What is the most important habit in your life?

If you ask people, you’ll hear all sorts of things. Some people say working out. Some people say reading. Some people say working hard. Some people say spending time with their significant other or spending time with their children, with their families.

These are not life's essential habits. But life's essential habit makes all of these habits better. Life's essential habit elevates everything.

So what is life's essential habit? Life's essential daily habit is prayer.

Saint Mamertus not only developed the habit of prayer in himself, but went out of his way to encourage it in others.

Mamertus instituted something called the Rogation Days. These are a set of days dedicated to prayer and fasting leading up to the feast of the Ascension. The number of days has varied over the centuries, but the practice still remains today and usually takes place over the week of the Ascension. 

While the Rogation Days incorporate some complex but beautiful and ancient rituals, the essential lesson we can take from Saint Mamertus is that prayer is most powerful when it becomes a habit. And it can only become a habit when we set aside the time to practice it day after day.

We live in a noisy, busy, crazy world. Sometimes people ask, "Why do you pray?" The better question is, “How can people live out there in the crazy, noisy, busy world without a little bit of silence and solitude each day to focus their lives?” We pray to center our lives, to re-establish what matters most and what matters least, so that we can go out into the world with clarity—clarity about who we are and what we're here for. 

And so, while there are many ways to feed your soul, the essential thing to focus on is the habit of daily prayer. Sitting with God and just talking to God.

Find a quiet place and sit with your God. Sit with yourself. Sit with your God for a few minutes in a classroom of silence each day.

Will you make time for life’s most essential habit?

Feast Day: May 11

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Anthimus of Rome