Every week, Jen from Conversion Diary hosts 7 Quick Takes. It’s a chance for bloggers to link up and have bloggy fun. You should go on over and check it out…she’s sure to make you snort your coffee, think a bit, and, in general, enjoy your visit.
For some of us, the weekly Quick Takes is a chance to come up with a theme (because random is baaaaad…sometimes). My brain’s been pretty tied up this week, but when Sherry, of the delightfully named Chocolate for Your Brain, tagged me in a blog-tag-meme the other day, challenging me to list my five favorite devotions, I immediately saw my theme for this week. Thanks, Sherry! 
1. Hail Mary – It’s my go-to prayer, the one I turn to when I don’t have words, when I know I just need to pray. It’s also the prayer that I “fill” my time with…going up and down stairs, during an odd moment or two of silence, in the midst of frustrations so big I could scream. It is, hands down, my favorite prayer.
2. St. Michael Prayer and the Guardian Angel Prayer – I learned the St. Michael prayer recently, because my five-year-old was having such difficulty with bad dreams. We started praying it together, and she memorized it. (She loves that she knows it better than I do.) The Guardian Angel prayer, which we also pray regularly at bedtime, is one that I turn to especially in times of fear and it is a reminder to talk to my angel.
3. Morning Offering – Danielle Bean mentioned this enthusiastically in one of the Faith & Family Livecasts a long while back, and I printed it off after she did. (I’m a sucker for trying things other people rave about.) It’s the prayer I pray every morning before I pray for the specific people, by name, on my intentions list. I like it. And I like her idea about praying it throughout the day too. (I might have to try that.)
4. Divine Mercy Chaplet – I’m especially hooked on the sung version of this. It has a special place in my life and usually precedes my podcast listening.
5. Rosary – Though I have been away from it for a while, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the rosary is just not optional for me, for my life, for my sanity. I need to hold Mary’s hand every single day, and this devotion helps me to do that. As I hold her hand, I’m drawn to her Son, and there I find myself fulfilled, refreshed, able to continue my work.
6. The Holy Cloak of St. Joseph – This was introduced to our parish by our priest a few years ago, but though I took one of the booklets from the back of the church, I never prayed it until my mother-in-law raved about it and a huge, looming intention sent me looking for a special way to ask God for help. It has, in the last year, become a well-worn devotion, a favorite way for me to plead with God…and a sure way for me to be at peace with God’s answer. It’s a doozy of a devotion — a 30-day novena that has me investing about 20 minutes a day. I usually start it with one or two intentions and end it with a minimum of seven. I have reflected that perhaps God needs me to pray about far more than I do, and this devotion is one of the ways He gets my attention to focus on those other things.
7. Night Prayer – I love the Liturgy of the Hours, but of all the different hours of the day, Night Prayer is my favorite. I don’t have a natural tendency toward praying at night. I’m tired and I’m done for the day. I just want to tell God “nighty night” and tuck myself into bed…which is about what Night Prayer does.
What are YOUR favorite devotions?
Here at Snoring Scholar, you'll find marriage and motherhood, book talk and rambling remarks, observations and distractions, in the midst of life in rural Ohio on a farm, with kids, critters, and Catholic flair.
Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless is now available for ordering! 
