Saints Light
Learning to Pray · Lesson 3 of 10

Vocal, Meditative and Contemplative Prayer

Catholics pray with words, with pondering, and with silent loving attention, and all three are good as long as the heart is present to God.

This is a summary of Lesson 3 of Learning to Pray. The full lesson takes about 3 minutes in the Saints Light app.

Christ in Gethsemane, a painting by Heinrich Hofmann
Christ in Gethsemane, Heinrich Hofmann, 1886

What this lesson teaches

  • The Church names three expressions of prayer: vocal, meditative and contemplative.
  • Set prayers are not empty repetition when the heart is present.
  • Meditation ponders God's word or works; Mary is its model.
  • Contemplation is a silent, loving gaze toward God, open to every believer.

Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites

  • CCC 2700-2704
  • CCC 2705-2708
  • CCC 2709-2719
  • CCC 2721
  • CCC 2724

CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.

Scripture read in this lesson: Matthew 6:7; Luke 2:19; Psalm 45:11 (46:10 in most modern Bibles).

A sample question from this lesson

What did Jesus actually warn against in Matthew 6:7?

  1. Ever using set or memorized prayers
  2. Praying aloud in front of other people
  3. Piling up words as if quantity earns a hearing
  4. Praying more than once about the same need
Show the answer

Piling up words as if quantity earns a hearing. Jesus warned against heaping up words like the pagans, who thought much speaking would be heard. He himself prayed the psalms and taught the Our Father, a set prayer.

The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.

Words to know

Meditation
Prayer that ponders God's word or works with the mind, imagination and heart.
Contemplation
A simple, wordless, loving gaze of faith toward God.

More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.

Read the full lesson in the app

"Vocal, Meditative and Contemplative Prayer" is lesson 3 of Learning to Pray. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.

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