Healing Service at Pecos Benedictine Monastery

 On the first Monday evening of every month, the Benedictine monks hold a healing service in Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel at the Pecos Benedictine Monastery. The Benedictines incorporate Taize prayer into this service. In Taize prayer, single musical phrases with simple melodic units are sung communally. The repetitive nature of these songs echoes more traditional modes of prayer such as the Jesus prayer. There is a spirit of silence and reflection during Taize prayer as participants strive to open their hearts to the Spirit. Those who come to the healing service are asked to bring their loved ones, their concerns for the world, for friends and family members, for their communities, and their own cares and needs. Most importantly they are invited to open their hearts and hands to God so that the spiritual power of simple melodies and praise words will wash over their souls and bring healing.
At the Monday service I attended Father Bob Lussier presided and asked the convocation to pray for healing of drug and alcohol addiction within their families and the larger Pecos community. He asked for prayer invocations to end domestic violence incidents and the recent tide of suicides in Pecos. He then called for individual prayer intentions and many of those attending spoke sincerely of the need for healing within their families. Father Lussier then read from Mark's gospel, some of the accounts of Jesus' healing power. My favorite, testifying to the divine omnipotence of Jesus Christ is Mark 8, 54-56, "As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized Him. They scurried about the countryside and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard He was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside He entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him that they might touch only the tassel on His cloak; and as many as touched it were healed." After the scripture  readings, Father Lussier then asked the congregation to join him in Taize prayer hymns, following which each participant was then asked to come forward for the Anointing of the Sick. The celebration of this sacrament consists essentially in the anointing of the forehead and hands of the sick person with oil blessed by the bishop, accompanied by the liturgical prayer of the celebrant asking for the special grace of the sacrament to be conferred on the anointed. This special grace has the effects of uniting the sick person to the passion of Chris, affords the strength, peace and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or age,  offers the forgiveness of sins, the restoration of health, if conducive to he salvation of the soul, and for the dying the preparation of passing over to eternal life. Devotional candles were then lit and placed on a wooden cross in front of the altar, where  the congregation knelt to offer their own personal prayers to God. The service ended with a blessing from Father Lussier and with an invitation to evangelize their communities. As I drove back to Albuquerque,  I was grateful for the mission of the Benedictines at Pecos, for their efforts to bring spiritual salvation to that community, and for the peace and trust in God I experienced that evening.
To link to the healing service at Pecos Benedictine Monastery, click     guestmaster@pecosmonastery.org

San Juan Diego Friary in Albuquerque

 The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have been following in the footsteps of Saint Francis since the inception of their order in 1987 in the Bronx, New York. The community is comprised of men who desire to live the rule of Saint Francis of Assisi in the Capuchin Franciscan tradition. Their mission statements are to serve the spiritual and material needs of the poor and to work for the reform of the Catholic Church through the evangelical preaching of personal reform. In Albuquerque they have opened the San Juan Diego Friary at 404 San Mateo N.E, which houses Fray Antonio's soup kitchen, providing a warm lunch meal every Wednesday to both the homeless and the poor in adjacent neighborhoods, The Friars also conduct youth retreats, substitute at parish masses for diocesan priests, hear confessions, are prolife advocates and do street evangelization. The friars currently residing at San Juan Diego Friary include Father Joseph Mary Deane, C.F.R., Brother Maximillian Mary Steimachowski, C.F.R., Father Daniel Marie Williamson, C.F.R., and Father Terry Messer, C.F.R..  The friary has private living quarters for the friars, a small, simple chapel where Mass is celebrated at 730 am on weekdays, a prayer room, a large communal dining hall graced by paintings of Saint Francis, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Nativity scene, a kitchen almost as large as the dining hall, where meals are prepared and dishwashing is done by volunteers, and a smaller dining hall behind the kitchen where the friars eat their meals. There is also a bathroom with a shower stall equipped for handicap persons just down the corridor from the mess hall. The friars have also built a patio with tables and chairs and a warming fire pit for persons waiting in line for the Wednesday lunch meal. The facilities are all handicap accessible. The Wednesday lunch crowd usually numbers between 200 and 300, with larger attendance near the end of the month when incomes are becoming depleted. A warm and nutritious meal is prepared for guests and there is always a choice of desserts, coffee and tea. The food is either donated by the Albuquerque food bank or purchased by the friars from discount grocers. The friary is open for Wednesday lunch at 11am and closes at 230 pm. There are adjacent bus stops on either side of San Mateo street as well as ample parking at the friary.

On the occasions when I have volunteered at the friary during the Wednesday lunch service, I have been struck by the good cheer of the friars, the volunteers and the diners. The friars are courteous and respectful to all - both visitors for lunch and volunteers. The dining hall itself is usually packed with lively conversations going back and forth between the diners as well between diners and volunteers. When visitors leave the dining hall, they will often stop to thank the volunteers and friars. Many have remarked how they look forward to returning the next Wednesday, which must make Saint Francis of Assisi pleased. In one of his earliest sermons, he is reported to have said, " All getting separates you from other men; all giving unites you to them. Oh believe me,  that, once you have seen this, all getting , over and above your simplest needs, will be tainted with distress, and all giving will be a source of joy. I tell you, you do not know the joy, the liberation , and the fullness of living that will come to you if you will make this simple change of heart. The whole face of the world will change for you, taking on a new graciousness, and the face of every brother will be beautiful." And so it seems every Wednesday at San Juan Diego Friary in Albuquerque. A lot of good will flows between the volunteers and visitors who meet each other there on Wednesdays . I suspect that they feel connected despite their different economic circumstances.  At least for those few hours on Wednesdays the spirit of Saint Francis lives on in this world. We can thank the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal for keeping alive the message of their founder.

To enjoy a meal or volunteer at San Juan Diego Friary, click on

 

 Welcome :: San Juan Diego Friary (Albuquerque, NM)

www.cfr-newmexico.com/

 

To learn more about Saint Francis of Assisi, I recommend reading " In The Steps Of Saint Francis" by Ernest Raymond, copyright 1939  by H.C. Kinsey Company ( available on AMAZON)