Prayer in the Catholic Church

[3] The Liturgy of the Hours of the Catholic Church is recited daily at fixed prayer times by the members of the consecrated life, the clergy and devout believers.

Thérèse of Lisieux describes prayer as "… a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.

It is therefore an act of the virtue of religion implying the deepest reverence for God and habituating a person to look to him for everything.

Vocal prayer is that which is made by using some approved form of words, read, sung or recited; such as the sign of the cross, the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office), the Angelus, grace before and after meals, etc.

Common vocal prayers include the Lord's Prayer (Our Father, Pater Noster), the Hail Mary (Ave Maria, Angelical salutation), the Glory Be (Gloria Patri, Minor Doxology), and the Apostles' Creed (Symbolum Apostolorum).

Vocal prayer can be as simple and uplifting as "Thank you, God, for this beautiful morning", or as formal as a Mass celebrating a very special occasion.

[12] Ordinary or active mental prayer consists of two operations; one belongs to the thinking faculty which applies the imagination, memory, and understanding to consider some truth or mystery.

The other operation is dependent on the will and compels one to love, desire, and ask for the good proposed by the mind, and make resolutions to arrive at it.

Teresa describes contemplative prayer [oración mental] as "...nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us".

These elements may be easily remembered using the acronym ACTS: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

The Catechism states that asking forgiveness, coupled with trusting humility, should be the first movement of a prayer of petition (see Contrition/Repentance above).

Along these lines, ancient monks and nuns in the Egyptian desert heard Jesus' voice in all the psalms.

In Christian monasteries and many religious houses throughout the world, vowed men and women gather three to seven times daily to pray the psalms.

Until the end of the Middle Ages it was not unknown for the laity to join in the singing of the Little Office of Our Lady, which was a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours providing a fixed daily cycle of twenty-five psalms to be recited.

Devotions are prayers or pious exercises used to demonstrate reverence for a particular aspect of God or the person of Jesus, or for a particular saint.

[40] The Rosary is a devotion for the meditation of the mysteries of joy, of sorrow and the glory of Jesus and Mary.

In the fourth century, Monica of Hippo is said to have prayed for the conversion of her son Augustine for fourteen years[47] and he eventually became an influential figure in Christian thought.