Bringing you the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and His Church While PROMOTING CATHOLIC Apologetic Support groups loyal to the Holy Father and Church's magisterium
Home About
AskACatholic.com
What's New? Resources The Church Family Life Mass and
Adoration
Ask A Catholic
Knowledge base
AskACatholic Disclaimer
Search the
AskACatholic Database
Donate and
Support our work
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
New Questions
Cool Catholic Videos
About Saints
Disciplines and Practices for distinct Church seasons
Purgatory and Indulgences
About the Holy Mass
About Mary
Searching and Confused
Contemplating becoming a Catholic or Coming home
Homosexual and Gender Issues
Life, Dating, and Family
No Salvation Outside the Church
Sacred Scripture
non-Catholic Cults
Justification and Salvation
The Pope and Papacy
The Sacraments
Relationships and Marriage situations
Specific people, organizations and events
Doctrine and Teachings
Specific Practices
back
Church Internals
Church History

Anonymous Kay wrote:

Hi, guys—

I'm a bit confused on how to pray.

  • Can we have a Mass said in honor of a Saint for a special request?

Kay

  { Can you help me on how to pray plus can we have a Mass said honoring a Saint for a special intent? }

Mike replied:

Hi, Kay —

Sorry it took a while to get back to you.

Yes, you can have a Mass said in honor of a Saint for a special request.

Our Blessed Lord tells us in the Scriptures that a worker is worth his wage. (Luke 10:7, Matthew 10:10) That said, although in some cases, it may not be needed, giving the priest a stipend, a fixed one-time sum paid as an allowance, for the Mass and its intention is common. The customary amount is usually around $10.00 at weddings or Baptisms.

Check with the local rectory office and the secretary for guidance on the proper amount, if any, to give the (celebrant/priest).

You said:
I'm a bit confused on how to pray.

As the Catechism tells us, in order to pray, one must have:

  1. the will to pray, and
  2. a willingness to learn how to pray (as the Holy Spirit guides us.)

I have included the whole section on Prayer for you to read and take action on:

Chapter Two: The Tradition of Prayer.

2650 Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred Tradition) within the believing and praying Church, (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8) the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God how to pray.

2651 The tradition of Christian prayer is one of the ways in which the tradition of faith takes shape and grows, especially through the contemplation and study of believers who treasure in their hearts the events and words of the economy of salvation, and through their profound grasp of the spiritual realities they experience. (cf. Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8)

Article 1 - At the Wellsprings of Prayer

2652 The Holy Spirit is the II living water II welling up to eternal life (John 4:14) in the heart that prays. It is he who teaches us to accept it at its source: Christ. Indeed in the Christian life there are several wellsprings where Christ awaits us to enable us to drink of the Holy Spirit.

The Word of God

2653 The Church forcefully and specially exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn 'the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:8) by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. . . . Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles.' (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 25; cf. Philippians 3:8; St. Ambrose, De Officiis Ministrorum 1, 20, 88:PL 16, 50)

2654 The spiritual writers, paraphrasing Matthew 7:7, summarize in this way the dispositions of the heart nourished by the word of God in prayer Seek in reading and you will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be opened to you by contemplation. (Guigo the Carthusian (Guido I, Guido II), Scala Paradisi: PL 40,998)

The Liturgy of the Church

2655 In the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and communicates the mystery of salvation, which is continued in the heart that prays. The spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar. Prayer internalizes and assimilates the liturgy during and after its celebration. Even when it is lived out "in secret," (cf. Matthew 6:6) prayer is always prayer of the Church; it is a communion with the Holy Trinity. (General Introduction to Liturgy of the Hours 9)

The theological virtues.

2656 One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of II faith. II Through the signs of his presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we seek and desire; it is his Word that we want to hear and keep.

2657 The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us-to pray in II hope. II Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us. The psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. (Psalms 40:2) As St. Paul prayed: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

2658 "Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:5) Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer; whoever draws from it reaches the summit of prayer. In the words of the Cure of Ars:

I love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. . . . My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.

(St. John Vianney, Prayer)

"Today"

2659 We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of II each day, II to make prayer spring up from us. Jesus' teaching about praying to our Father is in the same vein as his teaching about providence: (cf. Matthew 6:11, 34) time is in the Father's hands; it is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today: O that II today II you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts. (Psalms 95:7-8)

2660 Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom revealed to little children, to the servants of Christ, to the poor of the Beatitudes. It is right and good to pray so that the coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the march of history, but it is just as important to bring the help of prayer into humble, everyday situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven to which the Lord compares the kingdom. (cf. Luke 13:20-21)

In Brief

2661 By a living transmission -Tradition - the Holy Spirit in the Church teaches the children of God to pray.

2662 The Word of God, the liturgy of the Church, and the virtues of faith, hope, and charity are sources of prayer.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
© 2012 Panoramic Sites
The Early Church Fathers Church Fathers on the Primacy of Peter. The Early Church Fathers on the Catholic Church and the term Catholic. The Early Church Fathers on the importance of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome.