Manuel Garcia Gabriel - Catholic Treasury of Daily Prayers

CATHOLIC TREASURY
OF
DAILY PRAYERS Msgr. Manuel Garcia Gabriel Nihil Obstat :Most Rev. Roberto C. Mallari, D.D.
Bishop of San Jose, Nueva Ecija Imprimatur:Most Rev. Jesse E. Mercado, D.D.
Bishop of Paraaque Catholic Treasury of Daily Prayers
By Msgr.

Manuel Garcia Gabriel Copyright to thisi digital edition 2015 by
Msgr. Manuel Garcia Gabriel and Anvil Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright
owner and publisher. Biblical texts from the Good News Bible;
excerpts from Sharing the Gift: Resources Book for Passing on Christian
Meditation, edited and compiled by Kim Nataraja, The School of
Meditation, The World Community for Christian Meditation 2013 and
How-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com. Just as oxygen is for the body, so is prayer for the soul.
Mahatma Gandhi We thank Msgr. Just as oxygen is for the body, so is prayer for the soul.
Mahatma Gandhi We thank Msgr.

Manny Gabriel for his efforts
to provide help for our faithful in their spiritual
journey through his book, Catholic Treasury of
Daily Prayers. God is indeed very faithful in sending real
shepherds who have genuine concern for His
flock. Msgr. Gabriel is indeed a shepherd sensitive
to the real needs of our faithful. This book is definitely a help for everyone
to contemplate even in the midst of worldly
concerns. +Roberto C. +Roberto C.

Mallari, D.D.
Bishop of San Jose, Nueva Ecija

Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer Morning Prayer Midday/Afternoon Prayer Evening/Night Prayer In deep gratitude to: POPE FRANCIS who revealed Gods compassion and mercy
to this nation in endearing ways
during his January 15 to 19, 2015 Apostolic
Visit The families
of the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish,
BF Homes, Paraaque, my faithful companions
in my day-to-day spiritual journey My living siblings
Carmelita Tamayo, Baby Magat and Boyet Gabriel
and their families I wish to express my deep gratitude to all of you who have found my first book, A Catholics Treasury of Prayers, helpful in fostering prayerfulness in your life. I hope that it deepened your appreciation for, and knowledge of, the richness of the Church prayers that have been handed down to us from generation to generation. This new book, Catholic Treasury of Daily Prayers, is meant to be another thoughtful companion on your spiritual journeythis time on a day-to-day basis. The newly-composed prayers in this collection have rhythm and flow that can serve as an integrative force and a wellspring of comfort for the myriad concerns and activities of everyday life. The Psalms begin and close the morning, afternoon and night prayers to rekindle the light of the Word in us. Fr. Fr.

John Main, OSB, key advocate of Christian Meditation, has propagated this practice to return the Lord as the very focus of life itself. The prayers in the morning contain personal intentions, specific Christian virtues, and concern for the various sectors of our society. The midday/afternoon prayers feature the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the prayers of the Saints that resonate with our longings and aspirations today. Lastly, the evening/night prayers include prayers for the family and for spiritual healing, as well as the prayer of entrustment which caps the day. Catholic Treasury of Daily Prayers seeks to enhance the prayer life of individual pilgrims, families and communities as they follow the path of holiness. (Evangelii Gaudium, 259) Msgr. (Evangelii Gaudium, 259)Msgr.

Manuel Garcia Gabriel
Manila, 2015

Meditation is a universal spiritual wisdom and practice that we find at the core of all the great religious traditions, leading from the mind to the heart. It is a way of simplicity, silence and stillness. It can be practiced by anyone wherever you are on your lifes journey. All you need is to be clear about the practice and then to beginand keep on beginning. In recent times, there has been a great revival of the contemplative dimension of Christian faith. Central to this now is the rediscovery of a practice of meditation in the Christian tradition that comes to us from the early Christian monks, the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

It is a tradition that allows us to put into practice Christs teachings on prayer.

The simple rules are:

• Sit down: the body is relaxed but not in a position for sleep.
• Sit still: the body expresses the whole persons attitude of attention and reverence.
• Keep your back straight: the body is alert and wakeful.
• Breathe normally: ideally from the belly.
• Be relaxed but alert: the formula for peace.
• Gently close your eyes and begin to recite your mantra: Ma-ra-na-tha.
• Repeat your prayer-word throughout the time of your meditation.

When you first sit to meditate, take a moment to find a posture that is stable and comfortable. Relax your body, particularly your shoulders, neck, eyes and forehead. The basic sitting posture to try out is in a chair with a straight back, on a prayer stool, or sitting cross-legged on the floor. Choose a quiet time and place where you are not likely to be disturbed. Treat your meditation times as priority times.

You will come to see why meditators regard these times as the most important times of their day. If possible, meditate at the same time and place each day as this helps deepen the rhythm of prayer in life. Prepare for and conclude each meditation with some music or in any way that calms and focuses you. Meditation can, of course, be integrated into other forms of prayer, such as the Eucharistic Liturgies or Scripture. Meditation with a group each week is a powerful means of deepening and supporting the practice. Groups enable people to share one anothers inspiration and provide an important opportunity to listen to the teaching each week.

In a group, the dimension of the presence of Christwhere two or three are gathered in my name (Mt. 18:20)is experienced. The great practical difficulty all people find in meditation is the incessant problem of distraction, which is caused by constant mental activity. The mantra is a simple and effective way to deal with all types of distraction. In the face of distractions:

• Do not try to fight them off, whether thoughts, images or feelings.
• Give all your attention to the mantra, gently and faithfully returning to it throughout your time of meditation.
• Pay no attention to the distractions. Treat them like background noise.
• Be humble, patient and faithful, and keep your sense of humor: Don't make a dark night out of every cloud.