Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Leah LibrescoJanuary 16, 2018
Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash.

Catholic women who regularly attended Mass were the most likely to report that, outside of Mass, they prayed every day (81 percent). But more than half (57 percent) of those who attended Mass less than weekly but more than once a month also prayed daily. A little over a third (35 percent) of those who attended Mass a few times a year or more rarely also prayed daily.

We asked women about the circumstances in which they regularly prayed. A third (33 percent) of the women in our sample did not engage in any of the three practices of regular prayer that we asked about: prayer when waking up, prayer when going to bed and prayer before meals. A little over a quarter (28 percent) participated in at least one of these practices, and a fifth (19 percent) relied on all three.

Sustaining prayer practices of this type were correlated with age and Mass attendance. Millennials (44 percent) were twice as likely as pre-Vatican II Catholics (23 percent) to have none of these regular prayer practices. A quarter (27 percent) of pre-Vatican II Catholics relied on all three of these practices, while only 10 percent of millennials did the same. For the most part, the intervening generations traced the decline in prayer.

The infrequency of prayer by millennials was not simply a matter of decreased Mass attendance. When millennials who attended Mass regularly were compared with regular Mass-going Catholic women of preceding generations, the gaps narrowed but were still noticeable. Among Catholic women who rarely attended Mass, millennials were the most likely of the generations to have no daily prayer practices.

 

This article is one of four short explorations of the data found in the America Survey, commissioned by America Media and conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Read the other three here: 

What Catholic women actually believe about Natural Family Planning
How many Catholic women have considered religious vocations?
What Catholic women believe about Mass attendance, confession and God's existence

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Lisa Weber
7 years 4 months ago

Prayer is often taught as an obligation rather than a time of restoration.

The latest from america

The Gospel parable of the “wasteful sower” who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path “is an image of the way God loves us,” Pope Leo XIV told 40,000 visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.
Cindy Wooden May 21, 2025
President Donald Trump, center, surrounded by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., speaks to reporters before a House Republican conference meeting, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“These proposed changes threaten access to care for millions of Americans, particularly those in underserved areas, where our member systems work every day to provide quality, compassionate care.”
Kevin ClarkeMay 20, 2025
The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a Mass and a special program to celebrate the election and inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, a native son of the Windy City.
The genre of the crime-solving priest or religious might be a niche one, but it's been around on the page and the screen for more than a century.
James T. KeaneMay 20, 2025