While it's easy to enter into liturgical prayer, it's also easy to miss the mark. Liturgical prayer draws upon what is taking place, and opens us to God's presence and action. The prayer experienced by congregation members may vary widely, but we are all drawing from the same source. And, liturgical prayer draws from the presence of the others gathered there and from the presence of the whole Church in this celebration. This strong belief in the communal quality of liturgical prayer is a reason why we celebrate sacraments such as marriage and baptism in the context of the parish community, why the church views them as community, rather than private celebrations.
Sacraments are the prayer of the entire community.
We experience God's presence in them, which in itself is prayer and one of liturgical prayer's distinctive characteristics. All prayer requests are considered confidential.