Introduction
2024 was the Vatican’s Year of Prayer in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025. In this volume, Fr. Paul shows how four great saints learned to pray so that we too—amid human weakness and distraction—might rediscover the joy, humility, and hope of a real relationship with the Lord. In this summary, I share my favourite insight from each chapter, hoping it will inspire you to experience the richness of this book for yourself.
St. Augustine of Hippo at Prayer
My favourite insight here is Augustine’s discovery of the Psalms: “How I cried out to you when I read those psalms! How they set me on fire with love of you!” (Conf. IX.4). He found his life mirrored in the Psalms and invited others to the same discovery. His 30-year project, the Expositions on the Psalms, shows how central they were to his prayer and theology.
Fr. Paul highlights why the Psalms captivated Augustine: their restless movement, their fearless naming of human fears, joys, sorrows, and cravings, and their constant ability to lift the heart toward God. As Augustine prayed them, he felt “recognized, interpreted, and understood,” discovering that the Psalms were transformative—illuminating his mind, steadying his desires, and healing his deepest wounds (17).
St. Teresa of Avila at Prayer
My favourite insight in this chapter is how St. Teresa offers “a humble method of prayer for unruly minds” (31). She admits she “suffered many years” from being unable to quiet her thoughts (Way 26.1), which scattered “like wild horses no one can stop” and swarmed with “a thousand absurdities” whenever she tried to pray (Way 17.3). Teresa’s own struggles make her a remarkably compassionate guide.
To steady her distracted mind, she formed a simple method built on two practices: reciting a short vocal prayer such as the Our Father, and cultivating the presence of God. “I strove to represent Christ within me,” she writes (Life 9.4). Her advice is wonderfully concrete: “If you speak, remember the One you speak to is present within; if you listen, remember you are going to hear One who is very close to you” (Way 29.7). Confident in His mercy, she prayed, “Recover, my God, the lost time… for if You want to, You can.”
St. Thomas Aquinas at Prayer
My favourite insight from this chapter is Fr. Paul’s observation that “confidence” is the word that best captures Aquinas’s prayer (46). For Thomas, prayer is grounded in a deep, unwavering trust in God’s goodness. In the Compendium of Theology, he writes: “The confidence a human being has in God ought to be most certain.” This certainty flows not from presumption but from faith—an interior conviction that God delights in granting what we truly need.
This theme shines most beautifully in Aquinas’s Prayer for Wise Ordering, where he asks God: “Grant me, Lord my God… perseverance in confidently waiting on You, and confidence in finally embracing You.” Aquinas teaches that authentic prayer begins and ends in holy confidence—a trust that steadies the heart, anchors the mind, and draws the soul toward God with childlike assurance.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux at Prayer
My favourite insight into St. Thérèse’s prayer life is her humble practice of spiritual reading. She admits that “even the most beautiful… book” could make her heart “contract immediately,” leaving her spiritually helpless. In that poverty, she turned not to lofty texts but to Scripture, especially the Gospels. “It is,” she writes, “especially the Gospels that sustain me… I am constantly discovering in them new lights, hidden and mysterious meanings.”
These discoveries gave Thérèse her boundless confidence in God’s goodness—the heart of her Little Way. Immersed in the Gospels, she learned to trust with childlike simplicity and to intercede with surprising boldness, even for hardened sinners. Her life shows that true spiritual maturity is found not in complex methods but in returning again and again to the simple light of the Gospel, where the Heart of Jesus speaks directly to the little ones.
Personal Note
I had the privilege of studying under Fr. Paul Murray, OP in his final semester teaching at the Angelicum, and this book reflects the same pastoral clarity, gentle wisdom, and spiritual depth I encountered in his classroom. If you are seeking a simple yet profound guide to prayer—shaped by the saints, grounded in Scripture, and written with extraordinary humility—I wholeheartedly recommend Praying with Saints and Sinners.
Prodigal Catholic 
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