Hello Rosary Lovers! Prayer is a crucial part of Christian life. It’s as vital as oxygen to the lungs. So let’s ask: what is the best daily prayer?
We are going to keep things simple in this post. We want to see if there is one prayer that we can pray everyday in order to grow in grace and be the best individuals we can be.
Is there? Why, yes there is! Absolutely!
Mass!
In short, the best daily prayer is undoubtedly the Mass.
The Mass is one giant prayer for the supreme worship of God. God loves the Mass far, far more than any other prayer, because the Mass is the offering of the body and blood of his own beloved Son.
There is no Prayer which can compare with this supreme act of the offering of Jesus Christ to his Father in the Mass.
Attending Mass everyday is BY FAR the BEST way to pray everyday of your life.
I am nowhere near this point in my life. I wish I could be, but alas I am not. For one thing, I am extremely busy with my family, children and work. But even if I had the opportunity to go to Mass everyday, would I go?
Probably not. I would probably go 2 or 3 times a week.
I’m just not there yet. I know this. I have a long way to go.
What about you? How often do you desire to attend Holy Mass?
The amount we desire to attend Mass is PRECISELY the temperature of our love for God.
‘Our Father’
Of course, many of us cannot attend Mass daily. Perhaps many of us struggle even to get to Mass once a week.
So what about for those of us who cannot attend Mass daily? Is there a second-best daily prayer?
Yes there is. In fact, in another sense, it is also the best daily prayer. It is the prayer Jesus gave us.
The Lord’s prayer.
Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s prayer all the time.
‘When you pray, say: Our Father, who art in heaven …’
So, when you are not at Mass, whenever you pray, why not pray the Lord’s prayer?
This is why the Rosary is so awesome. If you recite the Rosary daily, you will pray 5 Our Fathers daily.
We love the Rosary at Rosary Lovers, and we constantly recommend it. Check these posts out on the Rosary here.
We also recommend getting a sturdy Rosary to help you through life. Have a look at this post if you’re interested in seeing some very unique rosaries.
The very early Christians used to pray the Our Father 3 times a day. We read about this in the Didache, an extremely early Christian teaching document.
St Augustine taught that one Lord’s prayer, prayed very sincerely, wipes out ALL venial sins!
That’s wonderful, isn’t it? 🙂
The Lord’s Prayer and the Mass
It would be wrong really to see the Lord’s prayer and the Mass as two separate prayers. Really, they belong together, as ONE PRAYER to God.
We know this because at the high point of every Mass, in the presence of the holy body and blood of Jesus Christ on the sacred Altar, we Catholics always pray the Lord’s prayer. We even stand especially just to pray it.
In other words, the most natural and proper place for the recitation of the Lord’s prayer is with other Christians before the most holy body and blood of Jesus during Mass.
The Lord’s prayer is thus inseparable from Mass.
When we recite the Lord’s prayer outside of Mass, we shouldn’t think of it as a different prayer to Mass. We should be encouraged that it is, in a sense, bringing Mass with us.
The Church offers Mass all over the world every, single day. Because of this, our individual recitations of the Lord’s prayer are pleasing to God.
In fact, our prayers to God are only pleasing to him because of the Mass which Jesus offers all over the world.
Without the Holy Eucharist which Christ offers for us in and through the Church, nothing we do could ever be pleasing to God. Including our prayers.
So, the two most important prayers in the entire Church are the Mass and the Lord’s prayer.
But in reality they are but ONE HOLY PRAYER issuing from the lips and body of Christ to God.
Our heavenly Father is most rightly worshipped and glorified when we approach him in reverent worship with the sacred words of the Lord’s Prayer, especially during the Mass.
This is why it’s very profitable and wise to always pray the Lord’s prayer, and to attend Mass as much as possible.
The person who does this will become a saint.
The person who does this will find tremendous power over sin in their lives.
So let me encourage you to do this. I am going to try to attend Mass more often.
At the very least, I am attending my local Church more when I am able, just to visit Jesus Christ in the blessed Sacrament. This is also a wonderful time to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and I think I will begin doing this.
May God bless you and if you have any questions, please get in touch.
In Christ, through Mary.