Members also attend both a weekly Group Meeting and a monthly Gathering. They are also encouraged to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours in at least some of its parts, to meditate on the Word of God daily, and to participate in the monthly Retreat and annual Spiritual Exercises.
All members are advised to draw up a personal Rule of Life which specifies in particular the times reserved for prayer, and which should be submitted to the superiors.
Other prayers that are encouraged to be prayed;
CANTICLE OF ST SERGIUS OF RADONEZ
God the Father,
God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit.
Immense the Father,
Immense the Son,
Immense the Holy Spirit.
One the Father,
One the Son,
One the Holy Spirit.
One the Holy Spirit.
One the Holy Spirit.
In the indivisible Trinity
each Divine Person
is Power, is Wisdom, is Love:
each Person
is the one, immense Godhead.
All the Immensity,
the Unity which transcends all
the Holy Spirit is:
the Gift which from the abyss pours Itself
and penetrates everything
and, of Itself indivisible and One,
fills all things
and transforms them into one light.
[May
.You are God, God, God...] (Refer to CFD Manual page 29 for remainder of prayer)
PRAYER OF ST NICHOLAS DE FLUE
My God and my Lord,
take from me whatever keeps me from You.
My God and my Lord,
give me everything that leads me to You.
My God and my Lord,
take me from myself and give me all to You.
PRAYER OF CHARLES DE FOUCAULD
My Father,
I abandon myself to You:
do with me what You will.
Whatever You do with me, I thank You.
I am ready for anything,
I accept everything,
that Your Will may be done in me
and in all Your creatures:
I desire nothing more, my God.
I place my soul in Your hands:
I give it to You, my God,
with all the love of my heart,
because I love You, and my love requires
that I give myself, put myself in Your hands
without limits, with an infinite trust,
because You are my Father.
Prayer of St Ephrem
O God and Lord of my life,
deliver me from the spirit of idleness,
from discouragement,
from self-will and from vain speaking.
Bestow upon me, Your servant,
the spirit of chastity and humility,
of patience and love.
O my Lord and my God,
grant that I may see my sins
and not judge my neighbour,
for You are blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
Act of Entrustment to Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Hail, humble handmaid of the Lord. Blessed among all women! Hail, holy Mother of God, glorious and blessed Virgin! Hail, Mother of the Church, holy Mary, our Mother!
Holy Virgin, you open wide your arms to receive your children! You listen to old and young alike, you console them: you show them the source of all joy and all peace, Jesus, the Fruit of your womb.
I bring before you, trusting in your motherly love, all our Community with all its members. I bring before you the superiors that you may obtain for them the grace of wisdom and of love. Make them live with a vivid sense of their responsibility. They have been en-trusted with the souls redeemed by the blood of your divine Son; enable them to sacrifice themselves in imitation of Christ your Son, let them have even a small share in your motherly love. Make them humble and patient, may they learn to instil peace in others, to stir them to do good, to support the weak, to guide the uncertain, to be an example of prayer.
We entrust to you those who are consecrated with religious vows, that they may be faithful, that they may persevere in goodness, with a lively desire to strive for perfection, according to the Lord's call. We entrust to you, O Holy Mother, those who have made the consecration: may they be in this world witnesses to the kingdom of God, a sacrament of the presence of Christ your Son.
We entrust to you all our brothers and sisters who are aging or suffering, those who are lonely and tried, that you may support them in their infirmity and fill them with hope.
We entrust to you the young ones who are more prone to temptation: protect them, defend them from the seduction of Evil, do not allow them to give in to vice and thereby stray from you, closing themselves off to your love in their egotism: may they be your favourites.
We entrust to you married men and women who are called to sanctify themselves in marriage: may they truly love their spouses, so that, in their union with them, the very mystery of the covenant between Christ and the Church may shine forth and become manifest. We entrust to you our families: may the serenity, the pure joy of the Family of Nazareth, be renewed in them. We entrust to you our children: grant that their parents may bring them up well; may they not be content that their children should grow up healthy, but may their heartfelt desire be that through your inter-cession their children may grow in wisdom and grace before God and men.
We entrust to you the humble and hidden souls in the Community: we do not know how much we owe to them, but you know. Reward their sacrifice and their humility with the gift of your love, and make us filled with gratitude for the example they give us in their silence and in the simplicity of their abandonment.
We entrust to you all those who hold a profession in society: doctors, teachers, and anyone with a job in the world or who serves society. May they all show a true spirit of service and carry out their work, practising brotherly love.
We entrust to you, O Holy Mother, our aspirants: may they learn to hear the word of God calling them, and may they learn to respond with docility. You, O Holy Mother, know those whom God has chosen for our Community: may you bring them to us, lead them with your motherly love and enable us to receive them as a gift of your love.
We entrust to You, O Holy Mother, all the deceased of the Community; let them enjoy the peace and glory of Christ, your Son, together with all our loved ones who have gone before us to Eternal Life.
Mother of the faithful! Pray for us poor sinners. Teach us to live in friendship with God and in brotherly support for one another, walking the ways of the Lord, strong in faith and made strong by your com-forting presence. I bring before you my brothers and sisters of the Community. In your reassuring goodness and maternal tenderness, welcome them all, as they are loved by your Son, Jesus, who entrusted them to you when He gave up His life for mankind.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
The "Matins of the Resurrection" (From the Byzantine Liturgy); this is recited by the Community on the following Feasts and Solemnities: Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity, the Transfiguration, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Community has its own 'Matins of the Resurrection' from the Orthodox liturgy, it is because this prayer corresponds to its spirit, through the character of spirituality, above all through its joy for the Resurrection.
Litany Prayer
Leader:
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All:
Amen.
Leader:
Glory to the Most Holy Trinity, consubstantial and indivisible, for all ages, now and forever, world without end.
All:
Amen.
Leader:
Christ has risen from the dead,
by His death He has trampled down death,
and to those who were in the tomb
He has given life.
All:
(repeat).
Leader:
Let us pray in peace to the Lord.
All:
Christ hear us or Christe, áudi nos (this is repeated at each invocation).
Leader:
For peace from on high, and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
For peace in the whole world, for the prosperity of the holy Church of God and for the unity of all in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
For this holy house and for all who enter it with faith, piety, and fear of the Lord, let us pray to the Lord.
For our Most Holy Father, Pope
, for the clergy and the people, let us pray to the Lord.
For the Community and for all consecrated souls, let us pray to the Lord.
That the Lord may grant the Community to grow in all its Branches and that all its members progress in Christian perfection, let us pray to the Lord.
For every city, town, and district, and for those living within them in faith, let us pray to the Lord.
For all those who do not yet know Jesus Christ, Light of the world and Saviour of all, let us pray to the Lord.
For clean air, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.
For seafarers, for travellers, for the sick, those who suffer and for prisoners: for their safety and salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
For our Father Founder, Divo Barsotti, that if it be God's will, he may be numbered among the ranks of the Saints, let us pray to the Lord.
For our brothers and sisters of the Group in
dedicated to
, that through his/her intercession they may be of one heart and of one soul in faithfulness and love, let us pray to the Lord.
For ... (particular intentions), let us pray to the Lord.
That He may deliver us from all affliction, wrath, and need, let us pray to the Lord.
Leader:
Rescue us, save us, have mercy on us, and guard us, O God, with Your grace.
All:
Christ hear us, Christ graciously hear us or Christe, áudi nos. Christe, exáudi nos.
Leader:
Honouring the memory of the All-Holy, All-Pure, Blessed and Ever-Virgin Mary, our glorious Lady and Mother of God, with all the Saints, we commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life, to Christ, our God.
All:
To You, O Lord.
Leader:
For You are worthy of all praise, honour and adoration, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, now and forever, world without end.
All:
Amen.
Here the Litany Prayer ends; (refer to CFD Manual pages 47 to 60 for the remainder of the Matins of the Resurection)
The "Akathistos" hymn (A Byzantium hymn in praise of the Blessed Virgin); this is recited by the Community on the following Solemnities or Feasts: the Immaculate Conception, Mary the Mother of God, the Annunciation, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The 'Akathistos' celebrates not only Her glory, Her holiness, Her purity, but also the glory, the holiness of all creation.
Introduction
Leader:
Hearing the command, the Angel goes at once to the house of Joseph
and says to the Virgin: "He who has folded the heavens in His descent,
the Changeless One, is all enclosed in you. And I, contemplating in your womb Him who has taken the form of a slave, with awe exclaim to you:
All:
Hail, Virgin and Bride!"
Historical Part
Leader:
A prince of the Angels was sent from heaven, to say to the Mother of God: "Hail!". And as, at his bodiless voice, he saw you, Lord, embodied, he was astounded and stood still, crying out to her like this:
[
..](refer to CFD Manual pages 61 to 73 for the remainder of the Akathistos)