Praying the Psalms.

Such was the title of a workshop the novices at Loyola House attended last night and for most of today, presented by a religious sister who teaches Scripture at the graduate and seminary level. The workshop provided an excellent scholarly introduction to the Psalms as well as practical tips for using them in personal prayer. At one point, the speaker asked us to write our own psalms based on rules of composition she provided; the resulting prayers were perhaps surprisingly strong, but the experience still reminded me of those elementary school exercises where one is asked to write haikus and limericks. All told, the workshop was a very good investment of time, and I'll probably refer to the speaker's helpful handouts on the different genres of the psalms and their vocabulary for some time to come. AMDG.