If you could ask God for anything, what would you choose?

The disciples traveled with Jesus for three years, witnessing him teach and heal, conversing with him as they walked along the dusty roads of Galilee. People were always trying to get close to Jesus to ask him for favors, but the disciples were right there—they could have asked for anything they wanted at any time. What did they ask for? They asked Jesus to teach them to pray.

After a long and active life of being an Italian bishop, Saint Bruno of Segni wanted to learn how to pray again. 

Bruno was a deeply spiritual man and a renowned preacher and spiritual director all across Italy. But his life had become full of busyness. So he sought a new beginning in his old age and seized the chance to re-learn how to really pray.

Bruno withdrew from his high offices into the Benedictine Abbey of Montecassino. He spent time in solitude. He prayed with the Scriptures, imagining himself in the Gospel scenes. He talked with Jesus without time limits or any hurry. 

Saint Bruno of Segni had the humility to let Jesus teach him how to pray again. We are all in need of deep prayer. We all need to ask Jesus how to pray—not just once, but often.

The need and desire for prayer is universal. Often we are unaware of our deepest needs and desires. Sometimes we need things and don't know we need them. Sometimes we yearn for things but do not know exactly what we are yearning for. The men and women of every era yearn for connection and relationship with God, because we were made for that. Birds were made to fly, fish were made to swim, and human beings were made to love God and each other.

"Teach us to pray" is the spoken and unspoken desire of every person, in every place and time. It reflects a desire for wisdom, which in turn reflects a desire to learn how to love and discover the best way to live.

Will you let Jesus teach you to pray?



Feast Day: July 18

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Aemilianus and Saint Camillus de Lellis

Patron Saint of: Segni (Italy)

Canonized: September 5, 1181

Canonized By: Pope Lucius III