Dear Father Angelo,

A few years ago I wrote a question to you about purity and, having received fraternal support and an excellent answer, I thought of writing to you, in the first place, to thank you and, secondly, to ask you another question. Since I started tackling the subject of purity, I have felt it essential to pray in order to resist temptation thus not to fall again, although with great regret I eventually manage to get back up after the fall.

Recently I have been assaulted by a doubt: “what, how, where and when do I have to pray, if I want to pray WELL?”. Apparently, it may seem a stupid question and of little sense  but I think it is not obvious. With “what” I mean which prayer, with “how” I mean how to enter into the right atmosphere of prayer so that it may bear fruit. Finally, the “where”; and here I open a little parenthesis, as I come from a non –believing family that despises the Church and the faith, therefore it is always very hard for me to find a place in the house where I can pray. For this reason, I am asking you this question. Lastly, “when” to pray, because it is very hard for me to find a time of the day to dedicate to prayers, as I am a high-school student.

I hope the information I gave you to enable you to answer my question are as clear and detailed as possible.

I thank you in advance for your answer.

My dearest friend,

1. The answer I am going to give you may seem obvious because it is a normal thing and at hand.

Indeed, for such an important thing, like prayer is, Heaven does not ask for impossible or difficult things.

Considering Saint Benedict’s quote “Prayer is the breath of the soul”, we can assume that breath is at hand as well as prayer is.

2. The Lord taught us to pray and said: “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9).

The Lord, who never abandons the Church, stays with her till the end of the world and continues to teach her how to pray.

Over the past two centuries, He asks to pray with the Holy Rosary, in private (but approved by the Church) revelations as well as in Lourdes and in Fatima.

The Holy Rosary does no more than making present the life of Jesus with which we enter into communion.

It is a prayer that allows Jesus to conform our life to his. He does it through Mary’s mediation.

Like he used Her to come to men, so through the Holy Rosary he uses Mary to bring himself and his Holy Spirit to us.

3. You can pray WELL with the Holy Rosary because it is not a fleeting prayer (which already in itself has big value) but a means to be with the Lord for some portion of the day.

The Rosary requires some time which is precious for the Lord to be able to lay his heart next to ours so we can do the same with Him.

If we live it well, it becomes a time where Jesus comes to illuminate, work in us, pour out grace, transform and sanctify our life.

For someone like you, who probably does not have any chance to go to Mass every day, the Rosary becomes one of the most sought-after and profitable parts of the day, as it is like going and drawing graces.

4. With these words I have already answered your first question: what to do in order to pray well.

Now for your second question: how to pray well.

I have mentioned it several times too.

First thing, while with our lips we are praying Our Father and Hail Mary, with our mind and heart we are reconstructing the scene, mentioned in the Mystery, in the conviction that the Lord at that time does not simply remember it but relives it with us and for us.

In this way the Gospel enters our life.

The second thing to do is thanking the Lord for fulfilling the event, which now He comes to repeat in our favour.

The third thing consists in imploring God the Father to give us this or that grace by virtue of Christ’s merits, particularly the ones related to the event where Christ came to repeat in our life through that decade of the Holy Rosary.

You will quickly realize that this prayer is marvellous and extraordinarily powerful.

5. Now let’s move to the where.

You told me that in your household it is difficult to pray because you live with a family of non-believers who despise the Church.

Instinctively, I would say: pray in your room.

In case you do not have a room, you may have a desk where you study and write.

Well, this can become the place of prayer, said in the middle of your study.

While studying, it is easy to feel the inspiration to pray.

This prayer actually becomes a sort of intermission that allows you to pause for a moment, rest and recover your energies.

Among the places where you can pray, there is also the Church or the oratory.

It is always refreshing to go to church during the day and pray in silence and recite your own Rosary.

But the where can also be the road, the train or bus that we take, especially if we want to be quiet and in recollection.

6. Finally, the when.

It is true that you are a student; however, you can pray early in the morning, as you just get up for the day, setting your alarm-clock 10 or 15 minutes earlier.

Or you can also pray in the evening before going to bed, or in the afternoon between studies.

It is important to choose the time though, because if you leave it to chance, you can run the risk of continually postponing it and eventually missing it.

I thank you for your question.

Hoping that this may push you to pray well by defining which prayer to say, how to say it, where and when, I promise to remind you to the Lord (I will do it right now) and I bless you.

Father Angelo

Translated by Irene Visciano

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