My knowledge of the Angelus
prayer was minimal at best before reading Praying the Angelus by Jared Dees
(Ave Maria Press, 2017). I doubt that I am alone in that regard. Dees, a high
school theology teacher, describes his own confusion when first listening to
the Angelus in Latin when in Rome and
then learning about the prayer from a priest in his parish who was guest
teaching in his religious education program.
This was the start of a transformative personal journey for
the author in which he would begin incorporating the prayer, offered at six
a.m., noon, and six p.m. each day, into his daily routine. The fruits of that
experience led him to want to share this beautiful devotion with others.
The Angelus is a prayer
in honor of Our Blessed Mother and the moment of the Incarnation. According to
Dees, it “originated in the Middle Ages as a devotional practice for laypeople
living near the great monasteries of Europe to help them follow the prayer
example of those who lived monastic lives.” During Easter, the Regina Caeli is prayed in place of the Angelus “as a prayer of praise to God
for the Resurrection.”
Dees shares the history of both of these prayers as well as
provides a line by line explanation and reflection for each line of the
prayers.
Whether or not one ultimately chooses to incorporate the
Angelus into one’s daily devotions, Dees’ discussion of the value of repetitive
prayer is worth reading and pondering. Being committed to a structured daily
prayer practice which requires you to interrupt your day with prayer at
regularly scheduled intervals has the power to transform your life. He also
makes some important observations about the value of devotions in passing the
Catholic faith down to our children.
No comments:
Post a Comment