From Pope St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (1981):
It should never be forgotten that prayer constitutes an essential part of Christian life, understood in its fullness and centrality. Indeed, prayer is an important part of our very humanity: it is “the first expression of man’s inner truth, the first condition for authentic freedom of spirit.”156
Far from being a form of escapism from everyday commitments, prayer constitutes the strongest incentive for the Christian family to assume and comply fully with all its responsibilities as the primary and fundamental cell of human society. Thus the Christian family’s actual participation in the Church’s life and mission is in direct proportion to the fidelity and intensity of the prayer with which it is united with the fruitful vine that is Christ the Lord.157
The fruitfulness of the Christian family in its specific service to human advancement, which of itself cannot but lead to the transformation of the world, derives from its living union with Christ, nourished by Liturgy, by self-oblation and by prayer.158
156 Paul VI, John Paul II, Address at the Mentorella Shrine (Oct. 29, 1978): Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, I (1978), 78 s.
157 Cf. Second Vatican Council Apostolicam actuositatem, 4.
158 Cf. John Paul I, Address to the Bishops of the 12th Pastoral Region of the United States (Sept. 21, 1978): Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 70 (1978), 767.
— Familiaris Consortio 62
