Choose two or three short forms and keep them until they are automatic: "My Lord and my God"; "Jesus, I trust in you"; "Lord, have mercy"; "Come, Holy Spirit"; "Mary, help of Christians, pray for us"; or simply the holy Name of Jesus. Attach them to fixed triggers so they are not left to memory — every time you cross a threshold, wait at a red light, wash your hands, open a message, hear a siren, pass a church. Say them at the moment of temptation, of anger, of fear, and again in gratitude when something goes well. Keep them short: an aspiration that grows into a paragraph has stopped doing this particular work. St Francis de Sales calls such prayers the retreat of the heart and holds that a devout life in the world depends more on them than on long exercises, and the Catechism, teaching that it is always possible to pray, quotes the Fathers on fervent prayer offered while walking, buying and selling, or cooking. When the day has been too full for anything else, these are what remain, and they are enough.

The Catechism, on persevering in love, teaches that it is always possible to pray and cites the ancient counsel that prayer can be offered in the midst of any occupation. The practice is common to every school of Catholic spirituality and is treated at length by St Francis de Sales.

Vocal prayer

Common to the whole Church

About 1 minute

Many times a day

vocal_prayer