BUT WHAT IF THERE ARE NO PRIESTS? The Power of Prayer
THE POWER OF PRAYER
Importance of a Training in Prayer for the Laity
by Rev. Richard Graef, CS.Sp.
Prayer is perhaps one of the most important elements of religious
practice. It can substitute for the sacraments (in some cases absolutely),
even though in God’s ordinary providence these be necessary for eternal
salvation. But nothing else can supply the place of prayer. Hence one of
the chief tasks of religious education is training in prayer. And yet no
duty is perhaps more casually undertaken than just this. In many cases we
Catholics are acquainted with vocal prayer only, and this in set texts and
formulas. We are fully acquainted with prayer of petition; we have
frequently heard of the prayer of praise, of glorification, of thanks, but
scarcely anything of mental prayer. Many, indeed, are in the like case
with the new converts in Ephesus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles:
“Paul found certain disciples, and he said to them: Have you received
the Holy Ghost since ye believed? But they said to him: We have not so
much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:1). They had not
received Him and they had never heard of Him. Similarly, many of the
faithful can say: we have not practiced mental prayer, we never even heard
of it. Without mental prayer there can be no interior life.
Now all Christians are assuredly called to live such a life and, as a consequence, to foster it. And yet many of the laity hold that such an obligation binds priests and religious only, not themselves. Is it a wonder, then, that thespiritual life of many followers of Christ is so sickly and so superficial?
Our religious training is almost wholly confined to instruction on the
sacraments; they alone are kept in view. Adults receive a thorough
instruction on these before receiving baptism. We are familiar with
instruction for First Confession, First Holy Communion and Confirmation.
When at all possible, instruction is given also to engaged and married
couples. We need not mention the long training which candidates for the
priesthood receive before they are ordained.
Instruction with regard to the sacraments is obviously necessary; but it
is in fact an instruction which points to the priest. It leads to a
certain lack of self-reliance or independence in religious matters. The
sacraments are more or less dependent on the priest. BUT WHAT IF THERE ARE NO PRIESTS? That contingency has now become something to be reckoned with.
As a consequence church and tabernacles are empty, and the altar has no
significance. If the spiritual life of the faithful is made entirely
dependent on priests or sacraments and these outer supports are suddenly
withdrawn, then there is great danger of a religious collapse on the part
of many. People have to be Catholics and remain Catholics even when there
are no priests or sacraments; they have to be Catholics not merely in
Catholic but in pagan, even hostile surroundings.
Now the person who does not lead an inner life of prayer is practically
totally dependent on the help of priest and sacraments, while he who knows
how to pray well can for a time do without them and survive a period of
emergency or persecution. He knows his way to God; he can keep in constant touch with Him and draw on Him for help. But where will people get help if they know not how to pray and if there are no priests and sacraments at their disposal? In such cases, as experience unfortunately shows, that is the end of religious practice as far as they are concerned, whereas we need not be too anxious about those who can pray properly.
Important and necessary as is a training for reception of the sacraments, a training in prayer is still more important. Here too there is question of doing the one and not omitting the other. It is essential that a proper training in
prayer be combined with instruction on the sacraments, not only because
prayer can substitute for the sacraments in case of necessity, but also
because the sacraments, like the spiritual life as a whole, can properly
develop only when based on a solid foundation of prayer. Perhaps it is
that the priest’s role is unduly emphasized, and, as a result, his
responsibilities and his personal activity loom excessively large. He is
minister and dispenser of the mysteries of God (1 Cor.4:1); he distributes
sacramental grace to the faithful under his care; he instructs and teaches
them; he places his services at their disposal; he mediates for them. That
is his task. But it is the essential task of the faithful to exploit and
make full use of the graces thus distributed.
Basically, each one is the custodian of his own soul. The priest, the
minister of Christ, can only reach to a person’s mind and understanding.
But the deciding factor in the spiritual life is not the mind but the
heart. Whether or not the heart is touched and inflamed depends on the
Holy Ghost and the individual soul in the first place, and not on the
priest. Priests have as a rule a good deal of work, hard work, to face;
but in many cases their efforts are unavailing, the reason being that the
impression prevails that they have to do all the work and that success
depends on themselves. In fact, however, the priest is only the “friend
of the Bridegroom” (John 3:29); he can but introduce souls to the
Bridegroom; the final decision rests with those so introduced, and depends
above all else on their prayer. Hence pastors of souls must take pains in
the matter of a proper training in prayer. If only the faithful knew how
to pray then the priest’s labour in planting and watering would not fail
in the desired increase (1 Cor. 3:7). If his hearers laid the matter to
heart (Is. 57:1) God’s words would blaze within as a burning fire (Jer.
20:9)
Where lies the responsibility for training in prayer? First and foremost with the family, the home, and more particularly with the mother. She promotes devotion in the house. Nothing is more disastrous than a failure in the home, especially in the domain of religion. Neglect here can scarcely ever be made good; preachers and catechists, even the best equipped, will scarcely succeed. Hence due attention to young mothers to see they do justice to their consecrated duty in the home would seem to be the most important duty of a pastor. If we have the mothers we have the families too; we have the young people; we have, in consequence, future generations. If we lose the pious influence over the family then we lose everything. No association, no regimentation, will be effective in the long run.
In the school, we can usually do little more than teach the children
their catechism, just as we teach them their poetry. Whether the art of
praying can be taught at school, along with the background that makes their
prayers real prayer -- that is the great question. It may be that prayer
is only learnt in a religious atmosphere of silence and calm such as is
found in the quiet of home, quiet cultivated and maintained by the mother
for herself and her children. Hence first beginnings in the habit of
prayer are made most effectively, if partly unconsciously, at a mother’s
knee. At school, in church, where there is question of a large number of
children this devout atmosphere of prayer can scarcely be created. And
even if in school and church children could be taught how to pray, little
would be gained if the home fails to cooperate.
If prayerfulness is missing from the home, if no family prayers are said,
no prayers morning or night or at meals; if the parents never say their
prayers, never get the children to say theirs -- then, despite all that is
done by teacher or priest, no prayerful spirit will be developed. And if
such a spirit of prayer is not fostered in the home then the children
forget even the Our Father and the Hail Mary, just as they forget the poems
they learnt by heart. What results can we expect if the family breaks down
here? If children from Catholic circles and Catholic families come to
school unable to make the sign of the cross or say their Glory be to the
Father or their Hail Mary correctly, what hopes can we entertain for the
future when Catholic parents adopt an attitude of utter irresponsibility in
this matter, saying perhaps to themselves: no need for us to teach our
children to pray; our priest is there for that; he is paid for that!
How comes it that so many of our young people abandon to all intents and
purposes the practice of their religion as soon as they leave school? They
are products of a Catholic upbringing, heirs to century-long Catholic
traditions; they have had the benefit of religious instruction for several
hours a week for eight full years in Catholic schools, and later in
vocational schools. Instead of becoming staunch Catholics, rooted in their
attachment to the Church and in the practice of the faith, they have
outgrown both. A contrast to what we find in Mission lands where two or
three years of catechetical instruction suffice to make quite passable
Christians out of people with pagan traditions and living in completely
pagan surroundings.
REFERENCE
Graef, Rev. Richard. (1961) The Power of Prayer. London, B. Oates and
Washbourne.
Sincerely in Christ
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"
http://olrl.org
Views: 294
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on
-
I apologize for the text formatting. Ning (the web provider) is not known for running smoothly most of the time :( and it won't let me fix it properly.
However the text is still readable and so timely!
Thank you Our Lady of the Rosary Library Admins for this excellent piece.
May God bless you always+
-
Permalink Reply by David Kaftal on
-
Excellent piece with excellent points. Of course, there is a bit of a catch-22: if there are no priests, there are no priests teaching people how to develop their prayer life so that they can survive without priests!
I know there are books about prayer written by great saints. I've read St. Francis de Sales book, and although I remember that it was inspiring, I also remember that it seemed almost impossibly lofty at the time. A lot of what I've heard recommended as great spiritual literature similarly is just a little beyond me, either because of lack of theological formation (much of St. Thomas comes to mind) or other lacks. Maybe it's because I fried my brains back in the '60s, dunno. I found Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence understandable and useful. Of course, it's very simple.
Thank goodness for the Holy Rosary! At least there's a prayer that I can say that I know is pleasing to God and gives me spiritual sustenance.
But anyway, I wonder if anyone can recommend a book that teaches mental prayer, specifically, from a sound Catholic perspective in a not-too-diffcult to understand way. I would be grateful for mention of any such in this thread.
-
-
I can think of a lot to aid mental prayer, i.e. to aid meditations but I can't think of any specifically on mental prayer.
-
-
After some searching I did find this one...
-
-
Thank you DM! And free and in digital format to boot -- I can download it to my Kindle. God bless you.
-
-
Ooooo. It even begins with a letter of approval by Pope Saint Pius X!
-
-
[laughing]
David Kaftal said:Ooooo. It even begins with a letter of approval by Pope Saint Pius X!
© 2025 Created by Dawn Marie.
Powered by
