Sometimes it's hard to find the time to pray. We're constantly rushing around and it can feel like our lives are taken up with the business of busyness. Yet, in the rush of daily life, we often find the time to browse the internet, tweet, Instagram, and watch a TV series - sometimes all in a day's work!
Hectic and often feeling like a whirlwind of activities and responsibilities; this is the nature of the world in which we live.
There’s nothing wrong with the array of activity we encounter each day – our constant human, technological, and artistic development is indeed a beautiful thing. But we all know the feeling of everything getting a bit much, stress building, and eventually coming to some kind of peak.
Whether that manifests itself in a 14-hour sleep or that tub of Ben and Jerry’s at the back of the freezer, we realise that something needs to change.
We make resolutions with the best intentions, and yet many of us find ourselves back at the grindstone not long afterwards (until the next delivery of Cookie Dough, that is).
We are all unique individuals and will all have different worries and stresses in our lives, but there is one common thread which often seems to interweave between the looming deadline, the children’s lunch boxes, and the mortgage payments: “Oh please, God, help!”
I’m sure that at the time we utter these words we’re not thinking of it as a “prayer” in the calm contemplative state that, ideally, we’d all like to be in when trying to persuade the Lord to assist us, but it is indeed still a reaching out to God, who is always listening and here for us.
Contrast this with the lives of a community of contemplative nuns or monks, who have chosen to dedicate their lives solely to prayer. These communities are known as ‘enclosed orders’.
In contrast with the missionary orders you might see doing humanitarian or social care work “in the world,” members of enclosed orders spend their time within the confines of their community, praying.
Imagine having all that time just to pray – you might think you’d run out of things to say. But the members of these orders are, in fact, just as busy praying for the world as we are living in it.
When someone dies, modern culture and attitudes towards death mean that we might not have planned as much in advance as we’d have liked.
There is often a rush to notify friends and relatives, organise the funeral, make financial arrangements and then, after these events have passed, to ‘move on’.
As Aretha Franklin reminds us in the words to ‘Say a Little Prayer’, the thought of living without somebody we love is heartbreaking, but we all also know that death is part of life.
There will be deeply sad times when people close to us die and leave us heartbroken, but one message of the Art of Dying Well is reminding those who are bereaved and grieving that they still have a part to play in the lives of the dead: Prayer.
The Catholic Church believes that when we die, we will enter heaven after passing through the purification of purgatory, helped by the prayers of the Church.
The Catholic belief is that people in purgatory are already with God, yet they need our prayers to help them to be purified of all the effects of sin and ready to see God face-to-face.
Remembering and praying for the dead is therefore an important part of helping them to be closer to God after they have died.
The rush after someone’s death described above, in combination with the usual hustle and bustle of daily life, can mean we don’t always have the time to do what can arguably be seen as the most important thing that the dead need: pray for them.
The Art of Dying Well is a re-purposing of the ancient Ars Moriendi for the modern age. Part of this is thinking about how we can find time for prayer, especially for the dead, in a way that fits with our daily lives.
‘Remember Them’ is a new initiative which is part of the Art of Dying Well. We are inviting you to post, via Instagram or Twitter, pictures or memories of your loved ones who are dying or who have already died.
When you tag @artofdyingwell or use the hashtag #RememberThem, we will be able to see and gather these names and memories and pass them on to several convents and abbeys who have offered to carry them in prayer.
A mixture of enclosed and missionary orders are a part of #RememberThem.
From the Carmelites in Notting Hill who pray for the dead in their daily procession to the refectory, to the Alexian Brothers who will pray for the dead during their daily hour of Eucharistic Adoration, to the Order of St John of God, a Hospitaller order whose mission is the care of the sick and dying.
You might say your own prayer when posting these pictures, you might be reminded of your prayer when using Twitter or Instagram in the future.
Taking part in #RememberThem is a way to remember someone you love, keep them close to you, and ensure that they are being prayed for and carried towards God.
“I run for the bus, dear
While riding I think of us, dear
I say a little prayer for you
At work I just take time
And all through my coffee break time
I say a little prayer for you”
Aretha Franklin