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

by Amy Welborn

Overview

Traditional prayer, often considered rote, tends to be neglected by people who claim to take their faith seriously. In The Words We Pray, author Amy Welborn offers an insightful exploration into 18 traditional prayers and the vital spiritual role each one can play.

This enchanting prayer book includes the history and traditional use of each prayer as well as personal anecdotes to show why the body of Catholic traditional prayers is "a treasure worth rediscovering." From the Psalms to traditional Marian prayers to the Lord's Prayer to Amen, the prayers explored in The Words We Pray are gifts from the past that can greatly benefit our spiritual life today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780829419566
Publisher:	Loyola Press
Publication date:	10/01/2004
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Amy Welborn is the general editor of Loyola Classics, a series of new editions of the some of the most distinguished Catholic novels of the twentieth century. She is the author of The Words We Pray, Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, Loyola Kids Book of Saints (Loyla Press), De-Coding Da Vinci, and the Proove It! series of apologetics books for youth (Our Sunday Visitor). Amy and her family reside in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

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

Editorial Reviews

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.

Publishers Weekly