Ways to Pray
There is no one right way to pray. A story is told about Jordan of Saxony, who followed St. Dominic as the leader of the Order of Preachers in the 13th Century. When one of the brothers asked Jordan to teach him the best way to pray, Jordan reportedly said “The most beneficial prayer will be the one which moves your heart in the most beneficial way.” In other words, pray as you can – God will do the rest.
Here are some ways toward prayer that you might find beneficial.
Praying the Rosary  As did our ancestors in faith, we can use beads to assist us in our prayer. Fingering and moving the beads can calm our spirit, help us focus, and integrate our senses of touch and sight into the experience of God. With fingers busy, our minds can be open to pondering the mysteries of God. In stressful times, simply holding the beads can be prayer, even when our minds are unable to focus on thoughts.
Within the Catholic Church we call this praying with beads the Rosary. There are five cycles of prayer, called decades because each cycle includes ten Hail Mary’s. The decades are preceded by an Our Father and concluded with a Glory Be. For each decade there is a mystery of our faith that can be used as a meditative reflection. The groupings of these mysteries are called the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. Recently, Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries. Through this prayer we come into God’s presence in faith, praying not to accomplish something but to offer ourselves to God so that God might work in and through us.
To learn more about praying the Rosary click here.
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