The Prayer Wheel or Prayer Round-about that is present here is a unique aid to developing a deeper prayer life. You can download a pdf of the Prayer Wheel below. This aid was developed over many centuries beginning in the 4th century by St. Augustine, and was in common use during the middle ages, but after the reformation its use waned and it was nearly lost to the world until it was re-discovered in an ancient medieval manuscript in 2015.

This aid brings together the Lord’s Prayer, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the events in the life of Christ, and the Beatitudes in a beautiful juxtaposition that enables a deeper contemplation of each of these areas of faith and prayer. Having this information together also improves recollection of each.

Have you ever wanted to memorize the Beatitudes, but just could not keep track of them? If you study this graphic daily, very soon you will be able to recall from memory the gifts of the Spirit and the Beatitudes, because of the associations this prayer aid makes with the Lord’s Prayer and the events in the life of Christ that are easily recalled. If memorization of these scriptures is all you ever get from this prayer aid then it has served a purpose.

The graphic has traditionally been called a Prayer Wheel, but I prefer to call it a Prayer Roundabout, because, like a road roundabout, you have to navigate it, and you have to know how to enter and leave it while following the desired path. But when you master the roundabout it can greatly facilitate both your prayers and your driving.

The intent of the Prayer Roundabout is to pray by following a path that begins with a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer and proceeds down through each successive lower ring until you arrive at the center, which is God.

For example, if you begin right at the top of the wheel, in the quadrant with the Celtic cross, we read “Holy is thy Name.” From there, we proceed straight down through “Wisdom” and “Incarnation” until we arrive at the Beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Note that “Children of God” is directly below the word God and in line with the word Peacemakers.

The only difference between the graphic on page 1 and page 2 is the text alignment. On page 1 all the text is oriented horizontally, so you can view all of the text without having to rotate the page. On page 2 the text is oriented with respect to the radials from the center where you see the word “God.” This allows you to rotate the Prayer Roundabout and focus specifically on each path to the center.

A simple prayer based on the above path starting with “Holy is thy Name” could be:

Father, thy name is holy, above all that we can know or contemplate apart from your revelation. In thy infinite wisdom, thy very Word, your beloved and only begotten Son, entered into this world as one of us, to reveal thy infinite majesty to us. He is our Peacemaker that enables us to enter into thy everlasting presence as adopted sons and daughters. We are humbled and grateful. We pray, show us the way of everlasting peace in you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

There is a book called the Prayer Wheel that you can get from several outlets including from the following links to Amazon, and Barnes and Nobel shown below. The book not only describes in more detail the history and use of the Prayer Wheel, but also includes a series of beautifully written prayers in each topic area that can lead you to deeper, more rewarding prayers that will strengthen your faith. If you have questions about the graphic, I will answer them after the service.