The third chapter of A Mother’s Rule of Life concerns prayer. By prayer, though, Pierlot really means all of one’s personal spiritual life–prayer, yes, but also time for study and meditation, and even the Sacraments are included under this heading.
The spirit of the first P [Prayer], then, is to look into our own lives, see where God has led us so far, and learn what we ought to do to make ourselves more available to his direct and personal intervention in our lives.
Also:
[I]n the first P, we must consciously include time for God in our schedules.
Why should we plan it? I suppose the first question is why wouldn’t we plan it, when we are planning everything else? Why shouldn’t God get a place at that table? But moreover Pierlot reminds us:
As mothers, we…can quite innocently get caught up in the distractions of daily life and not even notice that our relationship with God is slipping. We suddenly realize we haven’t really prayed for a while. Even with the best intentions, this can happen regularly if we haven’t consciously set aside time…
There are two basic guidelines given for the Rule: reasonable and practical. If it can’t be done, or can’t be maintained, it’s just not a good idea.
Here are some of Pierlot’s spiritual priorities:
- Formal prayers
- Rosary
- Time with Scripture, quiet reflection, and spiritual reading
- Confession
- Eucharist
- Spiritual direction {Pierlot has an actual Spiritual Director, so this is a formal appointment she would keep, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept}
- Adoration
- Mother’s Sabbath {one day every two weeks set aside to keep her spiritually refreshed}
I found myself wondering what this list would look like for me, if I really sat down and thought about it. I am still wondering, because I still haven’t sat down and thought about it. Maybe I’ll have a short one by the time I’m done writing this post.
Ahem.
Last year, if you recall, I resolved to add commentary reading into the mix. I’ve done that {though I haven’t completed either of the two little commentaries I’ve begun}, and it really has been enriching. This year, I’ve been contemplating adding in formal, written prayers. This would include memorizing prayers from Scripture, but I was thinking primarily of something I would purchase–a book of Puritan prayers {Valley of Vision perhaps} or maybe a Lutheran Book of Prayer. My mind, during prayer, is increasingly difficult to reign in. It wanders, and suddenly I’m not praying anymore. I think that reading prayers–and learning to mean them with my heart–would be a better discipline than trying to chase down my brain all the time.
My list, then, would include {but not be limited to}:
- Scripture reading
- Commentary reading
- Scripture memorization
- Formal prayer
I also was intrigued by the notion of making my whole day a prayer, and so, after each of the time slots I had chosen for prayer, I would try consciously to offer the next chunk of time to God. This helped me maintain recollection…This conscious awareness of God was the most important thing to me, and so I actually wrote down my prayer schedule on paper and charts so I could just “obey” what was written and free my mind and heart to speak with God throughout my day.
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