Hello, I recently recieved the following question from one of the members of the Catholic Kingdom:

Life has so many distractions and it is often hard to find the time to pray as we should. But if we cannot find the time, then we should make the time, because praying is the most crucial thing we can do to save our souls. All the Saints agree that the quantity and quality of our prayer life is the measure by which we can hope to save our soul. St. Padre Pio, for example, said "If you pray a lot you have a great chance to save your soul - if you pray a little you have a small chance to save your soul ... and if you do not pray you have no chance at all."

So your biggest challenge is to make the time.

But how should you pray and how often? Let me give you some practical suggestions and goals for someone just getting started in the spiritual life. There is so much to advise, to encourage and to warn you against but I do not have the space in this letter to address everything well. So for now, I will try to highlight the most important aspects of prayer and praying. If you are interested in more information or advice please write to me any time.

What is prayer? The simplest definition of prayer is "talking to God". Why do we pray? Again, the simplest answer is that we pray to obtain favors from God for ourselves or for others and then hopefully we pray to thank Him when He answers our prayers. There are other types of prayers though. There are prayers of praise and worship. The most perfect form of this type of prayer is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. When we humbly and honestly recognize our sins we pray to God to forgive us.

And finally there is mental prayer which is basically talking with God in a way that allows us to get to know Him and ourselves better. Mental prayer is not usually attempted by someone who is just getting started. But it is the type of prayer that leads us to holiness and union with God. It is necessary if we desire to stop sinning and grow in virtues with any real success.

Prayer falls into two main categories. ‘Formal prayer’ is when you pray a prayer that someone else has composed. The Rosary, The Angelus, prayers composed by Saints like the Memorare or the Hail Holy Queen, are examples of ‘formal” prayer. ‘Informal’ prayer is simply when we pray using our own words.

So here are my practical suggestions for you for now. It would be great for you to pray a 5 decade Rosary every day. It would be even better if your whole family said one together. The Rosary is a very powerful prayer. There are so many true stories about countless favors and miracles obtained through the Rosary that we would be here a very long time if I tried to relate just a small portion of them all. Besides that, God has specifically requested in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 that we pray the Rosary every day in reparation for all the sins and offenses against His most holy Mother or else great calamities would befall mankind. Some of these have already come to pass (WW II and the rise of communism throughout the world, amoung other things) because not enough people have taken God’s requests to heart. There are also 15 promises from Heaven for those who pray the Rosary. One of these is the promise of salvation for those who honor Our Heavenly Mother by praying her Rosary faithfully. What better motivation do we need to pray Our Lady’s Holy Rosary?

Other important prayers are morning and evening prayers as well as prayers at meals. A good morning offering unites us with God at the very start of the day and will obtain the graces we need to get through the day without offending God. It also causes our mind to be filled with holy thoughts before the day comes rushing in on us. Prayers at the end of the day include a brief examination of conscience and brief prayers of gratitude for everything God has done for, or given to, us that day. It should also include prayers of contrition for whatever offenses we may have committed against the good God that day. Prayers before we eat are a wonderful and humbling recognition that all that we are getting ready to enjoy at our meals is truly from God’s bounty. No matter who paid for or prepared the food, there would be none if God did not will it.

There are also prayers which have promises attached to them. For example, the famous Prayer of Saint Gertrude has God’s assurance that every time we say that prayer He will release at least one thousand souls from Purgatory. Prayers with promises attached to them are a good way to build your prayer life. Try to find the ones that interest you. Look at “Powerful Prayers” in the “Prayer” section of the Cathedral in the Catholic Kingdom. Not every prayer of this type is listed there, yet, but it will provide a good start. These types of prayers are usually short and the promises attached to them give us a good motivation for saying them.

There are two ‘wings’ that help the beginner to stay faithful to their spiritual path: they are gratitude and holy desires. Pray for the grace to acquire both of these two powerful dispositions. Without them, most people give up and return to their former path of life - which can only lead to hell.

There are so many other points to discuss, but for now I will only mention spiritual reading. It is very important to spend at least 15 minutes a day reading something that is truly Catholic and spiritually sound. If you want to read the Holy Bible you need to understand that most translations today are horrible - especially the New American Bible which is wretched. We know of a number of people who lost their Catholic Faith by reading that ‘Bible’ and its footnotes.

I recommend reading short biographies of the Saints. When you read about someone that holds your interest then you can find a more detailed biography of the Saint. There are also the writings of the Saints which are very edifying and encouraging. Another problem today is that so much of what is presented as ‘Catholic reading’ today is, unfortunately, very defective. This must be said for many ‘Saint’ movies that have been produced in the last 20 - 30 years. There are websites that have free copies of old out-of-print books that you can read online or even download for free. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader (which you can get for free) to read most of these books.

If you want to purchase a real book, there are a number of small publishing companies that produce good work. If you have a certain Saint or topic in mind, let us know and we will try to help you find a trustworthy edition.

Spiritual Masters of the Church include Sts. Francis de Sales (‘Introduction to the Devout Life’), Theresa the Little Flower (“Story of a Soul’), Teresa of Avila (‘Autobiography’, ‘Way of Perfection), etc., and Alphonsus Liguori (many books to choose from). This list is by no means complete.

Finally, I will leave you with this advice - and it is from God Himself.

38 Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard His word. 40 But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her therefore, that she help me. 41 And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her. (St. Luke 10 : 38-42)

I urge you to pray every day to God to enlighten you about what is truly important in life: and the wisdom to recognize it, the grace to pursue it, and the strength to hold on it and never let it go.

Until we speak again …

May Our Lord and Our Lady fill you, and all those you love, with every true peace, blessing and grace … now and forever.

Please keep everyone in the Catholic Kingdom in your prayers. Always.

You are always in ours.

Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,