Pope Francis highlighted the importance of prayer both at Mass and in private during his general audience.
He said that prayer is the key to resisting and to finding hope in times of discouragement.
POPE FRANCIS
Words reveal what we carry in our hearts, they are born from within us, but they also shape us. Words come from our feelings, and at the same time form them.
In particular, the Pope emphasized the value of vocal prayer, recalling that Jesus taught the Our Father to the disciples as a reminder of Christians of the power of vocal prayer.
POPE FRANCIS
“It's something for children, for ignorant people. I'm pursuing mental prayer, meditation, so that God fills the void within me.” Please, don't fall into the prideful act of belittling vocal prayer, the prayer of ordinary people. The prayer which Jesus taught us: Our Father who art in Heaven...
The Pope also praised the elderly who pray quietly in churches as models of the Faith to be admired.
FRANCISCO
These who pray in humble prayer are often the great intercessors of parishes. They are the oaks that, year after year, spread their branches to provide shade to a great number of people.
To better understand the value of vocal prayer, the Pope recommended a book: 'The Way of a Pilgrim,' an anonymous 19th century work that is popular in Orthodox spirituality. A book that stresses the power of vocal prayer in the life of a humble pilgrim.
Javier Romero
TR: Justin McLellan
