Prayers & Devotions
Traditional Catholic prayers, novenas, litanies, and devotional practices.
Articles
Prayer Vocabulary:
Common Words, Meanings, and Usage
A practical, searchable glossary of words commonly found in Catholic prayers, novenas, litanies, Scripture-based prayers, traditional English prayers, consecrations, intercessory prayers, and prayers for spiritual protection and healing.
The Novena:
A Complete Guide to Nine Days of Prayer
What a novena actually is, why the Church prays in cycles of nine days, and how to pray one well — from the apostles' nine days awaiting Pentecost to the novenas Catholics pray today.
Prayer for the Home
A heartfelt prayer asking for Mary's protection over the home and its inhabitants.
Prayer to St. Joseph
A heartfelt prayer seeking the intercession of St. Joseph for protection and guidance.
Healing Prayer to St. Charbel
A prayer invoking St. Charbel Makhlouf (1828-1898), the Lebanese Maronite hermit-monk whose body was found incorrupt after death and to whom thousands of healing miracles have since been attributed.
Healing Prayer to St. Dymphna
A prayer to St. Dymphna, patroness of those suffering with mental and nervous afflictions, whose shrine in Geel, Belgium has drawn pilgrims seeking healing of the mind for over 700 years.
Healing Prayer to St. Raphael the Archangel
A prayer to the Archangel Raphael — whose name means "God heals" — drawn from his healing of Tobit's blindness and protection of the young Tobias in the Book of Tobit.
The Litany of Humility
A prayer composed by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930) asking to be freed not just from proud acts, but from the desire for esteem and the fear of being overlooked that quietly drive them. Praying it regularly trains the heart to actually want what humility asks for — including the grace to rejoice when someone else is preferred, praised, or advanced instead of you.
A Prayer Before Driving
A short prayer of protection to pray before driving — covering yourself and the road ahead in the blood of Jesus and asking for angels to guard your journey.
A Nightly Prayer Before Sleeping
A family night-prayer sequence: a Prayer of Protection for self, family, or friends (with prayers for entering a place and before sleep), the Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart, a prayer for healing, the Prayer to Mary Undoer of Knots, and prayers for married couples and for children.
The Sign of the Cross
The gesture-and-words that open and close nearly every Catholic prayer, professing the Trinity and the Cross in a single motion.
The Lord's Prayer (Our Father)
The prayer Christ himself taught the disciples (Matthew 6:9-13), prayed at every Mass and the model for all Christian prayer.
Hail Mary
The most-repeated Catholic prayer, built from Scripture (Luke 1:28, 1:42) and the Church's own petition, prayed fifty-plus times in a single Rosary.
Glory Be (The Doxology)
A short, ancient hymn of praise to the Trinity, prayed after every decade of the Rosary and throughout the Liturgy of the Hours.
The Apostles' Creed
The Church's oldest baptismal creed, summarizing the essentials of Christian belief in three sections — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — and opening every Rosary.
Act of Contrition
The prayer of sorrow said in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, expressing regret for sin and resolve to avoid it going forward.
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love
Three short prayers professing the three theological virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13) — traditionally prayed together, often before bed or after Communion.
The Memorare
A brief, urgent plea to Mary's intercession, traditionally attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux and prayed in moments of particular need.
Hail, Holy Queen (Salve Regina)
The Marian antiphon that closes the Rosary and the Compline hour of the Divine Office, sung in monasteries since the 11th century.
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
Pope Leo XIII's 1886 prayer for protection against evil, once prayed after every Low Mass and restored to common use by many parishes today.
Anima Christi (Soul of Christ)
A medieval Eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving popularized by St. Ignatius Loyola, traditionally prayed after receiving Holy Communion.
The Angelus
A brief devotion to the Incarnation prayed three times a day — morning, noon, and evening — built from Scripture and three Hail Marys.
The Divine Praises
An 18th-century litany of blessing prayed in reparation for blasphemy, traditionally recited at the end of Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.
Grace Before and After Meals
The short table blessings prayed before and after eating, rooted in the 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary and still said in Catholic homes today.
Eternal Rest (Prayer for the Faithful Departed)
A short prayer for the dead rooted in the Requiem Mass, prayed for anyone who has died and especially for the souls in Purgatory.
Act of Consecration to Mary
A short daily renewal prayer from St. Louis de Montfort's Marian spirituality, entrusting oneself to Jesus through Mary.
The Rosary Is Not Vain Repetition:
A Defense and Guide
Answering the Protestant critique of Matthew 6:7 through Scripture and the Church Fathers, with a structured guide to meditating on all four sets of mysteries.
The Our Father in Latin:
Pater Noster Word by Word
A phrase-by-phrase analysis of the Pater Noster — Latin, English, Greek original, and theological depth — with a pronunciation guide and practice method.
Lectio Divina:
The Ancient Art of Prayerful Reading
Tracing Lectio Divina from Origen through Benedict to Vatican II's Verbum Domini, with the four steps explained and a worked example using Psalm 23.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy:
Faustina, Poland, and the Message of Mercy
The historical context of Sr. Faustina Kowalska's visions in 1930s Poland, the devotion's initial suppression and vindication by John Paul II, and how to pray the chaplet with its theological meaning.