prayer

Praying together

Posted on by Tribo, OCarm

An oratory should be built as conveniently as possible among the cells, where, if it can be done without difficulty, you are to gather each morning to hear Mass.

– Rule of St. Albert, No. 14

In one of his homilies during our novitiate year (2014), Fr. Billy Bong Manguiat, OCarm, our then novice master, reminded us that as religious and as Carmelites we should develop a love for the Eucharist as this is a reminder of God’s constant presence in us, of the resurrected Christ embedded and alive deep within our hearts.

Jesus said that if two or three would come together in his name, he is in their midst and that if they ask for anything to the Father, it will be given to them. (Matthew 18:19-20).

That is the value of community prayer.

For Carmelites, as should be for all Christians, prayer and contemplation are at the center of our spiritual life.

It is the fuel that drives us, and as such, to pray as a community is an essential part of our day to day life.

It’s not just an obligation but a fulfillment of a desire to create heaven on earth by first building a community strengthened and anchored in Christ through prayer.

The mass is also a form of community prayer where we acknowledge our full dependence on God, where we admit our sinfulness and repent our sins, where we praise and glorify His name, and where we ask for God’s blessings as one Christian family.

And although often times Jesus withdrew from the crowd to be alone with the Father, many times he also prayed with them by bringing them to God and bringing God to them through his teachings and in his every interaction with them.

So, as much as we should have time for solitude, we should also have time to praise God as a community, in that way we’d be able to transform our community into God’s family here on earth.

In what way would I be able to experience my belongingness to God’s family and how could I make others experience this?

Hebrews 10:19-25
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Prayer
Lord, grant me the heart to appreciate the value of community and for me to realize that your kingdom is what we make of our community. Amen.

Time for God

Posted on by Tribo, OCarm

Your loins are to be girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy meditations, for as Scripture has it, holy meditation will save you. Put on holiness as your breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. Faith must be your shield on all occasions, and with it you will be able to quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one: there can be no pleasing God without faith; and the victory lies in this – your faith. On your head set the helmet of salvation, and so be sure of deliverance by our only Saviour, who sets his own free from their sins. The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord’s word for accompaniment.

– Rule of St. Albert, No. 19

Do you always think of God? How often do you remember him?

Most of the time, we only remember God when we are down and troubled, often, we even remember him last, instead calling first on every possible saint that would come to mind. We overlook the fact that these holy people reached their state of holiness because of their profound love for God and for Christ as evidenced by the way they lived their lives.

A very obscure Discalced Carmelite (OCD) brother in the 17th century, unable to contain the fragrance he emitted, caught the attention of many prominent people of his time, and even centuries after.

Bro. Lawrence of the Resurrection lived a simple life as cook for his community, yet even the vicar general of the Archbishop recognized his holiness, prompting the latter to record, as much as he can, the secrets of Bro. Lawrence. But then he has just one secret – constant remembrance of God.

He said, “It is only necessary to realize that God is intimately present within us, to turn at every moment to him and ask for his help, recognize his will in all things doubtful, and to do well all that which we clearly see he requires of us, offering what we do to him before we do it, and giving thanks for having done it afterwards.”

This constant interaction with God has blurred the line between prayer and work for everything he does becomes a form of prayer.

How much time do we give to God?

Ecclesiastes 11:9 – 12:8
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Remove vexation from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Prayer
Lord, grant me a heart constantly longing for your presence. Never allow me to forget you, Lord, not even in times when I am loaded with things to do. Amen.

Intimacy with God

Posted on by Tribo, OCarm

Those who know how to say the canonical hours with those in orders should do so, in the way those holy forefathers of ours laid down, and according to the Church’s approved custom. Those who do not know the hours must say twenty-five ‘Our Fathers’ for the night office, except on Sundays and solemnities when that number is to be doubled so that the ‘Our Father’ is said fifty times; the same prayer must be said seven times in the morning in place of Lauds, and seven times too for each of the other hours, except for Vespers when it must be said fifteen times.

– Rule of St. Albert, No. 11

“You don’t need to pray,” Br. Peter Foo, FSC, former Brother Visitor of the De La Salle Brothers Penang District and a most sought after speaker on prayer, broke this news to novices from different congregations during a session on Centering Prayer, a form of contemplative prayer that brings one to silence.

And he is right because prayer should not be on a “per need basis,” as is our common practice, rather it should be on a “per want basis.”

We pray because we want, we desire to be in God’s company, and not just because we need to because it is in our Rule of Life or because we need to ask God for a favor or something.

Prayer is an indicator of our intimacy with God.

When a couple is just starting their relationship they tend to say a lot of things to each other. But as they mature in their relationship, they move on from the “asking stage,” where one equates favors like the giving of chocolates and jewelry to care and love, to the “companion stage,” where one’s mere presence is enough to experience the other’s love.

No need for words because they know each other’s needs and are confident in each other’s love.

Carmelites are known for their love of prayer. From Teresa de Jesus of Avila, whose beautiful description on the stages of prayer inspired many to seek God beyond vocal prayers, to Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection, whose constant living in God’s presence made his every action a form of prayer.

A lesser known Carmelite who exemplified the life of prayer is Peter Thomas who was Patriarch of Constantinople.

From the time he entered religious life, he never missed to pray the Psalms in common, that even on his deathbed he had to say it until his strength failed him, prompting his confessor to finish it with him.

For what reason and how much value do we put on prayer, especially those done in common?

Acts 1:13-14
When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Prayer
Lord, I love you, please grant me a heart that desires your company every minute of my life. Amen.

Blessed solitude

Posted on by Tribo, OCarm

If the Prior and the brothers see fit, you may have foundations in solitary places, or where you are given a site suitable and convenient for the observance proper to your Order.

– Rule of St. Albert, No. 5

“Blessed solitude. I am quite at home in this small cell. I never get bored here – just the contrary. I am certainly alone but never was the Lord so near to me.”

These lines were written by Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite priest martyred by the German Nazis in 1942 for his defense on human rights that included the freedom of the press and the right to education.

Titus embodied the Carmelites’ love for solitude for it is in this solitude that we come into communion with God.

In our busy-ness in doing our business, we often forget God. There’s just no end when it comes to things to do.

When we’re done with one thing, another comes.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are allotted for working in the garden during our novitiate year in the Spring of Carmel. When we first arrived in the place, the plot assigned to me was so full of weeds of different kinds. I’ve done everything I could to remove the weeds, but the method I found to be effective was the tedious work of pulling them one by one.

The thing is, when I’m done with one area, the area I worked on previously would again be blanketed in weeds. There is just no end to the work and in all honesty, we will never run out of things to do.

For us to be able to find that solitary place within us and to be able to withdraw to that place from time to time is a jewel that we will always treasure, especially when we are choked with things to do.

When was the last time that you were by yourself? How did it feel?

Luke 6:12
Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.

Prayer
Lord, Jesus Christ, despite the many moments that I’ve failed to remember you, burdened by my responsibilities, you remain to be present when I needed you. Grant me a heart that remembers you often and to praise and give you thanks for the blessings you showered on me. Amen.