How many of you pay attention during prayer...Do you even know what is important of attention.Attention is of the very essence of prayer. As an expression of sentiment emanating from our intellectual faculties prayer requires their application, i.e. attention. As soon as this attention ceases, prayer ceases. To begin praying and allow the mind to be wholly diverted or distracted to some other occupation or thought necessarily terminates the prayer, which is resumed only when the mind is withdrawn from the object of distraction. To admit distraction is wrong when one is obliged to apply oneself to prayer; when there is no such obligation, one is at liberty to pass from the subject of prayer, provided it be done without irreverence, to any other proper subject. This is all very simple when applied to mental prayer; but does vocal prayer require the same attention as mental,-in other words, when praying vocally must one attend to the meaning of words, and if one should cease to do so, would one by that very fact cease to pray? Vocal prayer differs from mental precisely in this that mental prayer is not possible without attention to the thoughts that are conceived and expressed whether internally or externally. Neither is it possible to pray without attending to thought and words when we attempt to express our sentiment in our own words; whereas all that is needed for vocalprayer proper is the repetition of certain words, usually a set form with the intention of using them in prayer. So long as the intention lasts, i.e. so long as nothing is done to terminate it or wholly inconsistent with it, so long as one continues to repeat the form of prayer, with proper reverence in disposition and outward manner, with only this general purpose of praying according to the prescribed form, so long as one continues to pray and no thought or external act can be considered a distraction unless it terminate our intention, or by levity or irreverence be wholly inconsistent with the prayer. Thus one may pray in the crowded streets where it is impossible to avoid sights and sounds and consequent imaginations and thoughts.
Provided one repeats the words of the prayer and avoids wilful distractions of mind to things in no way pertaining to prayer, one may through mental infirmity or inadvertence admit numerous thoughts not connected with the subject of the prayer, without irreverence. It is true, this amount of attention does not enable one to derive from prayer the full spiritual advantage it should bring; nay, to be satisfied with it as a rule would result in admitting distractions quite freely and wrongfully. For this reason it is advisable not only to keep the mind bent on praying but also to think of the purport of the prayer, and as far as possible to think of the meaning of some at least of the sentiments or expressions of the prayer. As a means of cultivating the habit, it is recommended, notably in the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, often to recite certain familiar prayers, the Lord's Prayer, the Angelical Salutation, the Creed, the Confiteor, slowly enough to admit the interval of a breath between the principal words or sentences, so as to have time to think of their meaning, and to feel in one's heart the appropriate emotions. Another practice strongly recommended by the same author is to take eachsentence of these prayers as a subject of reflection, not delaying too long on any one of them unless one finds in it some suggestion or helpful thought or sentiment, but then stopping to reflect as long as one finds proper food for thought or emotion, and, when one has dwelt sufficiently on any passage, finishing the prayer without further deliberate reflection ( see DISTRACTION).
Hope this will help you people lot....
Provided one repeats the words of the prayer and avoids wilful distractions of mind to things in no way pertaining to prayer, one may through mental infirmity or inadvertence admit numerous thoughts not connected with the subject of the prayer, without irreverence. It is true, this amount of attention does not enable one to derive from prayer the full spiritual advantage it should bring; nay, to be satisfied with it as a rule would result in admitting distractions quite freely and wrongfully. For this reason it is advisable not only to keep the mind bent on praying but also to think of the purport of the prayer, and as far as possible to think of the meaning of some at least of the sentiments or expressions of the prayer. As a means of cultivating the habit, it is recommended, notably in the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, often to recite certain familiar prayers, the Lord's Prayer, the Angelical Salutation, the Creed, the Confiteor, slowly enough to admit the interval of a breath between the principal words or sentences, so as to have time to think of their meaning, and to feel in one's heart the appropriate emotions. Another practice strongly recommended by the same author is to take eachsentence of these prayers as a subject of reflection, not delaying too long on any one of them unless one finds in it some suggestion or helpful thought or sentiment, but then stopping to reflect as long as one finds proper food for thought or emotion, and, when one has dwelt sufficiently on any passage, finishing the prayer without further deliberate reflection ( see DISTRACTION).
Hope this will help you people lot....
note:- M just trying to merge all religion together on one platform, so that people can know about other religion as well. if i do something wrong or write something wrong please forgive me and help me to correct that by your kind support and comment.
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