About
the
School of Mary
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1-
"Schools of Prayer"
The
Catechism acknowledges the existence of "schools of prayer". They are
not just "prayer groups" but places where the faithful can learn the
Living Tradition of Prayer.
2-
First aim of the Association: School to become witnesses "of
the living tradition of prayer "
The
Association is a school to learn "the living tradition of prayer". It intends to give, in the
Church this service. Leaning on the "authentic
wellsprings of Christian prayer" (2689). It is important to support the
Church in an organisational way in order to promote the Living Tradition
of Prayer, and to spread it, as Mary would do.
2690
The Holy Spirit gives to certain of the faithful the gifts of wisdom,
faith and discernment for the sake of this common good which is prayer (spiritual
direction). Men and women so endowed are true servants of the living
tradition of prayer.
3-
Second aim of the Association: School to learn to become: "true
servants of the living tradition of prayer"
Teaching
spiritual life and giving spiritual counselling are important for developing a
deep spiritual life. It is a help given by the faithful (male, female). The
second and last aim of the Association is to provide valid education for the
faithful who feel the call to carry the responsibility of spiritual education
and support its growth. So, it is a school where one can learn "how to
teach" (the know-how) and transmit spiritual life.
2690
According to St. John of the Cross, the person wishing to advance toward
perfection should "take care into whose hands he entrusts himself, for as
the master is, so will the disciple be, and as the father is so will be the
son." And further: "In addition to being learned and discreet a
director should be experienced.... If the spiritual director has no experience
of the spiritual life, he will be incapable of leading into it the souls whom
God is calling to it, and he will not even understand them."
4-
The Association as a "means" to spread the Message of the
Tradition of Prayer
The
faithful have the right, to be "grouped in associations" (900) in
order to spread the Message. The form of a public Catholic Association seems to
be now the way to strengthen all that has been accomplished, and to spread it.
900 Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God
with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they
have the right and duty, individually or grouped in
associations, to work so that the divine message of
salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth.
This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that
men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities
is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be
fully effective without it.
5-
The "School of Mary"
Mary
shows us the Way: Jesus her Son and God. From that essential fact of the Living
Tradition, we take the name of "School of Mary". The Scriptures
explain the place and role of Mary in our spiritual life and invite us to say: "All
good things came to me along with her, and in her hands uncounted wealth. I
rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them; but I did not know that she was
their mother." (Wisdom 7,11-12) In the secret of our heart, Mary
teaches us, by example and through her help, how to follow Jesus. In fact she "is
the perfect Orans (pray-er)" (3679).
6-
The existence of a "Tradition of Prayer"
The
Apostles said to the Lord: "Lord,
teach us how to pray" (Luke 11,1) this leads us to 2 facts:
i)
The existence of a "Tradition of Prayer": It is a duty to learn
this Tradition, to receive it, and keep it alive.
ii)
The necessity to teach how to pray: It is a duty to teach this
Tradition, by all the means: courses, books etc…
7-
The universal call to the fullness
The
universal call to the fullness of Christian life (union with God) and to the
perfection of charity (the Christian death of love), is a call to every human
body. Therefore, it is our duty to look with great care to the "means"
so God gave us through the Living Tradition of Prayer, in order to reach this
fullness. In fact the Mystical Tradition of the Church is a royal way offered to
us.
2013
"All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of
Christian life and to the perfection of charity." All are called to
holiness: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
In
order to reach this perfection the faithful should use the strength dealt out to
them by Christ's gift, so that . . . doing the will of the Father in everything,
they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service
of their neighbour. Thus the holiness of the People of God will grow in fruitful
abundance, as is clearly shown in the history of the Church through the lives of
so many saints.
2014
Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union
is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ
through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the
mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him,
even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are
granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to
all.
8-
It is the duty of the faithful to commit for the Message
By virtue of our baptism, as lay Christians we receive the responsibility
to commit to work so that the message of the Living Tradition of Prayer may be
known.
It is even a "pressing duty" for us, as lay Christians, because
we can reach people whom the pastors of the Church can't reach. This
duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the
Gospel and know Christ (900).
From that "mandate" we find the source of our mission to spread
the Tradition of prayer.