Understanding Of Prayer Research Articles

Ḥadīṡ-Ḥadīṡ dalam Kitab Kanzun an-Najah wa as-Surūr: Studi Atas Kualitas dan Pemahaman Ḥadīṡ Bab Bulan Shafar

Ḥadīṡ Nabī is the main source of Islamic teachings after the Al-Qur’ān. A ḥadīṡ that is ṣaḥīḥ in terms of its sanad is not necessarily ṣaḥīḥ in terms of its mata. Sometimes he is weak in terms of his eyes, namely after the faqihs find hidden defects in him. Furthermore, ḥadīṡ Nabī does not only discuss matters of law, worship, muamalah, but ḥadīṡ Nabī also talks about prayers in everyday life. This article aims to determine the authenticity of the ḥadīṡ-ḥadīṡ in the book Kanzun an-Najah wa as-Surūr. The problem in this research is the quality of ḥadīṡ-ḥadīṡ regarding prayer and practice in the book Kanzun an-Najah wa as-Surūr chapter of the Month of Safar and ḥadīṡ’s understanding of prayer and practice in the book Kanzun an-Najah wa as-Surūr chapter of the Month of Safar. This research uses library research with the main reference being the book Kanzun an-Najah wa as-Surūr. The secondary references are the ḥadīṡ books which are included in the al-Tis’ah pole, books, journals, theses, theses, etc. The data collection technique used is the documentation method, namely collecting data based on the things discussed in the form of notes, transcripts, books, magazines, and so on. Meanwhile, in analyzing the data, the techniques used were the mauḍū’ī and naqd al-Sanad and matan methods. The research in this thesis found that the two ḥadīṡ in the Month of Shafar chapter studied had different qualities, the first ḥadīṡ had the quality of ḥasan, while the second ḥadīṡ had the quality of ḍa’īf. Likewise, the understanding of ḥadīṡ regarding prayer at the end of the month of Safar, there are differences of opinion among the ulama, some ulama allow it, such as Shaīkh ‘Abdul Ḥamīd, and others forbid it.

PENTINGNYA PEMBELAJARAN TATA CARA SHALAT DAN THAHARAH MELIPUTI WUDHU, TAYAMMUM DAN MANDI WAJIB: STUDI FENOMENIAL PESERTA DIDIK

Knowledge and understanding of prayer and thaharah which includes Wudhu, Tayammum and obligatory bathing are important aspects in religious learning material in junior high schools (SMP). This discussion is about the importance of learning prayer and thaharah which includes ablution, tayammum and obligatory bathing as part of the implementation of religious education courses. Learning prayer and thaharah which includes obligatory ablution, tayammum and bathing at school not only ensures students' correct and consistent understanding of Islamic worship practices, but can also help in forming students' character and moral values. This also highlights the positive impact of this learning integration, such as increasing religious awareness, strengthening students' religious identity. Therefore, learning prayer and thaharah which includes ablution, tayammum and obligatory bathing for students has significant suitability in supporting the spiritual and moral development of students.

Asking God for Help: Children’s Views on What to Pray for When

By the end of early childhood, children indicate that prayer is more effective than wishes or magic to prevent an unwanted, negative outcome from occurring. However, research has not yet delineated whether children would ask God to resolve a problem by changing the internal state of the person facing the problem (e.g., changing someone’s desires or emotions) or changing the external state of the world (e.g., physical or biological change). The current study examined if children request God to act through psychological or physical mechanisms. The participants were 122 4-to-8-year-old children (M = 6.160, SD = 0.918; 63.0% female) who returned to be interviewed for the third wave of a six-wave longitudinal study. The sample was racially–ethnically and religiously diverse. Children heard stories about characters facing two different problems. The results revealed that the children demonstrated a preference for petitioning for physical solutions, rather than biological, psychological, or emotion regulation solutions. The preferences did not vary by religious affiliation, religious exposure, or age. However, children with a more sophisticated social cognition ranked petitioning for physical changes higher. These findings suggest that children’s understanding of prayer (in this case, the most efficient ways for God to answer prayers) involves their coordination of developing folk theories about the world.

Metode Demonstrasi untuk Meningkatkan Pemahaman Santri Terhadap Materi Sholat

In education, every student has the right to achieve satisfactory academic performance. However, there are still differences in the level of understanding, both in terms of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. To support the success of non-formal education, such as a Quranic Education Center (TPQ), the application of effective teaching methods is needed to enhance students' understanding. One such method is the demonstration method. The aim of this research is to investigate the implementation of the demonstration method to improve students' understanding of prayer at TPQ Jami Bedilan. This study adopts a qualitative descriptive research design. Data collection was conducted through observation, interviews, and documentation. The research findings can be summarized as follows: (1) The implementation of the demonstration method for prayer at TPQ Jami Bedilan has been well executed, from the preparation stage to the final steps of the demonstration. However, there was one step that was not implemented, which was the lack of a trial activity conducted by the teacher. (2) The supporting factors and obstacles in the implementation of the demonstration method for prayer include the commitment of the educators, involvement of parents, and positive response from the students. On the other hand, the limiting factors arise from the educators themselves and the limited time available for teaching.

The Use of Audio-Visual Media in Improving Students' Reading Comprehension and Sholat Movements in Online Learning

In the Covid-19 pandemic situation, learning that requires practice and habituation patterns such as prayer is experiencing obstacles. Teachers and parents also have problems finding the right learning media so that children's prayer understanding is better. Preliminary study obtained data on the ability of elementary school children in Class I is still far from the Minimum Completeness Criteria (KKM) when online learning is implemented since the child enters school. This research used classroom action research, which aims to describe 1)how to apply prayer audio visual media, and 2) how is the student's understanding of prayer which includes aspects of the ability to recite prayer readings and pray according to the sequence of prayer movements. The research subjects were 18 students of class I, with the researcher as a class teacher and the principal as an expert observer and assessor. Methods of data collection using observation and interview. The instrument consists of media assessment by experts, teacher observation instruments and student abilities. The data analysis used is narrative-qualitative, which describes the findings obtained in the implementation of the action in the form of diagrams and tables. The results of the action after using audio-visual media, students' understanding experienced an increase in prayer readings from 11% which was good to 95% good, and movement ability from 6% to 94%. The conclusion is that the use of audio-visual media in online learning can improve students' understanding of prayer on the ability to read and perform movements in accordance with the guidance of the Prophet SAW.

Концептуализация молитвы в дневниковом дискурсе Л. Н. Толстого

The article is devoted to analyzing ideas about prayer reflected in Leo Tolstoy’s diaries. The research has been carried out using methods of continuous sampling of diary notes dedicated to prayer, conceptual analysis aimed at highlighting its cognitive features, as well as private techniques for analyzing the semantics of a keyword. The study has revealed that records of prayer are found throughout the years of keeping a diary. Tolstoy understands prayer as a dialogue with God, as self-understanding. The article analyzes the features of the conceptualization of prayer, objectified by the compatibility of the keyword, and reconstructs the primary image of “Person”: figuratively, prayer is attributed to procedural features inherent in a person. They are characterized by positive connotative evaluation. It is proved that the categorization of prayer using an anthropomorphic cultural code is a consequence of implementing a communicative cognitive strategy. Tolstoy names the following functions of prayer: it helps to achieve harmony, avoid complex emotional states, makes a person strong, spiritually elevates them, protects them from the temptation to sin, helps in self-understanding. An essential aspect of the conceptualization of prayer for Tolstoy is the definition of the conditions for its performance. Tolstoy understands prayer exclusively as an intimate, non-church appeal to God. Tolstoy believes that prayer should be carried out with complete abstraction from everything mundane. Tolstoy warns against mechanical prayer. He completely denies the prayer asking for personal well-being. Tolstoy’s understanding of prayer is dissonant with the conventional one.

Air and Ghosts

91 ERIKA VEURINK Air and Ghosts • nne Sexton called her relationship with the monk Brother Dennis Farrell “a love built on air and ghosts.” He told her he loved her. She told him he was haunted. It began with a fan letter he wrote her in 1961 after the publication of her first poetry collection. Fan mail is generally one-sided optimism, but who has ever written without the slightest hope of being the exception ? This is my understanding of prayer. Correspondence is inevitably imbalanced. ‘ Anne Sexton wrote back to Brother Dennis. She wanted to believe in God. Could he help her? She thought of God as “large, covering up the sky / like a great resting jellyfish.” I think God would rather be called a feeling than a sea creature. But if he created both, what’s the harm? ‘ Conversion is courtship of ideology. When Anne Sexton told the monk “for some reason I love faith, but have none,” she was offering a challenge. I have a theory. In every relationship one person releases a fantasy while the other enacts one. If timed perfectly, it’s compatibility. When we love the wrong things well, we are caught in the miscommunication of what it means to be human. ThefirsttimeIlovedarightperson,itfeltlikefallingasleepontime. ‘ Another theory: Pick a god. Hold it loosely. a 92 ‘ Brother Dennis mailed Anne Sexton a crucifix after the exchange of a few letters. He introduced something physical to the exchange. He braved a new dimension. The cross was something to sink her teeth into. ‘ My pastor growing up said, “We should all be wearing empty tombs around our necks. It’s the resurrection that matters, not the death on the cross.” But where is the romance in an empty tomb? The cross and Christ were soaked in blood and vinegar, lit by cracks of lightning. It was a seed then a tree then a vessel then a grave then a symbol. Sexton fashioned a necklace out of the crucifix with packing string and wrote that she would “never wear it without a feeling of humility and awareness.” As a kid, all I wanted was to know my salvation was set in stone. I bowed to false gods on the bathroom floor just to try things out. I fashioned plenty of crucifixes. ‘ All love is iconography. Worship is high art. ‘ The monk sent her a photograph of himself, which Sexton hung above her desk. “I am hunting for the truth,” Sexton wrote to the monk. “It might be a kind of poetic truth, and not just a factual one, because behind everything that happens to you there is another truth, a secret life.” ‘ 93 Sexton thought writing should be painful.1 Otherwise, leave it unsaid. She understood the way suffering glimmered in the right light. In this way, prayer and poetry come from the same place. Sexton said we are all writing “God’s poem.” ‘ In her confusion and visions, in her forty days in the desert, there was the monk, waiting, ready to apostatize, for a word, for a chance at his new religion—Anne. ‘ I imagine Anne Sexton swore not to write poems about flowers or spring, but then flowers and spring happened anyway. The planet shuddered and her private world spun in a neighboring orbit. We are the worlds we occupy. We are the worlds we leave behind. ‘ There is a surrender in the act of extension. ‘ “I wish we were real,” wrote the poet to the monk in their final correspondence . She died of suicide years later after the publishing of her last book, The Awful Rowing Toward God. The invocation read “For Brother Dennis, wherever he is.” 1. Interview with Patricia Marx. “Interview with Anne Sexton.” The Hudson Review. Vol. 18, No. 4 (Winter, 1965–1966), pp. 560–570. ...

Ego States and the Image of God in Personal Prayer: Psycholinguistic Analysis

Introduction. The results of theoretical substantiation and empirical study of personal prayer in the context of an interdisciplinary approach, which combines, on the one hand, the basic ideas and positions of the theory of transactional analysis and Ego states according to E. Bern, on the other hand, the ideas and techniques of modern psycholinguistics are describes and interprets in the article. It is substantiated that such an approach makes it possible to constructively supplement the basic metaphysical, spiritual, theological understanding of prayer with its full-fledged scientific analysis.
 Methods & Techniques. The sample of Ukrainian respondents of different ages and social status, self-identified as «Christians», according to the «Techniques of Studying Religious Activity» (D. Smirnov), is divided into four subgroups: the lowest, the lowest than the average, the highest than the average and the highest level of religious activity. Each was offered two related tasks («My Prayer» and «God’s Answer») with special instructions, after which the texts of personalized prayers as discourses of two «Ego states» were received and analyzed. In the context of the psycholinguistic direction of the study, the method of predicative text analysis was used (А. Leontiev, T. Dridze, N. Zhinkin). For the sake of clarification, the qualitative data was supplemented by a quantitative content analysis method using the «Textanz» computer software (version 2.4.2.0). And the results were summarized and compared in the context of four previously separated subgroups of respondents.
 Results. It is theoretically substantiated that prayer as a religious discourse should be considered not only in the context of broad social cognition and interaction, but also as a component of self-knowledge, self-understanding, self-construction of Personality. It has been empirically established that in the process of personal prayer as a reference to God with certain requests, thanksgiving, repentance and praise, the harmonious communicative transaction «Child»/«Father» is most often implicated (31.45% persons). So, for almost a third of the surveyed God, God is definitely a loving Father. However, disharmonious, conflicting transactions of various types – «Child» / «Parent», «Child» / «Adult», «Adult» / «Adult», are found quite frequently (approximately 40% persons).
 Conclusions. The results are viewed as one of the consequences and manifestations of the current crisis of the whole society, when, in the context of chronic and global distrust of any authority, centuries-old sacral values are also partially negated, and God begins to be perceived as an indifferent «Father» or an too liberal «Head».

Prayer as a Religious Narrative: The Spiritual Self and the Image of God

This article examines William James’s study on prayer in The Varieties of Religious Experience by framing prayer as a form of religious narrative that demonstrates the religious person’s construction and development of the spiritual self. The author begins by reviewing William James’s theory of the self and discussing its significance for multiple constituents of the self. By assessing James’s distinction between the terms I and Me, the author discusses how James’s notion of multiple selves provides a helpful framework for understanding the narrative nature of the self. In the following section, he investigates how James discusses prayer as “the very core of the living religion” by looking at the prayers of George Muller and Karl Hilty in The Varieties. The author argues that the Jamesian understanding of prayer reveals a particular process of how one makes sense of oneself and one’s image of God.

IMPLEMENTASI KEGIATAN DOA REMAJA KATOLIK (REKAT) DI PAROKI SANTO HILARIUS KLEPU

Prayer was very important in Jesus’ life and the saints’ lives. Prayer also becomes the important need in the faithfuls’ life. Prayer is a mean to fight againts the devil and the power of sin. Prayer is also an expression of faith in God. It also becomes the way of human being to always remember to God. There are some problems: what is prayer? How do the Catholic teens of St. Hilarius’ Parish, Klepu pray together? What kind of benefits of praying together for the Catholic Teens in St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu? What kind of impedements in praying together that the Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ Parish experience? The aims of this research are: to clarify the definition of prayer, to explain how the Catholic Teens of Hilarius’ parish, Klepu to do their praying together, to explain the benefits of prayer together for the Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. Finally, to identify various factors that supporting or inhibiting the practice of prayer of the Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. This research used qualitative research methods. In this study there are 10 respondents consisting of 4 male respondents and 6 female respondents. They are between 13-15 years old. They are members of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. The conclusions of the research are: 1) The Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu know the understanding of prayer. 2) The Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parihs, Klepu already carry out prayers in certain times either personally or communal prayer in St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. 3) The Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu understand that the benefits of communal prayer are: creating a partnership or relationship with God and friends, as well as the means to develop their personality.

Prayer after Augustine: A Study in the Development of the Latin Tradition by Jonathan Teubner

Reviewed by: Prayer after Augustine: A Study in the Development of the Latin Tradition by Jonathan Teubner Adam Ployd Jonathan Teubner Prayer after Augustine: A Study in the Development of the Latin Tradition Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018 Pp. viii + 257. $88.00. The word "after" in the title of Jonathan Teubner's Prayer after Augustine ought not to be read as meaning simply "subsequent to" or "chronologically following." Rather, it should evoke the more substantial sense of "in the footsteps of" or "in the manner of." Teubner's monograph on prayer in the Augustinian tradition is not so much about how the practice or theory of prayer developed in the centuries immediately following the death of Augustine—although he devotes careful work to unearthing the legacy of Augustine in the writings of Boethius and Benedict—as it is about the way theological tradition is transmitted and adapted, the "kinematics," as he puts it. From this multi-layered study emerges an astute rendering of Augustine's understanding of prayer, a new approach to the early Augustinian tradition independent of the perennial Pelagian focus, and a theory of tradition that challenges the reigning options in modern theological ethics. The historical meat of Teubner's study is divided into two parts, each with four chapters. Part I examines how Augustine's understanding of prayer develops diachronically in his writings. Chapter One, "Learning to Pray," examines Augustine's earliest works, especially the Soliloquia, De moribus, and De magistro. Through these texts Teubner traces the development of Augustine's understanding of prayer from a Platonic reaching of the ratio toward God to a reflexive turning inward upon oneself as unknown. In Chapter Two, "Prayer as Acceptance of Time," Teubner demonstrates how Augustine comes to reject a view of immediate ascent in favor of an eschatologically fulfilled ascent whose temporal delay cultivates a purified desire through a life of patience in time. This argument develops through readings of De vera religione and De sermone Domini in monte that highlight the practices of scripture reading and communal prayer that embody and enliven [End Page 152] this theory. Chapter Three, "Prayer as Reception of the Other," fleshes out this vision of purifying prayer by unpacking Augustine's understanding of the totus Christus. Highlighting Augustine's use of the verb induere, Teubner focuses on the Enarrationes in Psalmos, through which he illustrates how prayer is both the means for incorporation into the totus Christus and the fruit of such incorporation, as Christian existence becomes defined by a dialectic of desire and patience nurtured by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Part I concludes with Chapter Four, "Prayer as the Hope of Wisdom," in which Teubner comes to Ep. 130 and the De trinitate. His reading turns upon two terminological pairs—scientia/sapientia and deprecari/precari—which he reads as mutually informing. Deprecari represents the prayer for purification while precari signifies the desire for participation in God. Scientia pairs with deprecari inasmuch as it is linked with the humility of Christ's incarnation, the very humility that Christians must take on (induere) if they are to reach the sapientia for which they desire (precari). Thus, Teubner concludes his analysis of Augustine's approach to prayer by highlighting not only the tension of desire and patience but also the virtue of hope that sustains the Christian within that life-long tension that is the life of prayer. In Part II, Teubner traces the influence of this Augustinian approach to prayer within the writings of Boethius and the Rule of St. Benedict. Each figure receives two chapters, one for what Teubner terms "Augustinianism 1" and another for "Augustinianism 2," categories he describes in the introduction: "Augustinianism 1 refers to the citation, reference, and particular allusion to a writing from Augustine's pen. . . . Augustinianism 2 is the use of certain general orientations and constellations of thought from Augustine without necessarily sharing specific doctrinal positions" (15). In chapter 5, "The Augustinianism 1 of the Opuscula sacra," Teubner argues that "Boethius' very mode or practice of inquiry is influenced by Augustine's use of prayer in De trinitate and Ep. 130" (128). That is to say, following Augustine, Boethius emphasizes the nature of prayer...

Saying Amen to the Light of Dawn: Nietzsche on Praise, Prayer, and Affirmation

Abstract This article addresses the role and meaning of prayer as well as the language of piety and praise in Nietzsche’s writings, notably in Zarathustra.<fnote> This essay was first presented as a talk in German at the 2017 Nietzsche colloquium in Sils Maria, the theme of which was “Zarathustra und Dionysos”. In preparing it for a publication in English, the argument has been reworked and expanded and references have been added, while partly preserving the tone and structure of the oral delivery. I am grateful to the instructive comments and suggestions of the anonymous reviewers for Nietzsche-Studien.</fnote> Nietzsche can be read as an uncompromising critic of religion but also as the initiator of a new form of faith, described by some scholars as a “Dionysian piety”. The analysis takes its lead from the way in which Z refers to his yes-saying as also saying “amen”, exploring how Nietzsche explicitly incorporates the language of religious discourse into his writing. Examining passages where he explicitly questions the adoption of confessional language and prayer, it criticizes as overly simplistic the view of his thinking as seeking a new piety. The discussion of the significance of prayer from a psychological, linguistic, and poetological perspective highlights the experience of “inspiration” as a key to the adoption of confessional language in Z. In an interpretation of the last part of this book, it shows how its concluding scenes coalesce precisely around the role and possibility of prayer and piety, and how a crisis in the narrative is triggered by the inability of Zarathustra’s visitors to properly understand his message in this regard. A concluding interpretation of the section “Before Sunrise” in the third part of the book shows how it gathers the philosophical stakes involved in Nietzsche’s understanding of prayer, piety, and confessional praise.

Tipologi Pemahaman Penganut Tarekat di Kota Pontianak terhadap Shalat

<p class="06IsiAbstrak"><span lang="EN-GB">Today, the understanding of prayer and the practice of its implementation are still underestimated by some Muslims. Many who perform prayers but do not interpret the essence of prayer. And in this study the objects that were focused were the tarekat groups located in Pontianak City and its surroundings. This study aims to reveal the perspective of congregation congregation regarding understanding, practice and tips for special prayer 'in the performance of the prayers performed. In this study the method used to uncover these aspects is a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach supported by field data in the form of written interviews, observations and documentation. The analytical method used in this study is a qualitative approach. Based on the results of the study concluded, that basically congregation or adherents of the tarekat have some differences in understanding the meaning of prayer, practices and tips for special prayer. But even though they are different in some ways, they are also the same for other things.</span></p>

Locating Prayerful Submission for Feminist Ecumenism: Holy Saturday or Incarnate Life?

R. Marie Griffith and Sarah Coakley suggest that feminist ecumenism across the evangelical-liberal spectrum is valuable for feminist studies of religion and theologies. In this context, I trace the conversation that has arisen around the idea of adopting ‘submission’ vis-à-vis the Christian notion of kenosis, and turn it in a new direction. I argue that Coakley’s apophatically cruciform understanding of submission in contemplative prayer contrasts with womanist approaches like that of Delores Williams. Drawing on Williams’ considerations of atonement and Friedrich Schleiermacher’s understanding of prayer, I offer ‘incarnational submission’ as a way to acknowledge the value of prayerful submission while avoiding its potentially oppressive features.

Prayer as an expression of love

The article presents the issue of the conjunction of prayer and love, which constitutes the essence of prayer. Attention is drawn to the fact that the reflexive human nature is in demand for prayer, which was reflected in the culture of antiquity. The need and appropriate understanding of prayer in the Old and New Testament thought is emphasized, which is ultimately explained in the love manifested in Christ the Redeemer of Man. The analytical and critical as well as the historical methods are employed in this article.

Prayer as Trinitarian and Transformative Event in Sarah Coakley’s God, Sexuality, and the Self

This paper explores Sarah Coakley’s understanding of prayer as a Trinitarian and incorporative act and the implications of that understanding for Christian orthodoxy in general and pentecostal theology and spirituality in particular. Beginning with a brief history of the incorporative vision of prayer, the paper then asks what gifts Coakley has for pentecostals and what gifts they have to offer her in return.

‘Securing the day’s devotion’: the spirituality of John Henry Newman and his Anglican inspirers

John Henry Newman’s spirituality and understanding of prayer was formed and framed by his years as an Anglican, from 1801 until his move to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, and particularly by the years following his Anglican ordination in 1824. Influenced originally by the aspects of the Evangelical tradition, Newman discovered both the Fathers of the Church and the seventeenth-century Anglican divines. This paper explores the significance for him of the devotional work of three Anglican divines, the Sacra Privata of Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man (1663–1755), the Golden Grove of Bishop Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667), and the Preces Privatae of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626), as encapsulating models of Christian devotion which, as an Oxford Movement leader, he wished to commend to others.

Mothering Souls: A Vocation of Intercession

Intercession can constitute the heart of one's prayer life and even become a defining mark of one's vocation. Such is the case for the “church mother,” a distinct role held by esteemed elderly lay-women in African American congregations. This article consists of an introduction to the church mother's vocation. The piece begins with an examination of the roots of the role in American slavery and follows with an exploration of the ways race, gender, and advancing age shape the church mother's unique form of spiritual authority. I examine two key qualifications for the role: divine call and longevity in the parish. Then, I delve into the church mother's robust understanding of prayer and explain how theodicy and hope fuel her intercessions. The article closes with a brief profile of a beloved Episcopal church mother from the twentieth century, Mattie Hopkins.

¿Por qué orar? Doctrina polifacética de Agustín de Hipona sobre la oración

This essay, «Why pray? Augustine of Hippo’s multifaceted doctrine of prayer », will consist of three moments through which we shall progressively reveal the inner logic at work in Augustine’s understanding of prayer and how it is integrally connected with other aspects of his theological doctrine in general, and sapientia in particular, thus revealing the intrinsically mystagogical nature of prayer in Augustine’s mind-set. First, we shall explain how Augustine’s goal of arriving at sapientia became a matter of seeking Christ, the Incarnate Sapientia Dei. But Christ is most fully encountered in and through prayer, above all the prayer of His Body, the Church, in her scriptures, her sacraments, and above all, her divine liturgy, through which one is initiated into and progressively grows in one’s knowledge of the divine mysteries. Henee in order to attain to Wisdom, one had to engage in true worship, the point which will constitute our second focus. Finally, we shall consider two case studies of a sort, that is, Augustine’s exegesis of two biblical passages in which Christ Himself is depicted praying. The first is Matthew 6,9-13, in which Christ teaches His followers the Pater Noster, and the second John 17, the so-called High-Priestly Prayer, in which Christ is seen in a candid moment of profound communication with His Father. Paul van Geest understands a mystagogue as one who attempts «to kindle a desire in people for the incomprehensible and unspeakable mystery behind everything and everyone », and our contention in this essay will be that this reading of Augustine is confirmed when one examines Augustine’s theology through the lens of prayer and sapientia.

¿Existe una iglesia del Vaticano II?

En los últimos cincuenta años ha habido un cambio notable en la forma del templo católico respecto a las décadas precedentes. Se considera habitualmente que dicha evolución se debe al Concilio Vaticano II: la renovación del espacio litúrgico cristiano sería una de sus consecuencias visibles más evidentes. Sin embargo, el Concilio habló muy poco sobre arquitectura litúrgica y, desde luego, no pretendió dar directrices concretas sobre el modo de construir iglesias. El análisis de los textos conciliares muestran que la iglesia del Concilio Vaticano II es un lugar de oración, entendiendo oración como un modo general de denominar un amplio programa de usos. La funcionalidad litúrgica y el fomento de la participación activa de los fieles son dos criterios generales que el Concilio deseó para la renovación de la arquitectura cristiana. Esta debería haberse llevado a cabo al mismo tiempo que la reforma de los libros de la liturgia renovada.