Prayer

//St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, pg. 242// The first and most foundational of the Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic is Prayer. Matthew Kelly reminds us:
 * [[image:prayer.jpg width="480" height="317" align="right"]]"For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus." **
 * When we are spiritually healthy, nothing bothers us.
 * More than just a time and a place to pray, Dynamic Catholics have a routine within their routine. When they sit down to pray each day, they don’t just see what happens; they have a routine within their routine. They tend to begin their time of prayer in very specific ways: by reading the Bible, praying the morning prayers of the Church, reading from a favorite spiritual book, etc.
 * God speaks to us in silence. Spending time in the classroom of silence in indispensable in our quest for spiritual growth.
 * At some point Dynamic Catholics have become convinced that a life with prayer is better than a life without prayer.
 * Dynamic Catholics see a connection between the joy and fulfillment in their lives and their efforts to walk with God and grow spiritually.

So, how do we encourage the first of the Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic at St. Mary's Junior High and help students develop deeply personal conversations with God?

Students are encouraged to attend daily Mass as often as possible at Sacred Heart Church at 7:15 AM on weekdays. St. Mary's students gather weekly to celebrate Mass. Every student participates in the liturgy through some ministry throughout the year. Using their Mass Journals, students are asked to listen for and record one idea in each Mass that helps them become a better version of themself.
 * __ Communal Prayer __**

On weeks we don't celebrate Mass, we do celebrate multi-aged Spirit Groups. 7th and 8th grade students plan and facilitate Spirit Groups each month.

Students participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation twice during the school year. Students are encouraged to celebrate this sacrament at least once/month by attending Reconciliation at Sacred Heart at 4 PM or St. Joseph's at 3 PM on Saturday afternoons.

7th and 8th grade students participate in Eucharistic Adoration once a month. During Adoration, students also participate in various devotions and prayer experiences: such as the, Guided Meditation, the , Liturgy of the Hours, , , etc.

Junior high students also have the opportunity to lead the rest of the school in prayer through one of the following prayer service experiences:
 * 6th graders lead the school in a prayerful scripture-based walk through of salvation history.
 * 7th graders lead the school through a prayerful honoring of the saints through the Saint Wax Museum on All Saints' Day.
 * 8th graders lead the school through May Crowning- a Marian prayer service with the rosary.

Each teacher starts each class at St. Mary's Junior High School with prayer.

__**Personal Prayer **__ When 6th grade students get to religion class, they begin most days in religion class by praying through the upcoming Sunday Scripture readings, one at a time using guided questions or a form of Lectio Divina.

__**6th Grade Prayer Plan:**__
__Monday__: 1st Reading- guided questions __Tuesday__: Saint/Virtue Reflection __Wednesday__: Where is God in Pop Culture Reflection __Thursday:__ 2nd Reading- guided questions __Friday__: Gospel- guided questions (Lectio Divina 3rd Trimester)

__**7/8th Grade Prayer Plan: **__ __Monday__- Prayer Process/Examination of Conscience/TRAP __Tuesday__- Saint/Virtue Reflection <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">__Wednesday__- Where is God in Pop Culture Reflection <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">__Thursday__- <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Student Composed Prayer (ACTS, 5 Finger Prayer, Petitions, Intercessions, or You-Who-Do-Through) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">__Friday__- Gospel Lectio Divina, JOY, Ignatian Gospel Contemplation, or PRIMA

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Students at St. Mary's Junior High School will be given several opportunities each week to participate in Dynamic Catholic's research-driven, 7 step prayer process:


 * //The Prayer Process//**
 * 1) **//Gratitude: Begin by thanking God in a personal dialogue for whatever you are most grateful for today.//**
 * 2) **//Awareness: Revisit the times in the past twenty-four hours when you were and were not the-best-version-of-yourself. Talk to God about these situations and what you have learned from them.//**
 * 3) **//Significant Moments: Identify something you experienced in the last twenty-four hours and explore what God might be trying to say to you through that event (or person).//**
 * 4) **//Peace: Ask God to forgive you for any wrong you have committed (against yourself, another person, or him) and to fill you with a deep and abiding peace.//**
 * 5) **//Freedom: Speak with God about how he is inviting you to change your life, so that you can experience the freedom to be the-best-version-of-yourself. (Write this idea down in your planner each day!)//**
 * 6) **//Others: Lift up to God anyone you feel called to pray for today, asking God to bless and guide them.//**
 * 7) **//Finish by praying the Our Father.//**

Students also need to learn specific prayers by heart each trimester. These prayers will be prayed frequently in class and students will be given many opportunities to recite them or to write them down in class.

Lord, Today I resolve to do the good You created me to do, To see the good You created me to see, To be the good that You created me to be. Amen.
 * __ 1st Trimester __**
 * __ Today I Resolve- Due 10.9.15 __**

I love you, my God, and my only wish is to love you until the last moments of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die in your love than live even for a single moment longer without it. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask of you is to be permitted to love you eternally. My God, if my lips cannot tell you every moment that I love you, then I desire that my heart may repeat it with every beat. Amen.
 * __ Not Without Your Love- St. John Vianney- Due 11.30.15 __**

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you: I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures. I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands, without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father. Amen.
 * __ 2nd Trimester __**
 * __ Prayer of Abandonment- Blessed Charles de Foucauld- due 2.9.16 __**

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.
 * __ 3rd Trimester __**
 * __ PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT by St. Augustine of Hippo- due 5.27.16 __**