For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to sacred art. I used to buy books as a kid about the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo. Ironically, I had no idea of their Catholic ties, nor would the term “sacred art” have been in my vocabulary. I was simply mesmerized...
My grandmother says that in times past in her city people would take a break at noon and wherever they were, whether in the fields or doing any other work, and they would begin to pray the Angelus. Her city was small and she remembers that it was something...
What happens when we enter into the desert of prayer? While some of us easily walk in the hope and solace of Christ in the sacrifices of the season, others of us wonder whether we’ve wandered from our Guide and question His ongoing Presence. The saints often...
The Sign of the Cross is the most common Catholic prayer. We use it at the beginning and end of prayers, in the Mass, when we pass by a Church, cemetery, or abortion clinic, and when we hear an emergency vehicle siren. But do we know that it is a prayer itself? Or...
For some, the quarantined life means that things are happening at a much slower pace. Your events are canceled, you’re working or going to school from home, and e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g is closed. You’ve got a lot of time on your hands, but are likely really feeling the...
Prayer is like breathing. It’s something that we have to do but it doesn’t totally depend on us. It's not like we make a conscious decision to breathe. With prayer something similar is happening; we put in our part but at the end of the day it's the Holy Spirit...
Some of the most frequent questions we get at Catholic-Link are about prayer. Our readers want to know: How Do I Pray? When Should I Pray? What Can I Do To Improve My Prayer Life? We have a library of resources for you on prayer to help answer those questions,...
What is the Divine Mercy Chaplet? Sister Faustina Kowalska was a nun who received visions from Jesus Himself. After a particular vision on September 13, 1935, she began to share a prayer that Jesus taught her. The account of that vision can still be found in her...
Someone asked me quite seriously the other day, “What do you personally get out of Adoration?” It was a question that gave me pause. How do I explain? If you already accept the belief that the consecrated Host is in fact Jesus Christ, it seems plain to me that you...
You might not be the type of person who prays every day, but I'm willing to bet that you've called out to God in a few of these situations. 10 Times Even People Who Aren't Religious Start Praying 10 Times Even People Who Aren't Religious Start Praying Some...
“Lectio Divina” means divine reading in Latin. It’s an ancient practice that teaches us how to read, meditate on and live the Word of God. History tells us that it was the Blessed Guigo the Carthusian, who wrote the “most important stages” of this way of meditating...
Prayer is intended to be our way of communicating with God. It is a gift, yet sometimes it becomes a task, a burden, or a mundane part of our daily routine. We may also experience dry spells in our spiritual life and begin to feel disconnected from the God who...
No matter how spiritual we are, we cannot ignore our bodies when we pray. Indeed, we pray with and through them, not only with our voice and thoughts. If we are happy, our face expresses it, and our body does, too; if we're worried, we put our head in our hands. When...
There have been many days throughout this summer when I was on the verge of losing my mind due to obsessive tattling, the never ending muddy footprints on my hardwood floors and the bloodcurdling shriek of a toddler being tortured by her big brothers. During those...
“I don’t have time to pray!,” some argue. “That is not true,” I tell them. They give me a thousand excuses and leave. Then time goes by and I observe them. Long hours spent watching TV and YouTube videos, checking Facebook, playing games, listening to music, pursuing...
Have you ever found yourself in a prayer rut? Perhaps you've been saying the same prayers for so long you no longer pay attention to the meaning behind the words. Your prayer routine has become just that, routine. Though it is good to be in the habit of...
Through intentional breathing, we are subtly able to affect both our heart rhythm and our interior life (see Heartmath Institute). Such gentle guidance of our interior life constitutes a form of asceticism whereby we can calm the disorders of the heart and create the...
You probably have a rosary lying around your house somewhere. Maybe you received it as a Confirmation gift or picked one up when the sweet old lady was passing them out at church, but you don’t really know what to do with it. If you remember praying the rosary as...
Today, we present three innovative ministries that are making Catholic prayer life a little easier. Feast Days Celebrate the Feasts - Do you have trouble remembering Holy Days and Feast Days? Perhaps you remember them, but you have no idea what they signify or...
One of the things that Catholic Link does best is to Link our readers with phenomenal Catholic resources and ministries. Our writers search the web to find noteworthy Catholic content to bring right to your inbox everyday. (If you’re missing out on this,...
How many times have we heard these from our friends? Or more, how many times have we used these same excuses ourselves when we are not actively praying? Have we really abandoned our relationship with the Lord for these types of reasons? Whether we want to or not, each...
For any sincere Christian and determined apostle, prayer is an absolute must. It isn’t rare that many seem to doubt in the power of prayer. In fact, I would say it is perhaps the fundamental temptation: God does not listen. Still, more times than not, we are lacking...