Sunday, September 15, 2013
566. What places are conducive to prayer?
(Comp 566) One can pray anywhere but the
choice of an appropriate place is not a matter of indifference when it comes to
prayer. The church is the proper place for liturgical prayer and Eucharistic
adoration. Other places also help one to pray, such as a “prayer corner” at
home, a monastery or a shrine.
“In brief”
(CCC 2696) The most appropriate places for prayer are
personal or family oratories, monasteries, places of pilgrimage, and above all
the church, which is the proper place for liturgical prayer for the parish
community and the privileged place for Eucharistic adoration.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2691) The church, the house of God, is the proper place
for the liturgical prayer of the parish community. It is also the privileged
place for adoration of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
The choice of a favorable place is not a matter of indifference for true
prayer. - For personal prayer, this can be a "prayer corner" with the
Sacred Scriptures and icons, in order to be there, in secret, before our Father
(Cf. Mt 6:6). In a Christian family, this kind of little oratory fosters prayer
in common. - In regions where monasteries exist, the vocation of these
communities is to further the participation of the faithful in the Liturgy of
the Hours and to provide necessary solitude for more intense personal prayer
(Cf. PC 7). - Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are
traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer. For pilgrims
seeking living water, shrines are special places for living the forms of
Christian prayer "in Church."
Reflection
(CCC 1181) A church, "a house
of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful
assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior,
offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the
faithful - this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer
and sacred ceremonial" (PO 5; Cf. SC 122-127). In this "house of
God" the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show
Christ to be present and active in this place (Cf. SC 7).
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