Talks on the Sacramentals, by Msgr Arthur Tonne - Prayer Books

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." St. Matthew, 7:7.

A sailor had died at sea. His burial was unusual in a way. The chief cook of the S.S. Green Wave, on which the sailor died, wrote of the funeral in the Catholic Maritime News, a publication of the National Conference of the Apostleship of the Sea:

"We did all we could," he related, "The mate was looking all through the Bible for the part that is read at a Requiem Mass. Luckily I had a Missal. I read the Mass for the Dead. One of the crew put a rosary in his hands and another seaman put a scapular on him. The captain said a few words and I also spoke."

Then the chief cook added:

"Whenever you put any books or magazines on a ship, throw in a few prayer books."

The incident highlighted one of the most valuable and necessary of the sacramentals--a prayer book. Books of prayer are almost without limit as to size, color, shape, contents and also price. We are not speaking today of the official books of the Church--the Missal, Breviary, and Ritual particularly. We are speaking of those books of devotions, those collections of prayers and spiritual readings, which every Catholic from the Pope on down to the most recent convert, will use to help him talk to God and think about God. Again let us emphasize that it is not absolutely necessary for a Catholic to have a prayer book. But with even greater emphasis let me point out to you that a prayer book is of immense help in our spiritual life.

The story of our sailor and his burial at sea bears that out. His fellow sailors were looking for words, preferably the inspired words of Sacred Scripture and the divinely approved words of Mother Church, words that might express their appeals for the soul of their deceased comrade. They wanted to hear at that hour the words of Him who said:

"I am the resurrection and the life."

A prayer book with these specific words was their greatest need. It is a need we all experience from time to time. To meet that need Mother Church approves, promotes, and blesses books of devotion. In general we might divide these books into three groups: those with prayers to our Lord; those with devotions to our Blessed Mother; and a third group in veneration of the saints.

1. Every good prayer book will naturally contain prayers to the Holy Trinity--to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But because the second Person of the Blessed Trinity became the God-man, we have many particular forms of devotion to Him:

a. There are numerous collections in honor of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, with prayers for Mass, Holy Hour, Benediction and Forty Hours.

b. The sufferings of our Savior, His passion and death, are the topics of many prayer books.

c. Other volumes emphasize Christmas, Easter, the Sacred Heart, and Christ as Teacher, Preacher, and Worker.

d. There are booklets of prayers for every phase of our Lord's life.

e. There also are manuals of devotions to the Holy Spirit, whom we neglect too much.

Since Christ wants us to honor His Blessed Mother, we have a limitless list of collections of prayers to her:

a. Here are entreaties to her as the Mother of God, as the Mother of men, as the Queen of heaven, as the Virgin of virgins.

b. We find forms of petition with emphasis on her principal joys and on her principal sorrows.

c. There are May devotions, October devotions, novenas of all kinds, like the one before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

d. Still other volumes are devoted to the titles with which we address her in the Litany of Loretto.

3. As for the saints, we have entire books of prayers to individual heroes and heroines of God. Different nationalities, localities, classes and races have their favorite saints and their favorite forms of devotion to them.

We might also divide prayer books according to the person for whom they are written and published:

1. Prayer books for priests and religious, as you might expect, are adapted to every phase of priestly and religious life.

2. Some sets of devotion are compiled with parents in mind; others with children or young people as their readers.

3. We have books for children making their First Communion; others for their first Confession.

4. There are marriage and funeral prayer books, and books for soldiers and sailors.

We should say a special word about the Missal. Though it is the official prayer book of the Mass, it is coming more and more to be used also as the principal book of private prayer by many Catholics. It often includes the common devotions a Catholic will use regularly.

May I urge everyone of you to have a prayer book, or even several prayer books. Try various ones from time to time until you find the book which suits your spiritual life the best. Use your prayer book to vary your daily devotions. Don't say the same prayers every morning and evening, or even the same prayers every time you go to Mass or to Confession or to the Holy Hour. Naturally certain prayers will appeal to us and we will love to repeat them, but variety is healthy in this matter. Different prayers may fit different needs.

Be an intelligent Catholic. Be a wide-awake Catholic. Have your prayer book with you and use it.

Browse through the prayer books of others occasionally. Learn and realize that there is some way of approaching God in every need and emergency, in every trial and victory, in every sorrow and joy. Amen.