Leading prayer

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines prayer as: the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God (CCC 2559). The Catechism goes on to identify three expressions of prayer, namely: vocal prayer, meditative prayer and contemplative prayer.

Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke, report that Jesus taught a vocal prayer (the Our Father) to his disciples. Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups (CCC 2701, 2703).

"Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire" (CCC 2723). Christian meditation uses focused breathing and a mantra to rid the mind of distraction and to achieve stillness and silence of body and mind.

Contemplative prayer is described by the church as the simplest and highest form of prayer. It involves resting in the silence of God. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus in silent love (CCC2724). It is the simple act of God’s being with us and our being with God.