While being faithful to a daily prayer life can be relatively easy at times, the difficult part is praying with your full heart and soul. Often we may get into a rhythm that can numb us to what we are praying and we end up forgetting to pray from the heart.
This can be the case for many of our prayers, but is an easy habit to get into when praying the Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office). It is a daily recitation of the Psalms that can become monotonous if we are not careful.
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What is the Liturgy of the Hours?
One way that we can maintain a more prayerful spirit is to pray the recommended prayer before the Liturgy of the Hours. The Church provides a prayer that is not as widely used as it could be, not only for reciting the Liturgy of the Hours, but for any time dedicated to prayer. It gets to the very core of prayer and reminds us where our heart should be. If you are looking for something that will reinvigorate your prayer life, try this short preparation prayer.
Lord God, I offer this Divine Office to you, together with the adoration and praise of the angels and saints in heaven, as well as that of all the priests of your Church and all other consecrated souls. I present to you, holy Father, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, this chorus of prayer, made holy in the Heart of Jesus and made one with His most holy prayer. May all the words of this prayer be acts of pure love, adoration, thanksgiving, satisfaction, trust, and surrender to your holy Will. Let this prayer be for my weak self a spiritual communion, an act of humility, and of perfect self-denial; and may it be a sacrifice of praise and glory to you, O Blessed Trinity. Amen.
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A beginner’s guide to the Liturgy of the Hours
And today we celebrate...