Holy Spirit Catholic Schools
The Six Strands of Religious Education
Praying
What is Prayer?
"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."
-St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
The Our Father is "the most perfect prayer" (St. Thomas Aquinas) and the "summary of the whole Gospel" (Tertullian). (YOUCAT 514)
Principle of Prayer:
'Great is the mystery of faith!' The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles' Creed and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy, so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father. This mystery, then, requires that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer. (CCC 2558)
Official Teachings
Communion with Jesus Christ leads the disciples to assume the attitude of prayer and contemplation which the Master himself had. To learn to pray with Jesus is to pray with the same sentiments with which he turned to the Father: adoration, praise, thanksgiving, filial confidence, supplication and awe for his glory, All of these sentiments are reflected in the Our Father, the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples and which is the model of all Christian prayer. The "handing on of the Our Father"34 is a summary of the entire Gospel35 and is therefore a true act of catechesis. (GDC 85)
Prayer is turning the heart toward God. When a person prays, he enters into a living relationship with God. (YOUCAT 469)