My Prayer Prep

For Quieting Body, Mind, and Spirit

1. Invoke the Holy Spirit.
2. Examen.
3. “Penance, penance, penance.” — OLO Lourdes
4. Awake your hunger for God through spiritual reading, prayer, Christian music, charity work, or some other holy activity.
5. Create a quiet, peaceful, and comfortable environment.
6. Wear simple and comfortable clothing.
7. Light candles, burn incense, and play low volume chant music.
8. Assume a comfortable and meaningful body position.
9. Don’t merely empty your mind, open it to its Lord. https://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFMED.HTM 
10. Pray the Chotki to improve  your breathing and focus.
11. Enter into one of the three expressions of prayer: vocal, meditative, or contemplative. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm
12. When distracted invoke the holy names of Jesus and Mary and calmly return to prayer.
13. Be aware that some “distractions” might actually be God speaking to you.
14. Persevere even if no spiritual consolation is felt.
15. When you finish praying, record what you experienced in your prayer journal.
16. “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” — The Mass