8 months ago

News The solution to save Africa: Patriarchate Bishops of Africa Church The condition of renewal – Interior prayer Fiducia supplicans

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Dear Bishops of Africa, priests, theological students, men and women religious,
you have consecrated your lives to God. But unless you live the interior life, your priestly and religious life will lose its meaning. What is the secret of the interior life with our Lord Jesus Christ? It consists in interior prayer, which is connected with penance and at the same time connects us with Jesus. All who have surrendered their lives to Him need to know Jesus more and more deeply.
The Apostle Paul now says to you: “I want you to attain to the full knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This I say lest anyone should deceive you with fine-sounding words.” (Col 2:2-4) So then, “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him.” That is, do not live for your self-fulfilment and for the spirit of the world, which has penetrated even into the heart of the Church.
“Be rooted and built up in Christ and established in the true and saving faith.” The Apostle urgently warns: Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human teachings of historical-critical theology, according to the esoteric spiritual powers, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The idols of the pagans are demons. Christianity cannot be mixed with paganism; there is no unity of Christ with Belial.
As for the so-called new liturgical rites with pagan elements by which pagans worship demons, the Apostle’s warning fully applies: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons.” Interreligious dialogue is in fact antimission, and is not inspired by the Spirit of Christ, but by the spirit of antichrist. One must not confuse interior prayer, of which Christ is the centre, with the oriental meditations practised in Buddhism or Hinduism.
Remember, dear Catholics of Africa, that your grandfathers and great-grandfathers renounced the pagan practices that keep the pagans under spiritual terror and in spiritual darkness. The fruit of the spirit of paganism is immorality, even satanism, which is manifested today in gender ideology. This ideology promotes perverted same-sex marriages and gender reassignment, even of children who are psychologically manipulated in schools into having it. It is to Africa’s credit before God that it has not adopted the doctrinal declaration of Fiducia supplicans which blesses these sins and thus brings down God’s curse and destroys saving faith at its root.
You, dear Africans, have not accepted this suicidal path of Fiducia supplicans. That is indeed commendable, but it is not enough. Now you need to be rooted in Christ so that, like the apostles and like all the martyrs, you are willing to sacrifice your life for loyalty to Christ.
The way to achieve this is through interior prayer. Without it, the spirit of the world will rob you of the faith you had at first when you decided to give your lives to Jesus Christ. Many seminarians or religious, however, often do not even know how to begin with interior prayer or how to continue to practise it. Without interior prayer, the persons consecrated to God lose the most precious thing, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They do not become witnesses to Jesus, but mere church managers, having the spirit of the world, and this applies without distinction to theologians, religious, priests or bishops.
The soul needs to be initiated into the basics of interior prayer, so that the Holy Spirit may then guide it on the path of purification, illumination and union. This path is completely contrary to the synodal path with its Fiducia supplicans.
What is the basis of the interior prayer? It is the Word of God and entering into God’s presence and remaining in it. This is how a soul abandons itself to God and unites with Him.
Interior prayer, which we are presenting to you in a plain language, is based on spiritual experience, which you need to have in order to share it with the souls entrusted to you by God. Theology without a personal relationship to our Lord and Saviour bears no fruit. With the same token, religious life loses its purpose, unless it is anchored in an authentic relationship with God, which grows through the interior prayer.
Searching for the spirituality by way of pagan practices, such as yoga or zen meditations associated with Hinduism or Buddhism, is a false path. Similarly, various esoterical practices are just a pseudo-spirituality, which divert from the essence, from Christ. They lead away from the true meaning of life, which lies in searching for and loving God and saving one’s soul.
We reach out to you on behalf of those religious brothers and sisters who practise interior prayer and we would like to briefly introduce it and bring it to your attention as a hidden treasure. If you only tried to practise this prayer regularly in all seminaries and religious houses of Africa for at least one month, and on daily basis. It is possible to practise it in private – everybody should definitely try this on their own – but it is also possible to pray it together. In that case, one person should lead the prayer. You will soon discover its contribution to your spiritual life. Do not let yourself be influenced by people who would try to discourage you from praying it, because they do not have a personal relationship with Christ.
This 40-minute interior prayer is the fruit of more than a 40-year long practice of persistent prayer effort. Even though it is meant for consecrated persons, it is of a great spiritual benefit to all zealous Christians.
The soul starts to recognize the power of God’s love, which is the only force that overcomes the abyss of sin, when it continually delves into the depth of the mystery of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on the cross through an interior prayer.
In this interior prayer, we contemplate each of Christ’s words from the cross, for about 5 minutes each. We use prayer gestures to help us avoid distraction and stay focused on God’s word and God’s presence in an interior union with Jesus. We either kneel or stand. The gesture of outstretched hands in prayer helps to unite us with Jesus. When invoking the name of Jesus – “Yehoshua” – or when crying out to the Heavenly Father “Father - Abba”, it may be very helpful if we breathe out vowels, long and slow, especially “aaa” (Aaa-bbaaa – Father, Yehoshu-aa-aa-aa). It disposes us to interior prayer. Similarly in the prayer of Eloi (Eee-looo-iii), in which we try to remain in union with the abandoned and suffering Jesus.
We are aware that the inner knowledge of the relationship with Jesus is something that only a spiritually mature person can pass on to mature and sincere people. In publishing this information, there is a risk that those with a worldly or occult/esoteric spirit within the Church may misuse and ridicule this interior prayer and discourage the sincere believers. However, we are confident that thirsty, Christ-loving souls will gather these pearls and not let them be trampled underfoot.
When contemplating the second and third word from the cross, we call on the name of Jesus – Yehoshua.
I say“Ye-ho-shu” slowly. My hands are raised and I realize that God sees me.
When breathing out the long “aaa” for the first time, I slowly lower my hands, realizing: “You created everything.”
When breathing out the second “aaa”, I make the sign of the cross, realizing: “By Your cross You have redeemed me.”
When breathing out the long “aaa” for the third time, I raise my hands to Jesus in supplication: “Jesus, remember me in Your kingdom.”
During the prayer on the third word from the cross, “Behold your Mother”, I say “Ye-ho-shu-aa-aa-aa” in the same way, with the exception that when breathing out the third long “aaa” I receive by faith the Mother of Jesus into my heart. As I do so, I make a gesture – I extend my arms sideways and then slowly pull my hands towards my chest.
During the prayer on the sixth word, when I say “Ye-ho-shu”, my hands are raised to Jesus.
The first time I breathe out the long “aaa”, I slowly lower my hands and I perceive: “The darkness is broken! It is finished through the death of Christ!”
When breathing out the long “aaa” for the second time, I make the sign of the cross, remembering the following truth: “I am in Christ’s death through baptism.”
Breathing out the third “aaa”, I raise my hands and hold them up for a moment, remembering the spiritual reality: “A pillar of light above me and within me!”
Finally, I contemplate the seventh word from the cross: “Father, Abba, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” Jesus’ death is a return to the Father’s arms. I kneel with my hands raised. I say a long Aaa-baa – Father, with my mind focused on the words, “into Your hands I commit My spirit!”