Day 18 of 80

Prayer of the Heart

Chapter XI·Manuscript C·Prayer
Context
Thérèse's definition of prayer — perhaps the simplest and most beautiful in the Catholic tradition. Prayer is not technique or performance. It is a glance, a cry, a lifting of the heart. Even a single Our Father, said slowly, is enough.

For me, prayer is an uplifting of the heart, a glance towards Heaven, a cry of gratitude and of love in times of sorrow as well as of joy. It is something noble, something supernatural, which expands the soul and unites it to God.

When my state of spiritual dryness is such that not a single good thought will come, I repeat very slowly an Our Father or a Hail Mary, and these prayers suffice to take me out of myself, and wonderfully refresh me.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux — Story of a Soul, Chapter XI (Manuscript C). Taylor translation, 1912 (public domain).
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