One of the things that is being emphasized on the Rome Experience and during our Silent Retreat is the importance of Mental Prayer. There are many different forms of prayer, and they are all good. But what is it about mental prayer that makes it so important? When it comes to other forms of prayer, such as the rosary, scriptural meditation, or spiritual reading, we are often reciting memorized prayer or reading something. In other words, our prayer is coming from something that is outside of us.