Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part Four › Section One › Chapter One · Article 2 (§§2598–2622)
Paragraphs · 25
The Catechism's text is under copyright, so each paragraph is quoted briefly here with a link to the full text at vatican.va.
In the Fullness of Time
- §2598 — The drama of prayer is fully revealed to us in the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. To seek to understand his prayer through what his witnesses proclaim to us in the Gospel is to approach the holy Lord Jesus as Moses approached…vatican.va
- §2599 — The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from his mother, who kept all the great things the Almighty had done and treasured them in her heart.vatican.va
- §2600 — The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before his Father's witness to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment of the Father's plan of love by his Passion.vatican.va
- §2601 — "' In seeing the Master at prayer the disciple of Christ also wants to pray. By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of prayer, the children learn to pray to the Father.vatican.va
- §2602 — Jesus often draws apart to pray in solitude, on a mountain, preferably at night. He includes all men in his prayer, for he has taken on humanity in his incarnation, and he offers them to the Father when he offers himself.vatican.va
- §2603 — The evangelists have preserved two more explicit prayers offered by Christ during his public ministry. Each begins with thanksgiving. In the first, Jesus confesses the Father, acknowledges, and blesses him because he has hidden the mysteries of the Kingdom from those who think themselves learned…vatican.va
- §2604 — The second prayer, before the raising of Lazarus, is recorded by St. John. Thanksgiving precedes the event: "Father, I thank you for having heard me," which implies that the Father always hears his petitions.vatican.va
- §2605 — When the hour had come for him to fulfill the Father's plan of love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (“Abba .vatican.va
- §2606 — All the troubles, for all time, of humanity enslaved by sin and death, all the petitions and intercessions of salvation history are summed up in this cry of the incarnate Word.vatican.va
- §2607 — When Jesus prays he is already teaching us how to pray. His prayer to his Father is the theological path (the path of faith, hope, and charity) of our prayer to God.vatican.va
- §2608 — From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from…vatican.va
- §2609 — Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father.vatican.va
- §2610 — Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will."vatican.va
- §2611 — The prayer of faith consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in disposing the heart to do the will of the Father. Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan.vatican.va
- §2612 — In Jesus "the Kingdom of God is at hand." He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to watchfulness. In prayer the disciple keeps watch, attentive to Him Who Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness…vatican.va
- §2613 — Three principal parables on prayer are transmitted to us by St. Luke: - the first, "the importunate friend," invites us to urgent prayer: "Knock, and it will be opened to you."vatican.va
- §2614 — When Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples the mystery of prayer to the Father, he reveals to them what their prayer and ours must be, once he has returned to the Father in his glorified humanity.vatican.va
- §2615 — Even more, what the Father gives us when our prayer is united with that of Jesus is "another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth."vatican.va
- §2616 — Prayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) or in silence (the bearers…vatican.va
- §2617 — Mary's prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Father's plan of loving kindness: at…vatican.va
- §2618 — The Gospel reveals to us how Mary prays and intercedes in faith. At Cana, The mother of Jesus asks her son for the needs of a wedding feast; this is the sign of another feast - that of the wedding of the Lamb where he…vatican.va
- §2619 — That is why the Canticle of Mary, The Magnificat (Latin) or Megalynei (byzantine) is the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church; the song of the Daughter of Zion and of the new People of God; the song of thanksgiving for…vatican.va
In Brief
- §2620 — Jesus' filial prayer is the perfect model of prayer in the New Testament. Often done in solitude and in secret, the prayer of Jesus involves a loving adherence to the will of the Father even to the Cross and an absolute confidence in being heard.vatican.va
- §2621 — In his teaching, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with a purified heart, with lively and persevering faith, with filial boldness. He calls them to vigilance and invites them to present their petitions to God in his name.vatican.va
- §2622 — The prayers of the Virgin Mary, in her Fiat and Magnificat, are characterized by the generous offering of her whole being in faith.vatican.va
Scripture cited · 159 verses
Psalm 2:7 · Psalm 2:8 · Psalm 22:2 · Matthew 5:23 · Matthew 5:24 · Matthew 5:44 · Matthew 5:45 · Matthew 6:7 · Matthew 6:14 · Matthew 6:15 · Matthew 6:21 · Matthew 6:25 · Matthew 6:33 · Matthew 7:7 · Matthew 7:8 · Matthew 7:9 · Matthew 7:10 · Matthew 7:11 · Matthew 7:13 · Matthew 7:14 · Matthew 7:21 · Matthew 8:10 · Matthew 8:26 · Matthew 9:27 · Matthew 9:38 · Matthew 11:25 · Matthew 11:26 · Matthew 11:27 · Matthew 15:28 · Matthew 21:22 · Mark 1:35 · Mark 1:40 · Mark 1:41 · Mark 5:28 · Mark 5:36 · Mark 6:6 · Mark 6:46 · Mark 7:29 · Mark 9:23 · Mark 10:48 · Mark 11:24 · Mark 15:34 · Mark 15:37 · Luke 1:38 · Luke 1:46 · Luke 1:47 · Luke 1:48 · Luke 1:49 · Luke 1:50 · Luke 1:51 · Luke 1:52 · Luke 1:53 · Luke 1:54 · Luke 1:55 · Luke 2:19 · Luke 2:49 · Luke 2:51 · Luke 3:21 · Luke 5:16 · Luke 6:12 · Luke 7:37 · Luke 7:38 · Luke 9:18 · Luke 9:19 · Luke 9:20 · Luke 9:28 · Luke 10:2 · Luke 10:21 · Luke 10:22 · Luke 10:23 · Luke 11:1 · Luke 11:5 · Luke 11:6 · Luke 11:7 · Luke 11:8 · Luke 11:9 · Luke 11:10 · Luke 11:11 · Luke 11:12 · Luke 11:13 · Luke 18:1 · Luke 18:2 · Luke 18:3 · Luke 18:4 · Luke 18:5 · Luke 18:6 · Luke 18:7 · Luke 18:8 · Luke 18:9 · Luke 18:10 · Luke 18:11 · Luke 18:12 · Luke 18:13 · Luke 18:14 · Luke 21:34 · Luke 21:35 · Luke 21:36 · Luke 22:32 · Luke 22:40 · Luke 22:41 · Luke 22:42 · Luke 22:43 · Luke 22:44 · Luke 22:46 · Luke 23:34 · Luke 23:39 · Luke 23:40 · Luke 23:41 · Luke 23:42 · Luke 23:43 · Luke 23:46 · John 2:1 · John 2:2 · John 2:3 · John 2:4 · John 2:5 · John 2:6 · John 2:7 · John 2:8 · John 2:9 · John 2:10 · John 2:11 · John 2:12 · John 4:34 · John 11:41 · John 11:42 · John 14:6 · John 14:13 · John 14:14 · John 14:16 · John 14:17 · John 14:23 · John 14:24 · John 14:25 · John 14:26 · John 15:7 · John 15:16 · John 16:13 · John 16:14 · John 16:15 · John 16:23 · John 16:24 · John 16:25 · John 16:26 · John 16:27 · John 19:25 · John 19:26 · John 19:27 · John 19:28 · John 19:30 · Acts 1:14 · Acts 13:33 · Ephesians 1:9 · Hebrews 2:12 · Hebrews 2:15 · Hebrews 4:15 · Hebrews 5:7 · Hebrews 5:8 · Hebrews 5:9