During the past few weeks I have been praying the Divine Office at Lauds, Vespers, and usually Compline. It has been such a wonderful experience. If you do not pray the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) I highly suggest you purchase a prayer book. It will reward your prayer life immensely.
At the end of this month I will have to blog less as I will be given a lot more work to do. So, for the following months I will not be posting anywhere nearly as much as I currently do. I hope to post once a day starting at the end of this month. During this month and last I was able not only to post a lot but to edit many of my older posts. Under Apologetics and Prayer, I added and edited many of the links. Just today I added beautiful images to my posts on All Saints Day and All Souls Day. So, I've been very busy editing.
I wanted to point out several recent blogs added to my sidebar. Please check them out. The most recent addition is This Catholic Journey, by someone that is starting RCIA very shortly.
- This Catholic Journey
- Kyrie Eleison
- Letters from a Young Catholic
- Epiphany of Faith
- Christ the Center of Your Life
5 comment(s):
MB,
I understand. It can be tough to get everything done. Especially in your situation where you are preparing to begin your studies for the priesthood. I'll look forward to your posts, even if they become fewer.
Ditto! Thanks for posting a link to my blog! I welcome all the encouragement and advice I can get! Best wishes on your vocation!
Thanks for the inspiration to start blogging, too! I appreciate all you do - and just as much - the spirit in which it is done.
Good for you Moneybags! I love the Divine Office and as a secular Carmelite in formation, must pray Lauds, Vespers, and Compline each day. I've been at it for a year now and I can tell you that after some time it is amazing how the lightbulb will go on while you are reading the psalms and scripture so many times.
You may want to check out ebreviary.com. While it is now unfortunately a subscription service, I enjoy having it on my PDA. Many meetings I attend at work have significant content which does not relate to my area. I use this time to do the Office of Readings, which is not required, but comes in the downloadable format.
You are very right to be stepping back from blogging to do this. Nothing should be more important than developing a solid, disciplined prayer routine. I must also engage in 30 minutes of mental prayer daily, and the rosary. I found that I was only getting my prayers in sporadic, then recognized that part of the problem was not putting them first. I always seemed to be finding something else that should be done, instead of just doing my prayers and trusting God to help me get those things done regardless. Things went together well when I followed a disciplined routine. But, if I don't mortify my apetite to do something else at the moment, I fall and miss the prayer. I found many culprits in my life when I would miss Lauds (hit the alarm too many times), or Vespers (spent too much time on the computer until it was too late, rather than do it first then compute). I decided to get to bed earlier so I could get up earlier, in time to catch a 6:00am Mass, which runs half an hour. At 6:30 I try to get in 15-20 minutes of my mental prayer, Lauds, and some misc prayers. Then I head off to work. I often say my rosary in the morning while on my way to Mass, and finish it on my way to work from Mass, if I don't get it done.
Somewhere a routine develops and you get use to it. But the best thing anyone can do who tries to develop a prayer life, is to ask what could have been sacrificed for a given prayer to not have been "sacrificed".
God Bless and prayers
Correction - my post above about "hitting the alarm too many times" should have read, "hitting the snooze too many times!"
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