558. What are the sources of Christian prayer? (part 1)

558. What are the sources of Christian prayer? (part 1)     

(Comp 558) They are: the Word of God which gives us “the surpassing knowledge” of Christ (Philippians 3:8); the Liturgy of the Church that proclaims, makes present and communicates the mystery of salvation; the theological virtues; and everyday situations because in them we can encounter God.  “I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. … My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.” (The Curé of Ars, Saint John Mary Vianney)

“In brief”

(CCC 2662) The Word of God, the liturgy of the Church, and the virtues of faith, hope, and charity are sources of prayer.

To deepen and explain

(CCC 2652) The Holy Spirit is the living water "welling up to eternal life" (Jn 4:14) in the heart that prays. It is he who teaches us to accept it at its source: Christ. Indeed in the Christian life there are several wellsprings where Christ awaits us to enable us to drink of the Holy Spirit.  (CCC 2654) The spiritual writers, paraphrasing Matthew 7:7, summarize in this way the dispositions of the heart nourished by the word of God in prayer "Seek in reading and you will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be opened to you by contemplation" (Guigo the Carthusian, Scala Paradisi: PL 40, 998). 

Reflection

(CCC 2653) The Church "forcefully and specially exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn 'the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ' (Phil 3:8) by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures.... Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For 'we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles"' (DV 25; cf. Phil 3:8; St. Ambrose, De officiis ministrorum 1, 20,88: PL 16, 50). [IT CONTINUES]

(The question: What are the sources of Christian prayer? continues)