Prayers

The Church has two official prayers, the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.  Here you can join in the Liturgy of the Hours (go to “Display and Booklet Formats” in the “Personal Prayer” Section.)  The display format is easiest to use for personal recitation of the Office: http://www.liturgyhours.org/

Sacred Space (Daily Prayer On-Line by the Irish Jesuits).  On-line meditation uses an Ignatian approach to prayer: http://www.jesuit.ie/prayer/

The Jesus Prayer is an ancient prayer of the Orthodox monks that allows us easily to be mindful of Jesus’s admonition that we pray always: http://www.concentric.net/~Cosmas/jesus_prayer.htm

Prayerful Spiritual Reading, Lectio Divina: http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html

The Traditional Rosary: http://www.easterbrooks.com/personal/calendar/index.html

Contemplative Rosary: http://www.livingrosaries.org/

Make Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises (sometimes called, the “Long Retreat”) On-Line: http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/cmo-retreat.html

The New American Bible On-Line: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/index.htm

The Lectionary On-Line: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm

A traditional prayer to St. Jude:

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

This prayer is often called the “Christmas Novena” or the “Christmas Anticipation Prayer,” because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30) until Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times at once to get what you want (a baby, a husband, wife, new home, health,); or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal)…