“In the depths of our being the Spirit of the Son continually cries Abba, Father!” (Gal 4:6).
Thus begins Chapter II of our Constitutions on Prayer Life.

Jesus has left as a legacy to those who follow Him a prayer that condenses, in a few words, the most intimate of His experience of God, His faith in the Kingdom, and His concern for the world. Our prayer to God is meant to be like His: for the Kingdom and for the world. “Prayer, which is of itself evangelizing, stimulates and strengthens our missionary thrust. It welcomes and makes its own the cultural riches of peoples, as it brings before God their hopes and their praise” (CS 2, 12).

The Eucharist, Mary of the Passion tells us, is the center of our life. Eucharist, thanksgiving. This ‘thanksgiving’ can take different forms: community prayer and personal prayer. But most of all, in communion with God and with our brothers and sisters, and “in welcoming His presence our life becomes prayer” (CS 2, 8).

The liturgy celebrated in community is ‘divine worship’, the prayer of the Church, of the People of God. It is God Himself who acts and, by His action, we are drawn to be transformed in Him. In order to help us in a liturgical prayer lived as a proclamation of the Gospel and of charity in action, this section proposes a calendar with the feasts of the saints that concern us more especially: saints of our Institute, Franciscan saints, etc., and some schemas of celebrations. The manner of praying of a group expresses its special relationship with God and constitutes an experience that binds all its members together in the same faith.

What is essential is that our prayer, both community and personal, while being prayer of the Church, be marked by our culture, our experiences, the moment we live, the trials we go through, the joys we feel, the transformations that accompany us…