Michael Buckley - The Catholic Prayer Book

The Catholic Prayer Book Compiled by Msgr. Michael Buckley Edited by Tony Castle

Cincinnati, OH 45202 www.ServantBooks.org www.FranciscanMedia.org Compilation, original material, and design 1984 by Michael Buckley. Copyright 2013, by Michael Buckley and Franciscan Media. All rights reserved. Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal 2010, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Catholic prayer book / compiled by Msgr.

Michael Buckley ; edited by Tony Castle. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61636-610-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-61636-611-7 (leatherette : alk. paper) 1.

Catholic ChurchPrayers and devotions. I. Buckley, Michael, 1924- editor of compilation. II. Castle, Tony, 1938- editor of compilation. Title. Title.

BX2130.T74 2013 242.802dc23 2012051044 PRINT ISBN 978-1-61636-610-0 E-BOOK ISBN 978-1-61636-612-4 The constitute an extension of this copyright page. Contents For the Presence of the Holy Spirit Foreword My esteemed predecessor, John Cardinal OConnor, described The Catholic Prayer Book as compiled with a sense of that unique devotion which has characterized Catholic piety through the ages and yet it is thoroughly contemporary. The solid core of well tested Catholic prayers is complemented by prayers and reflections by modern spiritual writers and others. Msgr. Buckleys collection is notable for its generous use of the Roman Missal . Central texts, such as the Gloria, Creed, and Eucharistic prayers are provided, along with those related to Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.

Prayers by St. Ambrose and St. Thomas Aquinas, which the Roman Missal offers for the priests preparation for and thanksgiving following Mass, are here made easily accessible to all. Within the chapter containing prayers for special occasions, over forty powerful and succinct orations from the Missal are followed by more than one hundred and fifty additional texts drawn from a wide variety of sources. The Catholic Prayer Book manifests a loving attentiveness to the person of Our Lord, devotion to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit. It offers paths to a deeper encounter with the unity of the Church through prayers addressed to Our Lady, to St.

Joseph, the angels, and others among the blessed. Along with my esteemed predecessor, I highly endorse The Catholic Prayer Book . Cardinal Timothy Dolan Archbishop of New York Introduction Prayer is as natural to us as breathing. For Christians both are necessary for life. The way in which we Christians pray reflects our spirituality and belief. Jesus is the center of our prayer life, as he directs our thoughts and actions to God our Father.

We pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. The special emphasis we give in our prayers reflects the particular Christian church to which we belong. The Eastern Church, for example, highlights the otherness of God by its emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the great sanctifying force in our lives. The Church of England has a very strong establishment influence in its set prayers, while non-conformist churches tend toward a more spontaneous form of open prayer. Roman Catholic spirituality, on the other hand, while not excluding any of these elements in its prayer life, lays great emphasis on the devotional aspect of our prayerful relationship with God. Catholic prayer books, with their well-thumbed pages, were the treasured possession of Catholics for centuries.

A prayer book given as a present to mark a special occasion, such as First Communion, confirmation, or marriage, remained with the Catholic all through life. It represented part of his or her heritage. These prayer books were interlaced with special prayer cards, of personal spiritual significance to the owner, which told the story of his life and pilgrimage as a Christian. In one sense they were as revered by the Catholic as the Bible by a Protestant. As Catholics today we are in danger of losing much of what is best and beautiful in our spirituality. This is due indeliberately in large part to the Second Vatican Council, with its emphasis on the need for renewal and relevance in Catholic teaching and practice.

This bad side effect of ignoring, or even rejecting, traditional Catholic prayers was not the councils intention, but it is in fact what happened. In a desire to update Catholic spirituality, and bring it into line with the new ecumenical thinking, there was a tendency for contemporary Catholic prayer books to pay scant, if any, attention to the prayers of a former age. These new prayer books not only were not Catholic prayer books as we knew them but were scarcely distinguishable from other prayer books, even those not specifically Christian. Their main criterion was that authentic prayer must come from present-day life. In the process many of our beautiful old prayers, hallowed by use, were discarded. The fact that they had sustained countless millions in their spiritual lives was ignored, and thus many hallowed Catholic practices fell by the wayside.

It is in an attempt to restore the balance that The Catholic Prayer Book has been compiled. Because spirituality is an ongoing process, this prayer book contains, we hope, a selection of the best contemporary prayers that will probably stand the test of time. Many old prayers that are of great intrinsic spiritual value have been updated in order to clarify their true meaning for us today. (An asterisk next to a sources name indicates that the prayer has been adapted.) In the heat of the Reformation too, there was a tendency to overstress some aspects of Catholic doctrine and spirituality so that we could be clearly distinguished from our separated brethren. This difference has not been diluted but has been placed in its true setting, either by the use of contemporary language or by a less strident proclamation of our belief. The adaptation of the prayers has been lit up by the Churchs teaching on the Resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit constantly at work in the Church through all the ages, including our own.

Many beautiful old prayers, however, defy adaptation and remain in their original form because they are so clearly the work of the Spirit. They trip off the tongue because we know them not only by heart but in our hearts as well. Some prayers have been specially composed to fit the mood of our spirituality in those sections that needed amplification. This gives a more complete and rounded effect, so that each section dovetails into the rest. The Church is spiritually one. In this it reflects the unity of the Trinity.

But we live, in fact, in a fragmented Church and world. We believe that the Spirit pours out his gifts on all those in the Church who confess Jesus as Lord to the glory of the Father. The Catholic Prayer Book , therefore, in acknowledging this diversity of spiritual gifts of the Spirit to all the members of Christs Church, incorporates in its pages many prayers of Christian denominations other than Catholic. We appreciate the Spirit at work in the lives of Christians through prayer. In this way the prayer book reflects our ecumenical age and deepens our Catholic spirituality. When we pray together as Christians, we are taking the best possible steps on the road to unity.

Our awareness of the diversity of the gifts of the Spirit makes us acknowledge also that we still have a lot to learn from other Christian heritages. We therefore approach the Father in prayer in a spirit of humility and wonder. Accordingly we hope that other Christian churches will use this prayer book, not only to gain a fuller awareness of our Catholic prayer life but also to deepen their own. We have a common Father, one mediator, and the same Spirit at work in all of us. The Catholic Prayer Book is for all Christians and not just for Catholics. How to Use This Prayer Book Prayer is basically personal.