House of Prayer

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During the week at the seminary, we pray Morning Prayer, Mass, and Evening Prayer as a community (in the chapel pictured above). Morning Prayer, followed by Mass, Mon-Fri begins at the night owl's worst hour: 6:15 AM! (This is the part of the day where one is most grateful for the invention of coffee!) Each day then concludes with Evening Prayer at 6:45 PM. Thus, everyday begins and ends with prayer in community. These are the "bookends" of our day that keeps it all together.

After a week like this, Saturday, which is a "free day", is a wonderful rest day.  For us, this means we don't have classes, we can pray morning and evening prayer on our own (at the hour of our discretion), and we are allowed to go out for Mass.

Prayer is still marks the beginning and the close of the day. However, I try to use every Saturday as a chance to visit a different church around Rome.

Every church I've been to is stunningly beautiful and incredibly large, full of awe-inspiring art. Within these churches, the architecture and art can leave on feeling quite small. And that's kind of the point of it all.

These are "houses of prayer" where we kneel before the infinite God present in the mystery of the Eucharist housed in the tabernacle. Thus, every Catholic Church is God's home to which He has invited us. The passage below from Isaiah


I will give them, in my house/ and within my walls, a monument and a name/ Better than sons and daughters;/ an eternal name, which shall not be cut off, will I give them. (Is 56:5)

Through the prophet Isaiah, God is telling us that He invites us into heaven, eternal life, united with Him. The union that we have with Him this side of heaven in prayer is the path to a transforming union where God will make us "better than sons and daughters" but indeed we shall have a share in Christ's life (c.f. Hebrews 3).

The Caravaggio's "Madonna dei Pellegrini" (Our Lady of the Pilgrims) captures the "smallness" with which we approach prayer. It depicts a poor man and women wearing rags, visibly dirty from their daily work. They kneel at the door of the kingdom to which they are welcomed by Mary, holding the small baby Jesus.

That said, let us keep praying and conforming our lives to Christ. This is the path to the fullness of life, found not in ourselves, but in the Creator, the God who calls us to Himself.