As human beings, we live in time and space. When we pray, therefore, we need to acknowledge the role that time and a specific place plays in our life of prayer and the dispositions of our heart. Like ourselves, time and space are creatures. Certain times and spaces, therefore, can either lead us to God or distract us and drive us away from him.
There are some places and certain times that are more conducive to prayer and the nurturing of the interior life. We are not removed zombies or egalitarian machines where everything is the same and nothing has particular value or meaning. As human beings, we thrive in the richness of specific places and celebrate the significance of distinct times.
While it is true that the Holy Spirit can bring forth prayer anywhere, there are particular places that are more favorable for the cultivation of the spiritual life.
With the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, no place can compete with the importance of the local parish church. It is the presence of the Lord Jesus that singles out a church and makes it a central place for adoration of God. In the parish church, the believer can encounter God and spend time with him.
There is no wasted time when it comes to prayer, especially prayer before the Eucharistic presence of the Lord. For this reason, the church should always resonate with public prayer and abound in opportunities for private prayer.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “The church, the house of God, is the proper place for the liturgical prayer of the parish community. It is also the privileged place for adoration of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.”
Believers cannot dismiss the importance of a place where they pray. The parish church nurtures prayer, while other places – especially those of darkness and sin – cannot. The Catechism exhorts us: “The choice of a favorable place is not a matter of indifference for true prayer.”
If we find that prayer is overly difficult, it might be worth asking whether the place we’re praying in might be a part of the problem.
After the parish church, every Christian household is encouraged to have a place set aside specifically for prayer. Such a place can vary depending on cultures, the makeup of the members of the household, and the particular spirituality of the family. While the place of prayer can be different in each household, there should be some place of prayer.
The Catechism offers these thoughts: “For personal prayer, this can be a ‘prayer corner’ with the Sacred Scriptures and icons, in order to be there, in secret, before our Father. In a Christian family, this kind of little oratory fosters prayer in common.”
In addition to local parishes and prayer corners in the Christian home, the Church also directs our attention to houses of religion, especially monasteries. The monastery is the beating heart of the Church’s life of prayer. They are the cells that heal, edify, and lift up the entire body of the Church. As such, the Catechism calls believers to visit monasteries: “In regions where monasteries exist, the vocation of these communities is to further the participation of the faithful in the Liturgy of the Hours and to provide necessary solitude for more intense personal prayer.”
After addressing places that are close to us, such as parish churches, corners of prayer in the home, and monasteries, we can identify other places – shrines, sanctuaries, and minor basilicas – throughout our country and the world that are known as locations of great holiness, signs and wonders, and places of grace.
As we travel to them on pilgrimage, we can encounter God in a unique expression of a “grace of place” and see in the journey a micro-reflection of our own journey with the Lord Jesus.
The Catechism teaches us about the importance of such pilgrimages: “Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer. For pilgrims seeking living water, shrines are special places for living the forms of Christian prayer ‘in Church.’”
In these various ways, the Church is highlighting and stressing the importance of time and space when we pray. Where we pray is significant and cannot be dismissed lightly.
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