Amy Welborn has has a Substack publication, focused on the changes in the Church after the Second Vatican Council.
In terms of personal prayer, my formation was scant. My mother, as I said, was observant, but the only prayers I learned were the basics: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be. I was given a rosary for my First Communion and knew how to pray it – but in a very basic form. When I returned to the rosary in my 30’s and people were doing all those pray for us o holy Mother of God that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ and even Hail Holy Queen – it was all brand-new to me.
And that’s it. I was not taught any other prayers at home, in CCD or – and here’s the meat of this post – in Catholic school.
Before we talk about the Catholic school experience, let’s talk about home. I don’t suggest that my experience was typical at all. I don’t know how much of mine - the fact that I learned no prayers and that prayer wasn’t a part of daily life in the home - was due to my mother’s personality or the way she was raised. I know that others, raised in different environments and perhaps even in different ethnic contexts, had far different experiences. But that’s mine. Observant, believing mother who taught me the basics and then let me on my own.
