for all
Children of Light
Chaos is darkness, is lack of order; the Lord gives us a will in union with His own to bring order out of chaos, as He has done. Left to itself, the world, as a spoiled child, would bend toward darkness rather than the light which is its natural home, for the world has been corrupted by sin. By Jesus and His blood we strive to bring light to this forsaken universe, to redeem man from his sinful state.
This order is Marian, consecrated under the mantle of the Blessed Mother; but first this order is Trinitarian. For from the silent WORD (YHWH, God the Father) – the NAME we especially commemorate – all is spoken; and what is spoken, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is Jesus, the WORD made flesh, and His cross.
Herein I share with you what progress I have made in finding a spiritual life in God.
Towards
an Order The
Elements of the Building
Horarium
“If the Lord does not build the house,
in vain do its builders labor.”
(Ps. 127:1)
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
(Is.56:7)
A house gives order, a house gives space for light to shine…
Build me a house in which I may dwell, O Lord my God –
Let this house be a house of prayer.
Horarium
The Elements of the Building: Sketch
Full
(some of which do
overlap)
Daily Mass Plenary Indulgence, daily
Weekly Confession Consecration to the Blessed Mother
(and spiritual direction) by St. Louis De Montfort’s formula
Three Hours of Prayer: Entrustment to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel;
the First Hour, the Last Hour, Wearing of the Brown Scapular,
and the Hour of Vigil Morning Offering
The Liturgy of the Hours (5 times daily) Holy Hour, daily
The Full Rosary, daily Noon Angelus
Scripture Reading Stations of the Cross, Friday
(re the day’s Mass, and continuous) (Daily during Lent)
Reading of the Saints’ Writings Divine Mercy Chaplet (3:00)
Reading of Catholic Periodicals St. Jude Prayer (before Mass)
Fasting on Bread and Water, Silent Contemplation, eternal
Wednesday and Friday
Nightly Examination of Conscience Work – Daily Bread (as called)
Prayer of Prostration, Also,
Offering of One’s Day Service: Nursing Home,
Soup Kitchen, etc.
Morning Invocation of God’s Blessing Tithing: 5% Parish; 5% Charities
“His commandments are not burdensome”
(Lk. 5:16)
and should not be made so: all practices must
lead to recollection.
Sketch –
2:00 – 4:00: Vigil Hour(s) 12:00: Daytime Prayer
&
Noon Angelus
- Silent Contemplation
- Office of Readings 12:00 – 2:00: Dinner
- Reading of Day’s Scripture with newspaper reading
(writing…)
- Prayer of Prostration 2:00 – 3:00: Luminous Mysteries,
while walking… and rest
4:00 – 5:00:
Sleep, in the Lord’s arms
3:00: Divine Mercy Chaplet
5:00 – 6:00: First Hour
- Glorious Mysteries, sung 3:00 – 6:00: Work
- Invocation Prayer
- Morning Prayer 6:00 – 7:00:
(and other prayers: Medugorje message, - Evening Prayer
renewal of Montfort’s consecration, - Shower
offering to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel...) - Evening Collation…
6:00 – 7:00: Breakfast, Dressing… 7:00 – 8:00: Television News
7:00 – 8:00: Rosary and Holy Mass 8:00 – 9:00: Last Hour
(Joyful Mysteries, communal, in church, - Examination of Conscience
for plenary indulgence) - Night Prayer
- Sorrowful Mysteries, breathed
8:00 – 9:00: Holy Hour in church
Silence, continuous reading of Scripture 9:00 – 2:00: Sleep
and/or the Saints… writing…
(Rosary Indulgence possible here;
Stations of the Cross on Friday)
9:00 – 12:00: Work
Full Description –
2:00 – 4:00: Hour of Vigil (actually, two hours)
For Sundays, Feasts, and
vacation days one might wake an hour later, making the hour of vigil 3:00-5:00.
- *Silent Contemplation, speaking the NAME of God – YHWH (app. 20 min…)
(Obviously since this serves as the charism of the Order outlined herein, such silent
contemplation is at the heart of the life of the **soul for whom this life is being
laid down. Just as obvious should be the fact that such practice is not confined to this
short time. Contemplation of God’s presence, speaking His NAME – conversation
with the Lord and His Mother – should be constant, at the beginning, middle, and end
of all prayer and indeed all one’s life. One ever returns to it, and ever remembers it.)
- Office of Readings
(Whether chanted in tandem with others, whispered silently or spoken aloud,
whether sung in joy or cried in supplication, all hours should be prayed in recollection
– to God and with God, in conversation.)
- Reading of Scripture for the Day’s Mass
Careful/gradual reading, in the spirit of lectio divina, three times through…
Parallels should be discerned, meaning found, which one may afterward write down;
this illumination should serve as a catalyst for prayer of offering that follows,
and such prayer begins even while reading.
One may also peruse a commentary on the Scripture readings, and review other
passages from the Bible that might be related. (After the first time through, I read the
appropriate days of the spiritual diary I kept (’96 – ’00) – which relates the Scripture of
the day to my day – as well as the exposition of each day’s Scripture I’ve composed.)
- Prayer of Prostration, offering of one’s day (app. 20 min.)
On knees, shins flat, forehead bowed to ground (or fully prostrate on face and stomach
with legs back, arms forward) and blanket or sheet used to cover shoulders during all
hours of home prayer covering one’s body. One may improvise a song of prayer to the
Lord reflecting the readings of the day, while offering one’s self and the Church and
world in accord with their message. One may also sing in tongues, as inspired.
Following this praying, one should go through each particular event and action of the
day, asking God to bless all that one plans to do, i.e. what is outlined in this Horarium,
and thanking Him for all His blessings.
4:00 – 5:00: Sleep, in the Lord’s arms
5:00 – 6:00: First Hour
- Glorious Mysteries, sung (app. 35 min.); yet in bed, on right side
with left hand under head and gazing at a lit crucifix and a statue of the Blessed Mother…
I have set aside an intention for each decade (and each Hail Mary):
1) Family
2) Friends, neighbors, acquaintances 3) the Church 4) the Country 5)
the World
- ***Invocation Prayer, meditative (5 min.); dying to sin, living to God
heart, mind, soul, and body…
- Morning Prayer (app.15 min.) and additional prayers (5 min…),
including general monthly message and personal message from Medugorje,
as well as St. Louis De Montfort’s recommended daily renewal of consecration
to Jesus through Mary and Morning Offering to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
6:00 – 7:00: Breakfast, Dressing, Travel to Church…
7:00 – 8:00: Rosary and Holy Mass (obviously, time of Mass will necessarily vary,
as will these morning devotions generally, dependent upon an open church as they are).
Joyful Mysteries prayed communally (preferably), in church or chapel, for Plenary Indulgence – for the Pope’s intentions, into the Blessed Mother’s hands…
Holy Mass preceded by St. Jude Prayer. Daily reception of the Sacrament is the goal.
(One should obviously be most recollected – speaking the LORD’s NAME,
in His presence – during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.)
8:00 – 9:00: Holy Hour (Sacrament exposed, if possible; otherwise,
before the Tabernacle; adjustment in time may be made to find exposition…)
Silence. Continuous (cover to cover) reading of the Bible and/or the Saints’ writings.
Rosary for Indulgence may occur in this hour; Stations of the Cross prayed Friday.
Note: If one must leave for work immediately after Mass – and so is spending this hour
before Mass or at another time – one should, before running off to duties,
at least take a moment or two after Mass, and leave church well-composed.
9:00 – 12:00: Work (for me: writing, teaching, music –
includes also errands such as food shopping, laundry, etc.
as well as community service or additional prayer)
12:00: Midday Prayer with Noon Angelus (as opening hymn)
One may need to say Daytime Prayer earlier (Midmorning, say 9:30 -11:30) or later (Midafternoon, say 1:30 – 4:00), depending on schedule, but one of the three Daytime hours should be prayed each day. Also, one should likely be most careful to recollect oneself for this hour, coming in the midst of the work day, with its inevitable distractions.
12:00 – 2:00: Dinner (main meal of the day): cooking, eating, washing dishes….
with reading of Catholic periodicals
A nap may be taken during part of this time or work begun earlier,
especially on Wednesday and Friday when one fasts on bread and water at every meal.
(On these two days, at least, I find a church with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.)
2:00 – 3:00: Mysteries of Light, while walking through the park; time for rest…
or work resumes earlier.
Note: I have not personally
begun the practice of saying the new mysteries in earnest as yet, and so often
begin work at this time. Sometimes I
have said the Luminous Mysteries while traveling from place to place; but if
the mysteries are not said otherwise, I recommend meditation on each of the
decades on the even number beads of the Joyful decade, The Finding of Jesus in
the Temple, in which they seem latent.
3:00: Divine Mercy Chaplet (and Novena)
3:00 – 6:00: Resumption of Work
6:00 – 7:00: - Evening Prayer - Shower - Evening Collation (light meal; meat should be eaten no more than once a day, at dinner time, deserts reserved for Sundays and Feasts)
7:00 – 8:00: Hour of Television
Quality news recommended (News Hour with Jim Lehrer personal preference) to keep regularly informed of the events of the world, to help the soul keep the world in prayer.
8:00 – 9:00: Last Hour
- Examination of Conscience (reviewing the day)
- Night Prayer
- Sorrowful Mysteries, breathed (a phrase on inhalation, and one on exhalation –
and so most directly aligned with speaking the NAME, even as the cross is the
most direct expression of the Word on earth), often in tears; rosary in left hand,
crucifix in right, seated in bed, in darkness…
1) leaning back against headboard, knees up 4) leaning further forward, legs forward
2) leaning forward, legs flat, knees out 5) only head propped up, one knee up,
3) back flat against headboard, legs forward, flat arms out somewhat
9:00 – 2:00: Sleep
NOTES:
* Silent Contemplation/ Speaking the NAME (YHWH)
Silence should be striven
for, but, not feasible to maintain for 20 minutes (since even a constant minute
may be difficult to keep – and even a split second is long enough to enter His
presence…), other practices will enter; including speaking in tongues, which
comes from this divine silence and speaks of it; as well as conversation with
the Lord regarding questions of the soul.
Ejaculations such as “My Lord and my God”, “Come, Holy Spirit”, “I Love
You, Jesus”, and even “Mommy” (when calling upon the Blessed Mother) will also
inevitably arise. Similar to centering
prayer, one should use a prayer word, in this case the perfect Word, the NAME
of God: breath in speaking “YH”, out speaking “WH” (that is, poising the mouth
for speech – wind entering and igniting fire in the mind (YH); then pursing the
lips, offering all one’s self up while exhaling (WH)… note: in this exhaling (and
in a sense “expiring”), in this offering of one’s self, one lifts one’s body up
without a visible movement, the blood stream as it were rising unto God). One’s head
may go back, even to looking straight up, mouth wide open, for breath in (and
may pause there at times, captivated by the light, perhaps in tears, perhaps
smiling…); and down to even (or at times bowed in utter humility before His
overwhelming presence), for breath out.
Or one may speak the entire WORD – which is the heart of all speech, all
human intelligence – in a single moment, the Light and Logic of God upon
oneself.
Also, re the pain and
suffering, the doubt and sin, the disease of the world: an opportunity to take
one’s own and others’ burdens upon oneself – drinking in the darkness – and
pray, “Come, Holy Spirit. Bring your
light,” thus overcoming darkness with spiritual light. (“Where sin increased, grace abounded all
the more” (Rm.5:20).
** for the Soul…
Though outlined particularly for
the life of a hermit/monk, which mostly closely characterizes my own current
state, certainly the practices within could be applied by anyone, single or
married, priest or mother… There is a
hermit in each of us, and to whatever extent one may be called to this
spirituality, to whatever extent one’s station allows, so are these practices
appropriate.
*** Morning Invocation Prayer: may be improvised upon…
Lord,
let me be dead to sin:
dead to the flesh and its lust and sloth
and gluttony;
dead to the world and its anger, greed,
and envy;
dead to the devil and his pride.
Let
me be alive in virtue and goodness:
alive in the Holy Spirit and His gifts;
alive in the kingdom of heaven with your
angels and saints,
alive with you in the glory of the
Father.
O
let my ears be open to your voice, my heart obedient to your command,
that love might fill my heart and course
through my veins,
that tender will be my every movement in
Thee.
Open
my eyes to your holy light
that my mind might be filled with your
wisdom,
that I might ever articulate your
teaching in my ways.
Open
my nostrils to breathe your spirit,
that peace will fill my lungs
and speak in every word I think or write
or utter aloud.
Open
my mouth to receive your humble food,
that health and strength might fill my
body
and I accomplish your will in all I do.
O
Lord, let your healing touch be upon my skin,
that pure and innocent of spirit I shall
be,
wed unto you as a child of light and
truth.
Blessed
Mother, in your arms I place myself,
form me in the image of your Son;
make the offering of my life acceptable
to Him.
Jesus,
may I abide in your Word, your commands,
that you and the Father might make your
home in me this day…
(silence)… I love you.