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53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gentle and practical guide to communion with God, October 22, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer (Paperback)
Perhaps this is one of the best books on prayer ever written. Romano Guardini discusses various kinds of prayer--praise, intercession, adoration, requests--and speaks about why each one is necessary. He describes the attitude of heart one should have when approaching God. I found especially illuminating his discussion of the fact that God has created us with dignity; thus, we should approach Him with honor and dignity. Included also are expositions on contemplative prayer, prayer to the saints, and difficulties with prayer. The best part of the book is its grounding in reality and in orthodox theology. This is no promotion of a vague kind of spirituality designed simply to make a person feel good. Prayer as Guardini speaks of it is to be always centered on Christ and his work of salvation for us. This is a compassionate book. Guardini warns that prayer is almost always difficult, that we have an innate tendency to resist it, and that we should simply persevere. However, he also speaks with sympathy regarding times of darkness and depression, and he urges honesty before God. At all times, the focus of the book is about how prayer draws us closer to Christ and better fits us to dwell with Him eternally; it is not a "how-to" book on demanding wealth, fame and riches from a God whom we conceive to be a great Santa Claus. One of the most helpful and practical books on the Christian life I've ever read.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a primer on prayer., October 16, 1998
By A Customer
The Art of Praying, formerly Prayer in Practice, is one of Guardini's best books. It is a primer on prayer, and covers all types of prayer, from liturgy, to oral, to contemplative, to all varieties. It is a book to strengthen one in the necessity and possibility of building one's life around prayer (or at the very least including it in daily actions) and, like all of Father Guardini's books, profoundly touches on all aspects of the spiritual life in the world - how to seek guidance, the proper deportment in spiritual matters, how to discern God's voice, the ebbs and flows of our spiritual life, the nature of man, God, and the right relationship of man to God. It is a book of comfort, acceptance, and the dignity of man. In an age that runs roughshod over the slow, the delicate and the organic, it celebrates the natural rhythms of our lives, and of God's dealings with us. It is a book that is an experience in prayer itself to read. This is what marked all of Guardini's actions - to be in his presence OR to hear him speak OR to read one of his books was to come to an experience of the living presence of God, in itself, such was the power of this man. This is not a book of details about technique - Guardini was not a technician - it is a book of spirituality and philosophy that, by its own holiness, takes one into the presence of God and elucidates timeless, God-given principles on the nature of prayer. Highly recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life as prayer, Life as living, Life in Christ., August 5, 2010
This review is from: The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer (Paperback)
This is simply one of the most practical sources for advice on prayer that I have ever found and I will go back to it often. Leaving no stone unturned, Guardini discusses everything from adoration and thanksgiving to intercession and the communion of saints.
By using the look inside function to read some sample passages you can see that it is divided into little sections that you can prayerfully read in a few minutes and then chew on all day. I appreciated his emphasis upon "praying the Trinity", as it centers our prayer in Christ by the Spirit to the Father, since it really is the Spirit who prays in and for us to the Father and our whole life is "in Christ". I also found Guardini's lack of romanticism very refreshing. No platitudes about mystical union and the like, but the simple and practical advice that I would expect form my priest: Prayer is real work, you likely won't want to do it often, its purpose is not to produce an emotional state within you, get over yourself, you are not alone when you say your prayers, your whole life can become living prayer and here is how you can do it. Just right. Very honest.
While not really a "how to" book, Guardini's observations feel to me like the description of a beautiful and rugged journey that I am trying to take, but have yet to progress too far in. But with his descriptions, I have a better map of where I am going, how I can get there, what I can expect as I go and where not to go.
Other books that I can recommend in regard to prayer and the meaning of life are: Living Prayer, Beginning to Pray, Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father : Being the Narratives Compiled by the Servant of God Alexander Concerning His Spiritual Father, The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality. Of course there are the volumes of the Philokalia, but I am not sure that they for a beginner like me.
Of course Guardini presupposes that you are going to liturgy, confession and fasting. Prayer is anything but a private matter. It is how we enter into the communion of saints before God. "One Christian, no Christian."
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