Prayer, the Cry of a Child

Words from Catherine Doherty (1896-1985)

The first step in praying is to understand who we are, and that is awfully difficult. We must acknowledge that we are creatures, saved sinners, entirely dependent on God. We must be, as the bible says, anawim, poor people of God, the poor people of the beatitudes who know that they depend on God. We must face ourselves and realize that we cannot exist on our own, that we are dependent.

To the proud, this is anathema. We look at ourselves and we say "I depend on no one" and suddenly, in the very saying, we realize that this is not so: we do depend on God. This is the beginning of prayer: that we become beggars before God, knowing that we receive even the steps we take from him.

To begin to pray we must first cleanse our souls of arrogance and pride. In grave humility and as beggars, must we come to him who alone can make us princes and kings and queens, not of earthly kingdoms, but of the kingdom of God. Only when we are thus poor and realize our total poverty, can we go to Bethlehem and meet the Child who became poor for us.

Is there any human being who does not respond to the cry of a child? Did you ever consider the first cry of the Child Jesus? It was his first message of love to us. When we know that we are poor, we can easily enter Bethlehem and answer his cry. We can easily walk behind the donkey that bears the woman and Child. If we are poor we will not hesitate to enter the humble home of Nazareth to take part in the hospitality of Joseph and Mary. Yet the proud and the arrogant look down their noses at simple folk from Nazareth: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

If we realize our own poverty we will follow him who had nowhere to lay his head. Prayer is the interpersonal relationship of a poor man with the Poor Man.

If we remain poor and keep following the Poor Man, a change will take place. Up to a point Christ will console us. But as our prayer deepens, we will enter the darkness of a fantastic faith, a faith that we have to pray for. The time will come when we will have to console Christ. For we see him all over the world in slums, in Park Avenue in people committing suicide because of the greed of people.

When we console him our prayer will take on a new dimension. The Son of Man became incarnate that we might console him, so that in consoling him we might learn to console one another, to be tender toward one another. He offered himself as a victim for us on the cross so that we might take him in our arms as Our Lady took him in hers.

Our prayer will be dirgelike, and yet, a joy! Our pain will be purified and our prayer will have moved into another dimension: we will want to be on the cross because Love is crucified. A strange thing will happen: our prayer will become a prayer of joy, a fantastic resting in the heart of God.

Thus from a recognition of our total dependence we are led to a prayer where we realize the Father is coming to us, know the touch of his hand, see Christ's human face reflecting his glory. Thus does prayer become a total and final resting place, a unity, a complete union of ourselves with God. The darkness of faith grows light and there is no need for words anymore. There is only a need for rest, the rest of a beloved in the arms of her Beloved.

(Compiled by Linda Lambeth, Excerpted from The Gospel Without Compromise,pp 116-117. by Catherine de Hueck Doherty.)

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How many of us have been taught to pray? In the home, in the parish, prayer must be given first place. Prayer must become an integrated part of our daily lives, the most important part. We cannot go on in this era of twilight between two civilizations, one dying and one being born, without the fullness of our spiritual heritage, without prayer.

The first step in praying is to understand who we are. We must acknowledge that we are creatures, saved sinners, entirely dependent on God. We must be, as the Bible says, anawim, poor people of God, the people of the Beatitudes who know that they depend on God. We must face ourselves and realize that we cannot exist on our own, that we are dependent on God.

To the proud, this is detestable. We look at ourselves and want to say, "I depend on no one." But in the very saying, we realize that this is not so: we do depend on God. This is the beginnng of prayer: that we become beggars before God.

To begin to pray we must first cleanse our souls of arrogance and pride. Only when we come to God in humility, realizing our inner poverty, can we follow him who had nowhere to lay his head. Prayer is the interpersonal relationship of a poor person with the Poor Man: Jesus Christ.

The real answer to all our problems is to turn toward God with lifted hands, trusting in his promises and mercy, moved by love. If a person stands with uplifted hands, as Moses did, then the miracle of action will take place.

Christ has said, "Without me you can do nothing." But if in prayer we are one with him, we can do everything. This is the miracle that takes place: by prayer a person extends himself. He remains on "the mountain" of prayer but at the same time the power of his prayer brings action, whatever is needed.

We must all lead one another to the top of the mountain to pray, because prayer is dynamic, and prayer is holy. As we grow in union with God we come to realize that it is through prayer that stems all the goodness that God wants to give mankind.

What is this prayer, what is this union with God, then? It is a man or a woman or a child moved with his or her whole being to communicate with the loving God, to respond to God's great love. The words of prayer change into beautiful songs when they reach God.

Whether we pray the rosary, offer petitions for relatives or the needs of the world, we are caught up in something greater than ourselves, something that is cosmic: The whole universe is bowing down in adoration to God, and those who pray and who love him join in that adoration.

There is only one way to lead people to God: teach them to pray, and pray for them.

Article with Permission: Madonna House Publications under a Creative Commons License

Prayer Asking for Favours
Through the Intercession of
Servant of God Catherine Doherty

All loving Father, through your beloved Son, Jesus, we have been taught to ask for what we need. And through his spouse, our Mother the Church, we have been instructed to pray for one another, and to ask the intercession of your servants, who have fallen asleep in Christ. Therefore, through the intercession of your servant, Catherine Doherty, we ask
[here mention your petition.]

We ask this for your honour and glory,
and in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son Our Lord. Amen.

For private use.
Imprimatur: + J. R. Windle,
Bishop of Pembroke, May 1, 1993.

What kind of king is Christ? In our mentality, democratic or otherwise, even in America, a king is a person of splendor. We see movies of the queen being crowned in England, and we are awed by all the trappings, or we don't like the trappings as the case may be, but they are there. They go with kings.

But there is no denying that there aren't enough trappings in the whole world to symbolize, illustrate, or express, the kingship of Christ.

But at Christmas time we sing a carol about Good King Wenceslaus. Well, King Wenceslaus was the kind of king that people idealized at one time. And if all the kings were like King Wenceslaus and other saintly kings like St. Edward of England, we probably wouldn't have democracy. But, of course, very few kings are saints.

Christ's kingship is one of love. And so awesome is his kingship, so immense, so powerful! He is the creator of all things. We exist only because he created us and holds us on the palm of his hand.

His power is as unlimited as infinity, as long as eternity, as unweighable as immensity. It has no beginning or end, and it is so terrific and so awesome that man, if he saw it in his mortal body, would die. For if we saw just one of his attributes as it is, we would see God himself.

We use the word "king" to express this power, but it is a puny human word, this word "king." What is a king? A king is a mortal man who at one time had the power of life and death over his subjects.

The Church tells us that we are a "kingly" people. So how does this word "king" apply to us? To answer that, we have to look at our Head. Have we got powers like he has? No. I can squash an ant, but I can't squash it without the permissive will of God. Everything I do, every breath I take, I can only do by the permissive will of God.

So, by ourselves, we are not kings at all. We are puny creatures who owe everything, even our breath, to God.

We are a kingly people because Christ died on a cross to make us his brothers and sisters. If I am the sister of a king, I am a kingly person. We are kings because we are sons and daughters of his Father. He made us so. He made us heirs of God. So our kingship, like everything else, comes back to the Head.

How should we exercise it? We should take the virtues of kings, not their sins. We don't go around saying, "I am a kingly person. Out of my way, you jerk. Make way for me. Why do you want to talk to me? You have to have an ambassador to talk to me." Oh, no. That is not the kind of kingship Christ means.

He means the kingship that King Wenceslaus tried to imitate. And St. Louis of France, and St. Edward of England, and other canonized kings. St. Louis wore a hair shirt under his ermines and silks and satins. He had a beautiful room, which was well–equipped with a comfortable bed for himself and his wife. They both slept on the floor. And he considered himself a servant of all his subjects.

We are a kingly people. We are like our Head. We must never forget that kingly blood flows in us and act accordingly. There is a saying, Noblesse Oblige. Nobility obliges. It means that a certain rank demands certain actions.

There are certain things a soldier cannot do without losing face. There are certain things a well-bred woman cannot do without losing status. There are certain things that we, too, must do or not do because we are a kingly people.

We can lay down our life in one fell swoop for our fellow man, and if we do, great will be our reward. Or we can die to ourselves at every moment by loving and serving our brothers and sisters. Our standard is very high�as high as the cross against a darkened sky.

That is our throne. We have a King whose throne was a cross. These may seem like hard words, but do we want to cut ourselves off from that body? How are we going to sit on his throne if we do that? We will just be dead bodies.

We are the Mystical Body of Christ, and our Head was crucified. His throne was a cross.

If we go into this kingly aspect of the Mystical Body of Christ and its members, then the world will recognize Christ as a King. Because there will be no difficulty, no obstacles for the Head to work through us, and we will produce fruits. And men will know what true kingship is.

His name is God, and his other name is Love. We are a kingly people. Our throne is a cross and our life is love poured out in service. These are the attributes of our King.

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For those parents that have suffered the loss of a child these are prayers for you. God bless and keep you in His loving care.

For a Baptized Child

Lord of all gentleness, surround us with Your care and comfort us in our sorrow, for we grieve at the loss of this [little] child. As You washed (Name) in the waters of baptism and welcomed him/her into the life of heaven, so call us one day to be reunited with him/her and share forever in the joy of Your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

For an Unbaptized Child

O Lord, Whose ways are beyong understanding, listen to the prayers of Your faithful people: that those weighed down by grief at the loss of this [little] child may find reassurance in Your infinite goodness. Amen.

For a Stillborn Child

Lord God, ever caring and gentle, we commit to Your love this little one, quickened to life for so short a time. Enfold him/her in eternal life. We pray for his/her parents who are saddened by the loss of their child. Give them courage and help them in their pain and grief. May they all meet one day in the joy and peace of Your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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