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Online Prayer Resources

Lifelong Learning and Adult Faith Formation Online Resources for Learning at Home

For Daily Devotion:

  • The Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat Center has an online daily retreat, with scripture readings, reflections, and prayer.
  • Living Faith provides Daily Catholic Devotions.
  • Catholic Daily Reflections is provided by My Catholic Life.
  • The Examen is a daily prayer to review your day with God.
  • Father Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation is provided by the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can sign up to receive the daily meditation by email. 
  • Sacred Space, by the Irish Jesuits, provides a daily prayer and reflection.
  • Interested in learning the Liturgy of the Hours? Try the Divine Office, which includes instruction on how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, as well as prayers for morning, day, evening, and night.  Registration is required.  The Liturgy of the Hours is an ancient prayer method for the church, particularly its priests and deacons, but now many laity participate.
Most of these resources have phone apps for mobile use. See the links at the end of this resource list.
 

For Spiritual Growth:

  • Seeking God: A Jesuit Retreat is a series of talks in the style of a preached retreat, originally created for Holy Week 2020, based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Brian Strassburger, SJ, guides you through many spiritual themes of the retreat and provides resources for prayer.
  • Heart to Heart with Father Michael Sparough offers inspirational resources, including Seeds of Joy.  Father Sparough is a Jesuit priest with the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat Center in Barrington. 
  • The Christian Classics Library contains hundreds of spiritual classics for online reading, as well as daily meditations, a blog, and an online study Bible.                                                                                                  

For Faith Formation:  

  • Ascension Press (which is not related to Ascension and St. Edmund Parish!) has tons of resources for online learning about our Catholic faith, including webinars, videos, podcasts, and articles. It also has a multitude of parish resources for learning while staying at home.  For example, here is a short study guide on Lectio Divina, an ancient way of reading and reflecting on the scriptures. 
  • Blessed Among Us consists of short videos on men and women who live saintly lives, originally written by Robert Ellsberg in Give Us This Day.                                                                                                                                      

 For Families:  

Reflections on the Sunday Scripture Readings: 

  • The Word is a weekly reflection on the Sunday scriptures.
  • Catholic Women Preach is an innovative project responding to Pope Francis’s call for broader and more active engagement of the baptized in the preaching mission of the Church. Following the liturgical year, Catholic women will reflect on how the texts relate to all Catholics today with a special emphasis on the lives of women, their apostolic call, and their roles in the Church and the world.                                                                                  

 Sunday Mass by Livestreaming: 

  • Additional resources for livestreaming Mass on our Mass Resources page.

 Insights from Catholic Priests: 

  • Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire has a series of free videos by Bishop Barron. 
  • Father Michael Sparough, SJ, from the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat Center in Barrington, has an inspirational YouTube channel of his homilies.
  • Father Jim Willig, with Heart to Heart Ministries, has many Gospel studies on his YouTube channel.
  • Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest, has a YouTube channel of videos offering commentary on social issues and modern theology.

 Catholic News and Commentary:  

  • Chicago Catholic – here is online news from the Chicago Archdiocese. You can sign up for an email newsletter if you’re interested.   You can get the latest news on the Coronavirus pandemic here. 
  • Vatican News Service – here is the official online news service from the Vatican
  • Aleteia –This online magazine for Catholics includes inspiring stories, current events, and insights into religion, the arts, and culture.
  • America is published by the Jesuits and offers many timely and thoughtful articles about Catholic life, culture, and current concerns.
  • National Catholic Register
  • National Catholic Reporter
  • Commonweal magazine has articles on current events in Catholicism, and carries a weekly podcast of interviews and conversations on topics at the intersection of religion, politics, and culture.
  • Crux is on online magazine on current events in Catholicism, “taking the Catholic pulse.”                                        

Mental Health Resources

Here are several resources to assist with your family, friends, or community members who may be experiencing anxiety or distress during the covid-19 pandemic: 

 For Your iPhone or iPad: 

  • Daily mass readings, reflections, and prayer at the JesuitPrayer
  • Try the Retreat app from the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat Center.
  • See the Sacred Space Daily Prayer app from the Irish Jesuits for daily reflections.
  • Give Us This Day provides readings and reflections.
  • Laudate provides comprehensive Catholic prayer resources, including the Stations of the Cross, Latin prayers, Catholic media, bibles, and more.  
  • 3 Minute Retreat app is provided by Loyola Press.                                                                                                    

 For Your Android Phone: 

  • Daily mass readings, reflections, and prayer at the Jesuit Prayer
  • Try the Bellarmine Prayer retreat app from the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat Center.
  • The Sacred Space app is from the Irish Jesuits with daily reflections and prayers.
  • Give Us This Day provides readings and reflections.