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Read Bishop Barron’s Preface

 

        Pope Francis has designated 2025 as a Year of Jubilee, and in preparation for that celebration, he has, in turn, designated 2024 as a Year of Prayer. It is in response to the pope’s call for renewed catechesis on prayer that Word on Fire presents this small collection of texts from my writings and talks on the subject.
        Though I certainly prayed as a child and attended Mass every Sunday with my parents, I did not become fascinated with prayer until, as a teenager, I came across the works of Thomas Merton, especially The Seven Storey Mountain, Seeds of Contemplation, and The Sign of Jonas. These marvelous books opened my mind and heart to the mystical tradition stretching from the biblical authors, through the Fathers of the Church, up to figures such as Bernard, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, and especially John of the Cross. And Merton’s own witness made that tradition come alive for a young man eager to find his way to speak to God. Another very important step on my itinerary of prayer was my first visit to St. Meinrad Arch-abbey just weeks before my ordination to the priesthood. Though I had heard recordings of monastic chant before, I had never actually experienced the sound and texture of that ancient form of song. I will never forget the moment when I entered the abbey church, a little late for Morning Prayer, and heard those seventy voices crying out harmoniously and longingly for God.
        Perhaps my greatest teachers in the way of prayer have been the people whom I have served in the course of my pastoral ministry. How often as a priest I have heard the plaintive cry “Father, pray for me!” or “Father, pray for my mom, who has just gone into the hospital” or “Father, pray for my kids; they’re feeling kind of lost.” Those urgent requests taught me a lesson that John Paul II knew very well: at the end of the day, all prayer is a form of petition. They also compelled me to see that authentic prayer always connects us to others in love.
        My hope for this little book is very simple: that it might lead you on the road to prayer; that it might teach you something about prayer; and that, most importantly, it might prompt you actually to pray. And take great comfort, as I do, from this saying of St. Josemaría Escrivá: “You say you don’t know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and once you have said, ‘Lord, I don’t know how to pray!’ rest assured that you have begun to do so.”










Read Bishop Barron’s Preface

 
 

        Pope Francis has designated 2025 as a Year of Jubilee, and in preparation for that celebration, he has, in turn, designated 2024 as a Year of Prayer. It is in response to the pope’s call for renewed catechesis on prayer that Word on Fire presents this small collection of texts from my writings and talks on the subject.
        Though I certainly prayed as a child and attended Mass every Sunday with my parents, I did not become fascinated with prayer until, as a teenager, I came across the works of Thomas Merton, especially The Seven Storey Mountain, Seeds of Contemplation, and The Sign of Jonas. These marvelous books opened my mind and heart to the mystical tradition stretching from the biblical authors, through the Fathers of the Church, up to figures such as Bernard, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, and especially John of the Cross. And Merton’s own witness made that tradition come alive for a young man eager to find his way to speak to God. Another very important step on my itinerary of prayer was my first visit to St. Meinrad Arch- abbey just weeks before my ordination to the priesthood. Though I had heard recordings of monastic chant before, I had never actually experienced the sound and texture of that ancient form of song. I will never forget the mo- ment when I entered the abbey church, a little late for Morning Prayer, and heard those seventy voices crying out harmoniously and longingly for God.
        Perhaps my greatest teachers in the way of prayer have been the people whom I have served in the course of my pastoral ministry. How often as a priest I have heard the plaintive cry “Father, pray for me!” or “Father, pray for my mom, who has just gone into the hospital” or “Father, pray for my kids; they’re feeling kind of lost.” Those ur- gent requests taught me a lesson that John Paul II knew very well: at the end of the day, all prayer is a form of petition. They also compelled me to see that authentic prayer always connects us to others in love.
        My hope for this little book is very simple: that it might lead you on the road to prayer; that it might teach you something about prayer; and that, most importantly, it might prompt you actually to pray. And take great comfort, as I do, from this saying of St. Josemaría Escrivá: “You say you don’t know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and once you have said, ‘Lord, I don’t know how to pray!’ rest assured that you have begun to do so.”
 









 









 
























 

























 
 
 










 
 

  
  
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Contents




Preface

Part I: What Is Prayer?

1. Raising the Mind and Heart to God
2. A Conversation Between Friends
3. The Christian Difference
4. The Disorienting Quality of Real Prayer
5. Transfigured Prayer

Part II: Principles of Prayer

6. The Four Rules of Prayer
7. Why We Should Address Jesus as Thou
8. The Prayers of the Saints

Part III: Types of Prayer

9. Contrition and Cleansing the Temple
10. Adoration and Right Praise
11. Give Thanks in All Circumstances
12. Prayer of Petition

Part IV: Contemplative Prayer

13. John of the Cross and the Dark Night of the Soul
14. Teresa of Avila and Finding the Center
15. Thomas Merton and the Virginal Point

Part V: Liturgical Prayer

16. The Mass
17. The Liturgy of the Hours
18. The Creed

Part VI: Devotional Prayer

19. The Holy Hour
20. The Rosary
21. The Stations of the Cross
22. The Jesus Prayer

Part VII: Scriptural Prayer

23. Lectio Divina
24. The Our Father
25. The Psalms
26. The De Profundis
Notes


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Introducing Word on Fire Spark!

If you have children in your life, you want to cultivate wonder and joy in their hearts. In a world full of noise and distraction, you want their imagination to be formed by beauty so they will be drawn to God who is Beauty itself. You want them to be inspired by the saints and led to holiness. Word on Fire Spark is publishing the resources you have been waiting for. Spark offers carefully crafted stories with stunning illustrations designed to turn young hearts to the Gospel. 


 









 

 

About the Author

 

 
Bishop Robert Barron is Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota) and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He received a master’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 1982 and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992.

Bishop Barron was ordained a priest in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and then appointed to the theological faculty of Mundelein Seminary in 1992. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican. He served as the Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary / University of St. Mary of the Lake from 2012 until 2015.

On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Barron to be Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was ordained bishop on September 8, 2015. On June 2, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Robert Barron the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. 

 

Introducing Word on Fire Spark!

 
If you have children in your life, you want to cultivate wonder and joy in their hearts. In a world full of noise and distraction, you want their imagination to be formed by beauty so they will be drawn to God who is Beauty itself. You want them to be inspired by the saints and led to holiness. Word on Fire Spark is publishing the resources you have been waiting for. Spark offers carefully crafted stories with stunning illustrations designed to turn young hearts to the Gospel. 
 

“You say you don’t know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and once you have said, ‘Lord, I don’t know how to pray!’ rest assured that you have begun to do so.”

— St. Josemaría Escrivá     
 





 
























 










 
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