prayer

Oh, the variety we have for prayers.  Sometimes it is almost overwhelming.

The way I pray is something that I've been thinking about...perhaps praying about...in my quiet times the past week or two.

Earlier this year, I think it was around Lent or Easter, I remember telling my confessor that prayer had become a lot less structured for me.  For several years I had prayed Morning Prayer and/or Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, but at this point, it had just become something to "get through", something to check off of the "to-do" list.  He had told me that it was fine for prayer to take on a less-structured form, but to "keep listening" because it might well be that I would find myself looking for more structured again in the future. 

And sure enough....I'm there.  There is just SO much - like 2000 years worth - of prayers to choose from.  There is the Rosary and Scripture.  The Divine Mercy Chaplet.  And the Liturgy of the Hours.  Prayers from various Saints that speak to the soul.  It's an endless all-you-can-pray buffet.

To add in to my thoughts, I ran across something a few weeks ago... The Seven Daily Habits of Holy Apostolic People.  Before I read it I thought to myself, "well, I ought to have at least 3 or 4 of these down."  Uh, not.  Briefly, they are:  the morning offering, 15 minutes of silent prayer, 15 minutes of spiritual reading, daily Mass, praying the Angelus at noon, the Rosary, and an examination of conscience every night.  I can claim about 2 of those - Mass and silent prayer - on a nearly daily basis.  Sometimes during my time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I fit in some spiritual reading or part of the Rosary.  (Does anyone else seem to be able to only finish 3/5 of the Rosary?) And almost always before I leave, I say an Act of Contrition.

And so my quest continues for something with more structure.  I had kind of hoped to start it along with the beginning of Advent.  Tomorrow evening begins the new Liturgical year.  All of us American Catholics will be met with a different translation of the prayers we say at Mass and our parish will roll out beautiful new albs for our altar servers (the old ones had definitely seen better days).  It's a time for new things.

So, just kind of wondering, what does your prayer look like?