St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about memory in his Summa Theologiae, particularly in the section on the virtues associated with prudence. He regarded memory as an essential tool for practical wisdom, as it allows one to apply past experiences to present situations.

Aquinas believed that memory can be strengthened through specific techniques. He borrowed ideas from the Ad Herennium, a classical text on rhetoric, and he recommended the following methods:

1. Order: Aquinas emphasized structuring and organizing material in a logical order. This could involve breaking up complex information into smaller parts or placing items in a sequence that is easy to recall.

2. Association with images: He suggested associating ideas with vivid, often unusual or strange images, because such imagery makes information more memorable. The more striking or emotionally charged the image, the easier it is to recall.

Prayer is central to our lives of faith. There are many types of established prayers, such as the Hail Mary and Glory Be. Then there are prayers we make up on the spot when in more casual conversation with God, like this one: Jesus, help me keep my cool with this irritating person.

Some of us pray for a few minutes each day, while others devote hours to it.

This might make you wonder if certain prayers are better — more meritorious — than others. After all, you probably would shy away from claiming that your conversations with God are on the level of, say, St. Teresa of Avila.

Here are some things to keep in mind.

We are all precious to God.
God loves each of us with the self-same act of love. In other words, God is supremely simple. He is not composed of parts, as material beings are. He is identical to His love, and so when He loves us, He gives Himself to us.

He loves us as a Father. As children, we turn to Him with hope, love, and the expectation that He wants to give us good things. Our prayers are precious to Him not because He needs them but because He delights in receiving them.

While the Eastern Orthodox Church gives a certain honor to the Roman Catholic pope, they don’t see him as having ultimate authority over the Church. However, there was a time in early Church history when many of the Eastern Orthodox’s spiritual forbearers did accept papal primacy: through the 6th-century Formula of Pope St. Hormisdas.

After the Council of Chalcedon concluded in 451, a schism arose in the Eastern Church. Some bishops — including those from Constantinople — strayed from the council’s teachings.

For them to be reconciled to the Catholic Church, they had to sign Pope Hormisdas’ formula, wherein he taught papal supremacy. Many Eastern bishops of the 6th century did so, signaling their agreement. (Modern Eastern Orthodox members reject this belief.)

The formula states:

“The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers.