Notes on Prayer
The “Notes on Prayer” series is an inspiring collection of eight booklets from the Vatican, designed to deepen and enrich the prayer lives of Catholics as they journey through the Year of Jubilee 2025, themed “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Each booklet in this series is a powerful resource, offering spiritual guidance, reflections, and wisdom from Church teachings, Sacred Scripture, and the lives of the saints. Whether you’re seeking personal renewal or walking the path of forgiveness and reconciliation, this series will help you grow in intimacy with God during this special time of grace.
Notes on Prayer
The Books at Glance
1. Prayer Today: A Challenge to Overcome
In this opening booklet, Cardinal Angelo Comastri draws on the lives of saints to reveal the transformative power of prayer, removing the stumbling blocks that so many people in the modern world encounter.
2. Praying with the Psalms
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi reintroduces the timeless Psalms, which capture the deepest yearnings of the human heart, helping us rediscover the profound spiritual horizon these sacred songs offer humanity.
3. The Prayer of Jesus
Juan López Vergara explores the intimate prayer life of Jesus by focusing on His use of “Abba” (Dad), inviting readers to embrace God as a loving Father and model their prayer life on Christ’s own relationship with God.
4. Praying with Saints and Sinners
Fr Paul Brendan Murray, OP, takes a look at how saints like St Augustine and St Thérèse of Lisieux learned to pray, offering practical insights for overcoming the struggles that often undermine our own prayer life.
The Books at Glance
5. The Parables of Prayer
Msgr Antonio Pitta uncovers the lessons on prayer found in Jesus’s parables, particularly the profound teachings contained within the Our Father, Jesus’s greatest catechesis on prayer.
6. The Church in Prayer
Written by Carthusian monks, this booklet explains how, in prayer, the Church unites with Christ in His priestly ministry, making prayer not only a personal experience but a communal act of unity with the entire Body of Christ.
7. The Prayer of Mary and the Saints Who Met Her
Sr Catherine Aubin, OP, offers a meditation on Mary’s role as a guide in the Christian life of prayer, showing how she leads us into deeper trust and intimacy with God.
8. The Prayer Jesus Taught Us: Our Father
Fr Ugo Vanni’s closing meditation focuses on the Our Father, offering a fresh and scriptural perspective on this prayer that has been central to Christian life for centuries.