Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part Four › Section One › Chapter Three · Article 1 (§§2700–2724)
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.
I. Vocal prayer
- §2700 — Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to him to whom we are speaking in prayer: "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not…vatican.va
- §2701 — Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his disciples, drawn by their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the Our Father.vatican.va
- §2702 — The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience the need to translate our feelings externally.vatican.va
- §2703 — This need also corresponds to a divine requirement. God seeks worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that rises from the depths of the soul.vatican.va
- §2704 — Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer, however, cannot neglect vocal prayer.vatican.va
II. Meditation
- §2705 — Meditation is above all a quest. the mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking.vatican.va
- §2706 — To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life.vatican.va
- §2707 — There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower.vatican.va
- §2708 — Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ.vatican.va
III. Contemplative Prayer
- §2709 — What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us."vatican.va
- §2710 — The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to…vatican.va
- §2711 — Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us.vatican.va
- §2712 — Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more.vatican.va
- §2713 — Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty.vatican.va
- §2714 — Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in (our) hearts through faith" and we may be "grounded in love."vatican.va
- §2715 — Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his holy cure about his prayer before the tabernacle.vatican.va
- §2716 — Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child.vatican.va
- §2717 — Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" or "silent love." Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love.vatican.va
- §2718 — Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. the mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.vatican.va
- §2719 — Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith.vatican.va
In Brief
- §2720 — The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feasts of the liturgical year.vatican.va
- §2721 — The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart.vatican.va
- §2722 — Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.vatican.va
- §2723 — Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.vatican.va
- §2724 — Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love.vatican.va
Scripture cited · 42 verses
Song of Songs 1:7 · Jeremiah 31:33 · Matthew 11:25 · Matthew 11:26 · Matthew 26:40 · Mark 4:4 · Mark 4:5 · Mark 4:6 · Mark 4:7 · Mark 4:15 · Mark 4:16 · Mark 4:17 · Mark 4:18 · Mark 4:19 · Mark 14:36 · Luke 7:36 · Luke 7:37 · Luke 7:38 · Luke 7:39 · Luke 7:40 · Luke 7:41 · Luke 7:42 · Luke 7:43 · Luke 7:44 · Luke 7:45 · Luke 7:46 · Luke 7:47 · Luke 7:48 · Luke 7:49 · Luke 7:50 · Luke 19:1 · Luke 19:2 · Luke 19:3 · Luke 19:4 · Luke 19:5 · Luke 19:6 · Luke 19:7 · Luke 19:8 · Luke 19:9 · Luke 19:10 · Ephesians 3:16 · Ephesians 3:17