Hi, Paul John —

Thanks for the question.

You said:

• When I pray one Our Father for my Mom and my friend, is the effect of my prayer divided by two?
• If I offer up the prayer up for ten people, are the effects of my prayer divided by ten?

No, the effects of your prayers are not divided. They both get get the whole Our Father.

I occasionally struggle with this misunderstanding as well.

One can incorrectly think that if he usually prays three prayers for one priest, then he has to say 30 prayers for 10 priests. People, like me, who tend to think in a logical way, tend to fall into this trap. Nevertheless, God reads our hearts. He doesn't look at our counting mechanisms.

I pray for all priests in the Archdiocese of Boston on a daily basis.

If I said one Hail Mary for each priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, I'd be in my parish Church for quite a while. [In 2008, the Diocese had about 750 priests.]

750 Hail Mary's are a lot of Hail Mary's! I would have to say fifteen (15) 5-decade Rosaries daily,
to ensure a Hail Mary was said for each priest in the Archdiocese of Boston! (53 x 15)

My approach is a classification approach. I say a varying number of Our Fathers and/or Hail Mary's (1 to 10) each for:

• the Holy Father and Cardinal O'Malley
• my priest-friends: those that support me, encourage me and administer the sacraments validly to me.
• for priests, who, for some unknown reason, don't like me.
  (We have to pray for our enemies)
• for priests, that are doing things in the Church they shouldn't be doing
  (especial priests who are seminary professors)
• for all pastors in the Archdiocese of Boston
• especially for the three main pastors in my local Natick/Wellesley area.
• and finally I pray for all priest around the world in four specific areas:
  
  
  • liturgical orthodoxy (celebrating the sacraments, esp. the Mass correctly)
  • preaching orthodoxy from the pulpit in what they say.
  • pastoral sensitivity
    (being a kind priest that is open to others/parishioners ideas, instead of being a
    —- "I'm the priest, your the congregation, and there is a big divide between us."— priest.)
  • and most importantly, for an improved personal prayer life.

And if I'm short on time,

• I'll just say One Hail Mary for each of the classifications above or
• just say,

Lord, I offer this one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be,
for everything I usually pray for.

Hope this answers your question,

Mike