Apostleship of Prayer History of the Apostleship of Prayer

John L. Vessels, SJ

Part Ten
Papal Approval: 'A Way to Holiness"         So when the second founder Ramiere, brought this programme to Rome for the Popes' blessings, the popes were eager to approve it. The popes said, "This is the way to become a saint. Anyone who begins the day with an authentic offering of his or her life to Christ or to the Father for the building up of the kingdom and then lives that offering and takes that offering to the Eucharist so that Christ himself can assume it and blend it with his own and make it a part of his own, this person is on the road to sanctity.' And that is what every pope since has said whenever asked to bless again the Apostleship of Prayer: This is a way to become holy and to spread the holiness of God all around the world.
        This is, of course, what has explained its toughness, its firmness, its solidity; for it is a solid program and it is a safe spiritual programme. No bishop, no priest has ever doubted it. He may not like the particular forms that it has taken in his diocese or parish, but nobody has ever, no priest has ever worried about how orthodox it is, how safe it is, how solid it is. Most are most enthusiastic about it, as the popes have been from the very beginning with their approval of it, the blessings and the indulgences that they gave it. Prayer Intentions         Well, eventually there was one more thing that Ramiere did. Each month he suggested, to all these millions of people around the  world who were praying and offering their lives as a missionary effort for the building up of the kingdom, that if they all prayed together for one single intention each month, this would be a tremendous opportunity for the Holy Spirit and God the Father and God the Son to do their work, not just in answer to prayer for the particular prayer that was being made by millions all around the world, but using these very people as instruments of the graces that he was communicating along the lines of the petition made. If hearts and minds of people everywhere were open to this particular grace, then it was IN the hearts and THROUGH the hearts and minds of these millions of people that this very grace could be applied to the situations of the context of the petition, for the people in the situation that all were praying for each month.
        And so, these monthly intentions became a very important factor along with the morning offering, along with frequent communion and regular confession, along with the practice of an evening examen of one's day, along with the practice of offering each day to the Father through the Heart of Jesus or to Jesus through the heart of Mary. This praying for an intention each month, a missionary intention, this continued to strengthen the idea of Catholics all over the world and other Christians that joined them in this prayer campaign that they themselves were missionaries. Their mission was to build the kingdom of God and they WERE BUILDING building the kingdom of God!
        These people were building the kingdom not just in their own lives, in their own places of business or study, not just in their own homes or communities, but they were building the kingdom all around the world. In every corner where anyone spoke the name of Jesus Christ, the prayers of millions of people elsewhere all around the world were with that person, strengthening and supporting that person. In that sense by prayer they were making all these millions of people present in that missionary effort  true missionaries. Not just in their own little corner of the world where they were actively engaged in building the kingdom but through the efforts of these missionaries far-flung around the world and in the  hearts of the simple people who for the first time were, with open hearts and open minds, hearing the word of God, accepting the word of God and beginning their own march towards the kingdom.
 
 

To be continued

Return to Home Page

For more information contact The Director