Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part Four › Section One › Chapter One · Article 3 (§§2623–2649)
Paragraphs · 27
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 Age of the Church
- §2623 — On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Promise was poured out on the disciples, gathered "together in one place." While awaiting the Spirit, "all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer."vatican.va
- §2624 — In the first community of Jerusalem, believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers." This sequence is characteristic of the Church's prayer: founded on the apostolic faith; authenticated by charity; nourished in the Eucharist.vatican.va
- §2625 — In the first place these are prayers that the faithful hear and read in the Scriptures, but also that they make their own - especially those of the Psalms, in view of their fulfillment in Christ.vatican.va
I. Blessing and Adoration
- §2626 — Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it are united in dialogue with each other.vatican.va
- §2627 — TWO fundamental forms express this movement: our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father - we bless him for having blessed us; it implores the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father - he blesses us.vatican.va
- §2628 — Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil.vatican.va
II. Prayer of Petition
- §2629 — The vocabulary of supplication in the New Testament is rich in shades of meaning: ask, beseech, plead, invoke, entreat, cry out, even "struggle in prayer."vatican.va
- §2630 — The New Testament contains scarcely any prayers of lamentation, so frequent in the Old Testament. In the risen Christ the Church's petition is buoyed by hope, even if we still wait in a state of expectation and must be converted anew every day.vatican.va
- §2631 — The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"vatican.va
- §2632 — Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming.vatican.va
- §2633 — When we share in God's saving love, we understand that every need can become the object of petition. Christ, who assumed all things in order to redeem all things, is glorified by what we ask the Father in his name.vatican.va
III. Prayer of Intercession
- §2634 — Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all men, especially sinners.vatican.va
- §2635 — Since Abraham, intercession - asking on behalf of another has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints.vatican.va
- §2636 — The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely. Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of preaching the Gospel but also intercedes for them.vatican.va
IV. Prayer of Thanksgiving
- §2637 — Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his glory.vatican.va
- §2638 — As in the prayer of petition, every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving. the letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgiving, and the Lord Jesus is always present in it: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the…vatican.va
V. Prayer of Praise
- §2639 — Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS.vatican.va
- §2640 — St. Luke in his gospel often expresses wonder and praise at the marvels of Christ and in his Acts of the Apostles stresses them as actions of the Holy Spirit: the community of Jerusalem, the invalid healed by Peter and John, the crowd that gives…vatican.va
- §2641 — "[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." Like the inspired writers of the New Testament, the first Christian communities read the Book of Psalms in a new way, singing in it the mystery of Christ.vatican.va
- §2642 — The Revelation of "what must soon take place," the Apocalypse, is borne along by the songs of the heavenly liturgy but also by the intercession of the "witnesses" (martyrs).vatican.va
- §2643 — The Eucharist contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is "the pure offering" of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name and, according to the traditions of East and West, it is the "sacrifice of praise."vatican.va
In Brief
- §2644 — The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise.vatican.va
- §2645 — Because God blesses the human heart, it can in return bless him who is the source of every blessing.vatican.va
- §2646 — Forgiveness, the quest for the Kingdom, and every true need are objects of the prayer of petition.vatican.va
- §2647 — Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. It knows no boundaries and extends to one's enemies.vatican.va
- §2648 — Every joy and suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's whole life: "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess 5:18).vatican.va
- §2649 — Prayer of praise is entirely disinterested and rises to God, lauds him, and gives him glory for his own sake, quite beyond what he has done, but simply because HE IS.vatican.va
Scripture cited · 165 verses
Psalm 24:9 · Psalm 24:10 · Psalm 95:1 · Psalm 95:2 · Psalm 95:3 · Psalm 95:4 · Psalm 95:5 · Psalm 95:6 · Malachi 1:11 · Matthew 6:10 · Matthew 6:33 · Luke 11:2 · Luke 11:13 · Luke 18:13 · Luke 23:28 · Luke 23:34 · Luke 24:27 · Luke 24:44 · John 14:13 · John 14:26 · Acts 1:14 · Acts 2:1 · Acts 2:42 · Acts 2:47 · Acts 3:9 · Acts 4:21 · Acts 6:6 · Acts 7:60 · Acts 12:5 · Acts 13:3 · Acts 13:48 · Acts 20:36 · Acts 21:5 · Romans 8:16 · Romans 8:22 · Romans 8:23 · Romans 8:24 · Romans 8:26 · Romans 8:27 · Romans 8:34 · Romans 10:1 · Romans 12:14 · Romans 15:5 · Romans 15:6 · Romans 15:13 · Romans 15:30 · 1 Corinthians 8:6 · 2 Corinthians 1:3 · 2 Corinthians 9:14 · 2 Corinthians 13:14 · Ephesians 1:3 · Ephesians 1:4 · Ephesians 1:5 · Ephesians 1:6 · Ephesians 1:7 · Ephesians 1:8 · Ephesians 1:9 · Ephesians 1:10 · Ephesians 1:11 · Ephesians 1:12 · Ephesians 1:13 · Ephesians 1:14 · Ephesians 1:16 · Ephesians 1:17 · Ephesians 1:18 · Ephesians 1:19 · Ephesians 1:20 · Ephesians 1:21 · Ephesians 1:22 · Ephesians 1:23 · Ephesians 3:20 · Ephesians 3:21 · Ephesians 5:14 · Ephesians 5:19 · Ephesians 5:20 · Ephesians 6:18 · Ephesians 6:19 · Ephesians 6:20 · Ephesians 6:23 · Ephesians 6:24 · Philippians 1:3 · Philippians 1:4 · Philippians 2:4 · Philippians 2:6 · Philippians 2:7 · Philippians 2:8 · Philippians 2:9 · Philippians 2:10 · Philippians 2:11 · Philippians 4:6 · Philippians 4:7 · Colossians 1:3 · Colossians 1:4 · Colossians 1:5 · Colossians 1:6 · Colossians 1:15 · Colossians 1:16 · Colossians 1:17 · Colossians 1:18 · Colossians 1:19 · Colossians 1:20 · Colossians 3:16 · Colossians 3:17 · Colossians 4:2 · Colossians 4:3 · Colossians 4:4 · Colossians 4:12 · 1 Thessalonians 5:17 · 1 Thessalonians 5:18 · 1 Thessalonians 5:25 · 2 Thessalonians 1:11 · 1 Timothy 2:5 · 1 Timothy 2:6 · 1 Timothy 2:7 · 1 Timothy 2:8 · 1 Timothy 3:16 · 1 Timothy 6:15 · 1 Timothy 6:16 · 2 Timothy 2:1 · 2 Timothy 2:11 · 2 Timothy 2:12 · 2 Timothy 2:13 · Hebrews 7:25 · James 1:5 · James 1:6 · James 1:7 · James 1:8 · James 1:17 · 1 Peter 1:3 · 1 Peter 1:4 · 1 Peter 1:5 · 1 Peter 1:6 · 1 Peter 1:7 · 1 Peter 1:8 · 1 Peter 1:9 · 1 John 1:7 · 1 John 1:8 · 1 John 1:9 · 1 John 1:10 · 1 John 2:1 · 1 John 2:2 · 1 John 3:22 · Revelation 4:8 · Revelation 4:9 · Revelation 4:10 · Revelation 4:11 · Revelation 5:9 · Revelation 5:10 · Revelation 5:11 · Revelation 5:12 · Revelation 5:13 · Revelation 5:14 · Revelation 6:10 · Revelation 7:10 · Revelation 7:11 · Revelation 7:12 · Revelation 18:24 · Revelation 19:1 · Revelation 19:2 · Revelation 19:3 · and 5 more