Let's face it, as a potential priest or religious, one of your primary responsibilities will be to pray. In fact, you will be called upon often to offer a prayer for a dinner, a reception, a gatherng, all sorts of events that will require prayer. You will also be bound to the Liturgy of the Hours, which will afford you the opportunity to pray the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Daytime Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer, and you will have your own personal prayers and devotions, in essence, you will have to become a "professional pray-er." That is why, at this moment, you are not just discerning a vocation in your prayer, you are learning how to pray, and in learning how to pray, you are, hopefully, coming to see the many different ways in which we can pray. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church and St. Therese of Lisieux say: “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (CCC 2559). Yet, at it's core, it is simply a desire to know God more and not just know Him but fall in love with Him, to have an ongoing relationship that does not end when our prayer is answered, but to continue, as in any relationship, with the give and take that it demands. That is why there are so many different ways to pray, because there are so many different ways in which we express our love and our commitment in a relaitonship.

Vocal Prayer

When someone asked Jesus how to pray, He taught them, one of the many, of what we call “vocal prayers,” that is, those types of prayers where we express our inner life with words. Or, as the Catechism puts it: “Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.” So that because we are body and soul, sometimes the easiest way to convey the interior dispositions of our soul is to verbalize them, sometimes with set prayers, other times with our own style. It was Victor Hugo who put it beautifully, he said: “Certain thoughts are prayers.  There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.” That is probably the best way to understand vocal prayer.

Mental Prayer

Vocal prayer also lends itself to something we call mental prayer, that is, that type of prayer that is meditative, where what we speak leads to something deeper, a perfect example of this is the Rosary. For, with the Rosary, we are verbalizing prayers but there is a point where they become background music, as it were, as the entirety of the life of Jesus and Mary unfold before us, so that we get enveloped in their lives, meditating on those scenes that are, sometimes, more vivid than the best HD movie we can think of, because, we are not so much watching as much as we are becoming a part of the mystery set before us.

It is the same with Scripture as well, for it is one thing to read and hear out loud those things that Jesus does and says, but, quite another, when we are next to Him as He heals the leper, who was obedient to His Will, exorcises demons on the street, or is ridiculed for saying a child who was dead was asleep, only to speak two words, "Tal'itha cu'mi" and to watch as the child not only gets up but walks around. And, because it is so vivid, because the meditation is so close to us, we cannot but help be changed by the experience.

Contemplative Prayer

St. John Vianney, the patron of diocesan priests and a great model of priests himself, would often see one of his parishoners kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament for hours on end, yet, from St. John's perspective, it did not appear as though he was really praying. So, finally, after curiosity got the better of him, he asked the parishoner what it was he was doing, the parishoner looked at St. John Vianney and simply said: "I look at Him and He looks back at me." That is probably the best way to understand contemplative prayer, it is, in essence, reaching a level where "heart speaks to heart" and where no words are necessary.

In fact, Fr. Thomas Dubay, a teacher and retreat master on prayer and the spiritual life, puts it well, he says: “Even though contemplative prayer does not usually suggest specific solutions to the ordinary problems of daily life, it does go a long way, he says, in providing an insightful atmosphere and a mighty motivation to address them with love.” In other words, that time of contemplation can bring a new perspective to the same life we live each day, it does not make it different, rather, it transforms how we see it, because we see it through God’s eyes and not our own.

Each of these types of prayers are important for one who is discerning a vocation, because it teaches us to become comfortable with praying, but it also helps us to grow closer to God, who is the source of your vocation and the one whom you will have to bring to others daily. So, that time spent with Him not only give you what you need, but gives you what others need as well.

Our own Bishop Arthur Serratelli, has written a beautiful vocation prayer that you might make a habit of praying each day as you better discern your vocation.

Prayer for Vocations

 Father, in the fullness of time,
you sent your Son,
 born of the Virgin Mary to be our Savior. 
He preached the good news of our salvation, 
healed the sick and cast out evil.
 Now as crucified and risen Lord,
 he pours out on us the Holy Spirit of adoption, 
making us your sons and daughters.
 Through the Church, he calls us to accept the gospel 
and to share in your own divine life. 
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life for all people .

In your mercy, you do not abandon us. 
In every age, 
you raise up men and women
 to offer their lives for the sake of the gospel
 and the work of the Church. 
We beg you, therefore,
 grant to this local Church of Paterson 
an increase of vocations 
to the priesthood, religious life and diaconate. 
Give us courageous and faithful men
 to serve as worthy priests and deacons. 
Bless us with generous and zealous 
men and women willing to seek holiness 
in consecrated life.
May we rejoice in an abundance
of vocations from our families
so that we may yield a rich harvest of good works 
for your honor and glory.
 We ask this in the name of Jesus who lives and reigns
 with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.

+Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, S.T.D., S.S.L.,D.D.
Bishop of Paterson
 
Oración por las vocaciones

Padre, en la plenitud de los tiempos,
enviaste a tu hijo, nacido de la Virgen María,
para ser nuestro salvador.
El predicó la buena noticia de nuestra salvación,
sanó los enfermos, y hecho fuera los demonios.
Ahora, como el Señor crucificado y resucitado,
derrama sobre nosotros el Espíritu Santo de adopción,
que nos hace hijos e hijas tuyos.
Por medio de la iglesia, nos llama a aceptar el evangelio
y compartir en su propia vida divina.
Jesús es el camino, la verdad y la vida para todos.

Por tu misericordia, no nos abandona,
pues en cada época, escoges hombres y mujeres
que ofrece su vida por el evangelio
y la obra de la iglesia.
Por eso, te pedimos que concedas a la
Iglesia de Paterson, el aumento de vocaciones
al sacerdocio y a la vida religiosa.
Danos hombres valientes y fieles que sean dignos sacerdotes.
Bendícenos con hombres y mujeres generosas y entusiásticas,
dispuestos a buscar la santidad con su vida consagrada.
Permite que gocemos la abundancia de vocaciones en nuestras familias,
y así tengamos una cosecha rica en buenas obras,
para tu honra y gloria.
Te lo pedimos en el nombre de Jesús, quien vive y reina contigo y
el Espíritu Santo, un solo Dios, por los siglos de los siglos.

+Monseñor Arturo Serratelli, Obispo de Paterson