Prayer is essential to the personal, community and religious lives of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. It helps us develop a relationship within ourselves, with God, and with the SSND and global communities. These relationships develop over time and help us cope with our struggles and challenges. We feel God is always with us even if we are not faithful to prayer. A willingness to ask for help from God or one another is crucial.
Community is essential to our prayer lives. By praying in a larger community, we become responsible to prayer. Praying together helps us create a positive spiritual atmosphere and allows us to share faith. Faith sharing gives us the opportunity to learn through others’ experiences, such as through historical figures like our foundress, Blessed Theresa, or one another.
Prayer helps guide us in our ministry and service, solidifying our desire to live out Jesus’ teachings. Prayer, community life and ministry are deeply interconnected. By praying in solitude, we can reflect and contemplate our next steps. We frequently find this solitary connection in nature, as we can deepen the level of our contemplation.
We also look for guidance in scripture, which is central to our lives and prayer. We learn more about God through scripture, and recognize God acting in our lives. Learning to pray is a life-long task and looks different as our image of God changes. We invite you to learn how our sisters experience prayer in their lives, share a prayer of your own and ask you to pray with us and for us.