The word “oratory” is Latin, meaning, “a place of prayer.” In times past, soldiers and travellers would carry with them prayers, devotions, and pictures of loved ones, protected in wallets. These offered them a private place of prayer and reflection, in times of battle and loneliness. We live in a spiritual battle, and these pocket oratories allow anyone a private moment of devotion with Our Lord, at anytime and in any place. They are not meant to be decorative, but handled, and eventually, well-worn with use.

“Prayer, as a means of drawing ever new strength from Christ, is concretely and urgently needed” — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI