to on a regular basis, and this can take the form of a devotional prayer or a short invocation of that saint each day.

For example, St. Dominic, pray for us.

St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us.

We can form our own personal litany of saints to pray to each day.

Since the Blessed Virgin Mary occupies such an important role in our salvation, devotion to her is critical.

God blessed her abundantly and gave her a unique role in interceding for us.

She's the mother of God, and consequently, the mother of our salvation and the mother of the church.

Devotion to Mary tends to be a big stumbling block for those who approach the Catholic faith from a Protestant background.

Some are worried that devotion to Mary takes away from the worship we offer Christ.So, but Catholics don't worship Mary, we venerate her, and we honor her, and hold her in high esteem.

God doesn't see Mary as a threat to the sovereign worship owed to him, and neither should we.

He actually delights in directing us towards Mary's motherly intercession.

She's an incredible gift to us, and God included her most closely in the work of redemption, and he wants us to benefit from her.

She strengthens our relationship with her son, just as a priest, a friend, or a family member can bring us closer to Christ.

Just as they can teach us about him and pray for us, so too does Mary.

No one's better able to open our hearts to Christ.

If one is close to Mary, it will inevitably bring one closer to Christ.

One of the keys to a successful spiritual life, is to allow the Blessed Mother to be a special intercessor for us.

It's important to pray to Mary in time of special need, and also on a regular basis.

One way to personalize our devotion to Mary, is to choose a particular Marian apparition to study and be devoted to.

The Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared to Christians in many times and places, and so devotion to her has arisen according to many different names.

For example, you may pray to Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and so forth and so on.

Many different names associated with the many different apparitions.

Another excellent practice is to pray to Mary under a particular title.

For example, we can pray to Mary, Queen of the Angels, or Health of the Sick, or Refuge of Sinners.

And any litany of the Blessed Virgin will expose you to many different titles for Mary, each of which expresses a different role she plays in our lives.

We've almost completed our journey, with only one lesson remaining.

In this next and final lesson, we'll discuss something of vital importance, passing on the faith to our friends, family, and neighbors.