From what I have found the nature of prayer in the early church seemed to be mostly recited prayers. Prayers originating from either the psalms, early prayer books, or sometimes personal prayer books. I’ve also found that off-the-cuff prayer in front of other believers was seen as a spiritual gift. Would the type of prayer were you spend many minutes or hour(s) praying to G-d about your day, wants, emotions, etc be seen by the early church as a normal practice?

The monthly prayer intentions of Pope Francis are found, for example, [*here*](https://www.popesprayer.va/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ENG-INTENZIONI-DI-PREGHIERA-DEL-SANTO-PADRE-2024-DEF-1.pdf) . QUESTION: Have the monthly prayer intentions of previous Popes been published somewhere, and if so, where may I find them? I am most interested in those of Ven. Pope Pius XII and his predecessors.

Consider the published monthly prayer intentions by Pope Francis for 2024: [*The Monthly Prayer Intentions of Pope Francis for 2024*](https://www.popesprayer.va/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ENG-INTENZIONI-DI-PREGHIERA-DEL-SANTO-PADRE-2024-DEF-1.pdf) When Catholics say, for example, a family Rosary or perform some other indulgenced work, prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father are prescribed. QUESTION: When Catholics say prayers for the intentions of the Pope, what exactly are they praying for? Is it for the **specific** intention promulgated by the Pope for that particular month? If not, consider what Fr. F. W. Faber says on p. 285 of [*The Precious Blood*](https://ia800906.us.archive.org/22/items/preciousbloodorp00fabe/preciousbloodorp00fabe.pdf) : > If we pray for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, it is the sweet Spirit-guided will of the Church, which we are assisting to its accomplishment.