By John M. Grondelski, The Catholic Thing - The ritual phrase above is so common that many Catholics probably don’t even bother to think about what it is saying. I’d even venture to suggest that no small number of people in the pews couldn’t explain what it’s saying, at least not beyond “we’re praying for X.” And while that’s true, there’s more to the story that an earlier generation of Catholics might have articulated but many today, I fear, just can’t... Why do we pray for X?