We are now in the Lenten season: the liturgical season of purple vestments and the perennial, conscience-pricking question, “So, what are you doing for Lent?”
Just as with any devotional practices, one’s Lenten observances can end up going to one extreme or the other. On the one hand, it can become rote and minimal, hence the annual recurrence of jokes in homilies about giving up chocolate; on the other hand, it can lead to over-ambitious attempts to make a complete renovation of one’s spiritual life, taking on a list of practices that fizzle out long before Laetare Sunday.
As I have grown older and, I trust, at least slightly wiser, I’ve come to recognize the value of taking small steps in one’s spiritual life. Aiming to become a spiritual superhero, as it were, tends to have the opposite effect: When one crashes to earth (or simply fails to get off the ground), it can be tempting to give up any attempt at a Lenten discipline. But as St. Philip Neri put it, “One of the most excellent means of perseverance is discretion; we must not wish to do everything at once, or become a saint in four days.”
In that vein, I’d like to suggest a Lenten practice both manageable and fruitful: to memorize a short prayer or two for mental prayer in specific circumstances. Choosing a richly meaningful prayer to memorize means you have something that will reward repeated reflection. I encourage you to learn something new to you, so that you can nourish your imagination with additional wisdom from the Church’s tradition. On a practical note, memorizing a short text for mental prayer also gets around many of the usual roadblocks to increasing prayer: “I will pray more” is too unspecific to succeed, and taking on something like adoration or daily Bible reading is vulnerable to factors outside your control, such as your family’s schedule, and can be difficult to keep up when you’re tired and busy.
Let me offer two recommendations that have been very fruitful in my own prayer life.
1) Ave Regina Caelorum
Traditionally, there are specific Marian anthems (or hymns) for different parts of the year. The one traditionally sung or said from Candlemas (February 2, the Purification) to the Easter Vigil is the Ave regina caelorum. There are various English translations; the one I like best is this one:
Hail, thou Queen of Heaven enthroned!
Hail, by angels Mistress owned!
Root of Jesse, Gate of Morn,
Whence the world’s true Light was born.
Glorious Virgin, joy to thee,
Loveliest whom in Heaven they see:
Fairest thou, where all are fair,
Plead with Christ our sins to spare.
In Latin it runs thusly; I encourage you to listen to some recordings of it being sung (as here), as this makes it easier to memorize (and if you are fortunate and your parish sings a Marian antiphon at the end of Mass, you can join in!):
Ave, Regina caelorum,
Ave, Domina Angelorum:
Salve, radix, salve, porta
Ex qua mundo lux est orta:
Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa,
Vale, o valde decora,
Et pro nobis Christum exora.
As with all Marian prayers, as with Mary’s example in the Gospels, by meditating on these words we are pointed to Christ. How is it that the humble Mary is Queen of Heaven? Because her Son, the King of the Universe, honored her in this way. She is the root of Jesse, from which the flower sprang who is Christ; she is the gate of Morning, as it is through her immaculate flesh that Christ, the true Light, came into the world.
Choosing a richly meaningful prayer to memorize means you have something that will reward repeated reflection.
Why not memorize this prayer and say it first thing in the morning, when you get up? Try connecting it to something specific, such as when you sit up in bed. Don’t reach for your phone—pause for just a moment and pray; it’s short enough that you don’t have much of an excuse to skip it. Or pray it while you’re getting dressed.
2) Prayer of Thanksgiving After Receiving Communion
Having a prayer for thanksgiving after receiving Holy Communion is particularly helpful. We can reflect on the astonishing fact that we have received the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the same Jesus Christ who was cradled in Mary’s arms, worked miracles, suffered, died, was resurrected, and ascended bodily into heaven. It also encourages the habit of using Mass as a time for prayer.
My suggestion here comes from part of a Catholic tradition that may be unfamiliar to some readers but is well worth exploring: the Ordinariate, which brings the richness of the musical and liturgical patrimony of the Anglican tradition into the fullness of the Catholic Church. The Ordinariate was originally created for converts coming from the Anglican—or, in the US, Episcopalian tradition—but is open to all Catholics, whatever their background, and provides an important contribution to the enrichment of Catholic worship and prayer because of its emphasis on beauty and reverence in an English-language liturgy. (You can find out more here about the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (North America), the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (UK), and the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (Australia).
In the Divine Worship liturgy, the following prayer is said together after Communion; I have found it eminently suitable for private prayer at any Mass. I usually pray it either after I return to my pew or after the dismissal and final hymn.
Almighty and ever-living God,
we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries,
with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;
and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us;
and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son,
the blessed company of all faithful people;
and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom,
by the merits of the most precious death and Passion of thy dear Son.
And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace,
that we may continue in that holy fellowship,
and do all such good works as thou has prepared for us to walk in;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit,
be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
The Divine Worship liturgy uses what we might call a “high” English register, with some words and syntax that may be unfamiliar. One of the benefits of this difference in language is that it reminds us that in prayer and worship, we are aiming to grow in holiness—and one meaning of “holy” is to be set apart, consecrated. It’s good, right, and important to speak to God as freely as we would to any other person, but it is also good, right, and important to recognize that in prayer we are speaking to the One who knows and loves us completely and upon whom we depend for our very existence.
The use of thee and thou adds a particularly valuable dimension to our relationship with God. Contrary to what most people think, these are not just older ways of saying “you.” In fact, thee and thou were used alongside you—they simply indicated something different about the relationship between speakers. You (singular) indicated a distance of rank or authority, as with a master addressing servants, while thee and thou were the pronouns used to speak to close family or loved ones. By addressing God in this way, we are indicating that we recognize him truly as our heavenly Father. Having a few prayers that use a “high” English register can help to remind us of the awe-inspiring reality that we can speak personally and intimately to the very Creator of the galaxies.
This prayer also contains many beautiful images to linger over. For instance, we have the insight that not only does God feed us “in these holy mysteries,” but that in doing so, he assures us of his love and goodness. He knows that we need reminding! There is the marvelous phrase that we are “very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son”; very means “truly,” so here we have the emphasis that yes, by receiving the Blessed Sacrament, we are truly incorporated into, made an integral part of, Christ’s Body. And we ask for God’s further grace to do the good works that our heavenly Father has planned for us: the good works that “thou has prepared for us to walk in.” What a marvelous phrase!
If you want to explore more prayers from the Ordinariate (which has its own Daily Office liturgy as well), I recommend the St. Gregory’s Prayer Book.
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There are many more short prayers, apart from these two suggestions, that are well worth memorizing and praying at different points during the day, but be aware that choice paralysis can set in. The point is to do it, not just to think about maybe doing it. As a practical matter, I suggest writing the prayer out on a piece of paper that you refer to at first. Writing it out by hand, if possible, will impress it more on your mind and heart.
If memorizing a new prayer turns out to be a bigger step than you’re ready for this Lent, then that’s okay! Praying a Hail Mary or an Our Father in the occasions I’ve suggested will also bear much fruit. As the Oratorian Fathers remind us in their prayer book, pray as you can, don’t try to pray as you can’t.