During Lent, prayer takes on even significance as Catholics reflect on Jesus’ 40 days of prayer and fasting in the desert. Lenten prayer tends to be deeper and more reflective.
Prayer is a conversation with God that leads to a relationship with Him and a transformation in ourselves.
Like all prayer, Lenten prayer can be vocal, meditative, or contemplative.
Lenten prayer practices include many rote prayers as well as attending Mass and devotions like Stations of the Cross or Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Prayer is one of the disciplines that make up the three pillars of Lent, along with fasting and almsgiving.
P.R.A.Y:
Praying through a lens of love:
Prayer presupposes an effort, a fight against ourselves and the wiles of the Tempter. The battle of prayer is inseparable from the necessary “spiritual battle” to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ: We pray as we live, because we live as we pray.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2752
Focusing on the big picture:
Praying deeper during Lent:
A time for self-examination:
There are situations where people’s experience of prayer is rather superficial, so that the word of God does not enter deeply into their lives. Even the Sacrament of Penance is thought by many to be unimportant and the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is seen as a mere duty to be performed. How should we respond to the invitation to conversion that Jesus addresses to us in this time of Lent? How can there be a serious change in our life? First of all, we must open our hearts to the penetrating call that comes to us from the Liturgy. The time of preparation for Easter is a providential gift from the Lord and a precious opportunity to draw closer to him, turning inward to listen to his promptings deep within.
Pope John Paul II, Message for Lent, 2001
Getting to know God:
Listening to God:
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Matthew 6: 5-8
Prayer brings spirituallity to our Lenten practices:
Practical ideas for Lent:
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