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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
