My sister Mary and I both pray before getting out of bed in the morning. I wake up 20 minutes before my alarm most days and have time to complete morning prayers before the buzzer sounds at 7 AM. And on those rare days when the alarm wakes me, I still take 10-15 minutes to complete my morning prayers in bed. Mary agrees that praying before getting out of bed is the best way to prevent anything else from interfering.
Mary and I also share using the Common Prayer app from School for Conversion as our guide. She learned about the app from me, but no one in my family ever takes my advice. I was surprised when I saw her posting excerpts from the morning prayers on Facebook. Not only does she like the app, she likes it enough to share with her friends. Having so much in common with my own sister feels really strange, but I kind of like it.
Our mother spent many hours praying the Rosary, so it is no accident that people who grew up in my family pray. The Rosary involves the repetition of a handful of set prayers while meditating on “mysteries” of the Christian faith (see http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm for details).
I had my own Rosary beads as a child, but never got into the practice of saying the Rosary before leaving the Catholic church at age 17. I moved over to the Baptist church where people made up their prayers as they prayed them.
Common Prayer reminds me of my Catholic roots because some of the prayers are the same every day. I thought repeating the same opening and concluding words every day would become boring, but instead they have become warming and comforting. There is something new in the morning prayer every day and then there is always the invitation to make up prayers as you pray them when you get to the Prayers for Others section.
Prayer is too great a gift from God for any church or religion to fully define it.
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