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The Catholic Church recognizes four types of prayer:
- Thanksgiving is probably the highest form of prayer.
The Mass is the most perfect prayer of thanksgiving. A grateful
heart simply wants to say thanks – for life, for Faith,
for redemption, for others, for this earth.
- Petition is the most common form of prayer. We should
not be shamed to ask God for what we need, but we should
be especially attentive to the needs of others and especially
to those who have so little in life.
- Adoration is a special type of prayer that involves
a deep love and an awareness of God's "otherness"
and our dependence on God. Often in this form of prayer,
no words are spoken. It is an attitude, a stance, taken
before God's majesty.
- Reparation is a form of prayer that, through sorrow
and self-effacement, seeks forgiveness for sins. The Orthodox
tradition is full of such prayer. We begin each Mass with
this form when we say or sing: "Lord, have mercy; Christ,
have mercy; Lord, have mercy."
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