309 cov - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council
309 cov - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council
309 cov - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council
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A Companion for the Journey<br />
by the Most Reverend William E. Lori, S.T.D.<br />
Bishop <strong>of</strong> Bridgeport<br />
As long as I can remember, my mother has closed each day<br />
by reciting prayers from a well-worn prayer book that was given her<br />
as a young woman. I doubt there is a single page in that volume she<br />
doesn’t know by heart yet in her hands that it is more than a book. It<br />
is silent witness to years and years <strong>of</strong> daily prayer and an ever<br />
deepening friendship with God.<br />
When I was growing up, prayer books like that fell out <strong>of</strong><br />
fashion. It was said that we should not depend on prayers composed by<br />
others and still less should we recite rote prayers; rather, we should<br />
pray from the heart. Of course, we should pray from the heart. At the<br />
same time, we shouldn’t be surprised that our hearts and minds, when<br />
at prayer, need the encouragement and guidance <strong>of</strong> holy men and<br />
women who have left behind prayers that beautifully express God’s<br />
merciful love and foster our devotion. Besides, it is important that even<br />
in our purely private prayer, we use the vocabulary <strong>of</strong> faith and<br />
devotion common to Catholics through the ages and across the globe.<br />
Happily prayer books like the present volume are returning to<br />
print. We are dis<strong>cov</strong>ering how prayers drawn from the Scriptures,<br />
rooted in the Liturgy, and flowing from the hearts <strong>of</strong> the holy, the<br />
wise, and the learned help us in our journey toward God. How readily<br />
we can be renewed in the joy and hope our faith affords by prayerfully<br />
repeating Mary’s Magnificat! How easily prayer from the heart can be<br />
launched by simple acts <strong>of</strong> faith, hope, and love! How our<br />
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