Prayer may be the most obvious activity we engage in during Lent. No matter how abundant our prayer life may be, Lent is an opportunity to spend more time in prayer.
Matthew’s Gospel, which we heard on Ash Wednesday, tells us not to not pray like the hypocrites, but to pray privately. Here are some Lenten prayer suggestions for your private prayer.
These children from our Catholic child sponsorship programs in Uganda are learning the value of prayer from a young age.
We can enhance our prayer lives by making additions to our daily prayer. Praying the Rosary is a common activity during Lent. The addition of apps and websites detailing how to pray the Rosary make it easier for those who may need a little help.
There are also books designed to assist your Lenten prayer life. The books provide daily prayers and reflections which are topical for Lent. A book can sometimes help you reflect on the reading of the day. Dr. Scott Hahn and Matthew Kelly are among the authors who have written these type of books.
Listening to an audio presentation like Bishop Robert Barron’s My Beloved Son – Meditations For Lent, provides for great information and thoughtful reflection. This audio presentation is available to CARITAS For Children members on the Formed website.
Stations of the Cross devotions are another observance of the Lenten season. I am partial to this devotion in part because the patron saint of my parish, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, was responsible for popularizing this devotion in the 18th century. For some Catholics, the stations are forgotten during the liturgical year, hardly noticed on the walls of the nave. Stations of the Cross offer us a great opportunity to pray and reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation.
Finally, there is the Sacrament of Penance. It frees us from the burden of sin. Among the benefits of the Sacrament of Penance, along with being freed from our sins, is a strengthening to resist sin in the future.
The form of prayer you partake in can vary, but the most important thing is that you pray. A Lenten season filled with prayer will bring you closer to the Lord.
