The Words We Pray: Discovering the Richness of Traditional Catholic Prayers

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Overview

Immense spiritual riches are hidden within the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed, and other traditional Catholic prayers. When we pray these words crafted by holy people and blessed by the Church, we join the millions of Christians who have prayed them throughout the centuries. As their words become ours, God's truth enters our hearts. Amy Welborn opens these ancient words for us. She tells the story of eighteen of the most popular and powerful traditional Catholic prayers, describing how and why ...
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More About This Book

Overview

Immense spiritual riches are hidden within the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed, and other traditional Catholic prayers. When we pray these words crafted by holy people and blessed by the Church, we join the millions of Christians who have prayed them throughout the centuries. As their words become ours, God's truth enters our hearts. Amy Welborn opens these ancient words for us. She tells the story of eighteen of the most popular and powerful traditional Catholic prayers, describing how and why they were composed and unearthing the sacred wisdom at their heart. She shows how "the words we pray" draw us closer to God.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
This book will be useful to non-Catholics who've ever wondered about the difference between a Hail Mary and the Salve Regina, as well as Catholics who would like to delve into the significance of some of the Church's most important prayers. Welborn, author of several books for Catholic youth, writes that as a young adult she was "a bit of a prayer snob," finding comfort in extemporaneous personal prayers but not the rote, memorized historic prayers of the Catholic tradition. Her feelings changed around age thirty, when she discovered the joys of praying the rosary and realized that there are times when our own words simply aren't enough, and we must rely upon timeless prayers that connect us to something outside our own experience. Here, she presents and analyzes some of the Church's most famous prayers, "worn and prayed by millions," including the sign of the cross, the Our Father (the Lord's Prayer), the Hail Mary, the creeds, the Act of Contrition, the Jesus Prayer, the Anima Christi, the prayers of Saint Francis and others. Welborn does a fine job of drawing on her own experience as she unpacks these ancient prayers, making them accessible and beautiful to modern Catholics.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780829419566
  • Publisher: Loyola Press
  • Publication date: 11/1/2004
  • Pages: 180
  • Sales rank: 693,570
  • Product dimensions: 5.04 (w) x 7.00 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Table of Contents

The Journey from "You've Got a Friend" to Salve Regina xi
1 The Sign of the Cross: The Holiest of All Signs 1
2 The Our Father: Teach Us to Pray 13
3 Hail Mary: Greeting Our Mother 27
4 Credo: What We Believe 37
5 The Morning Offering: The Gift of the Present Moment 49
6 Salve Regina: The Prayer for Help 59
7 The Act of Contrition: The Promise of Mercy 67
8 The Jesus Prayer: Pray without Ceasing 75
9 Anima Christi: Prayer for Happiness 87
10 Angel Prayers: Help in the Struggle 95
11 Prayers of St. Francis: God in All Things 105
12 St. Patrick's Breastplate: Prayer for Protection 117
13 Memorare: The Mother Who Will Never Let Us Down 125
14 Suscipe: The Radical Prayer 135
15 Veni Creator Spiritus: The Prayer of Power 143
16 Grace at Meals: The Prayer of Gratitude 153
17 The Liturgy of the Hours: The Prayer of the Church 161
18 Glory Be: Words of Praise 175
19 Amen: We Say Yes 183
Where Do My Prayers Go? 191
Using Vocal Prayer 197
Notes 205
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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 27, 2004

    Terrific resource will enrich your prayer life Immeasurably

    Most Catholics, whether they actively practice their faith or not, can recite the words to the Hail Mary as instinctively as they tie their shoelaces. They may not know the meaning or origin of the words they pray, but the prayer itself is a part of their core, their identity, their soul. In her latest book The Words We Pray (Loyola Press, October 2004, paperback, 210 pages), Amy Welborn gives her readers a gift ¿ the gift of prayer, of knowing not only the words to our favorite prayers, but the stories behind them and the occasions in life when turning to them can provide solace and joy. I have long admired Welborn¿s ability to write. Picking up one of her books, or treating yourself to an article she¿s written is like a combination of having lunch with a friend and a tutoring session with a knowledgeable mentor. The Words We Pray continues this tradition for me, as Amy Welborn captures so effectively the essence and origin of traditional Catholic prayers. The book opens with Welborn¿s heartfelt description of her own ¿journey¿ towards an eventual embracing of prayers such as the Salve Regina. The true stars of The Words We Pray are the prayers themselves. Welborn has included eighteen of the most popular and powerful Catholic prayers, and has richly described their histories and traditions. When we as Catholics turn to God in communication using these wonderful gems of our Faith, we take our place in the Communion of Saints who have over countless years turned to these prayers to seek intercession and aid. Welborn¿s book concludes with an interesting discussion of ¿where our prayers go¿ and the value of praying vocally, using traditional prayers. The Words We Pray serves not only as a valuable reference, but also as an invitation to a deeper and richer prayer life.

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