The Prayer of Sant'Egidio

"Lord, Teach us how to pray"

Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).

So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard. 

Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.

In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart. 

The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Math. 9, 3:7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people! 

 

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Icona del Santo Volto

Icon 
Church of Sant'Egidio, Rome

Calendar of the week

Sunday, March 14
Liturgy of the Sunday
Monday, March 15
Memory of the Poor
Tuesday, March 16
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Wednesday, March 17
Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Thursday, March 18
Memory of the Church
Friday, March 19
Memory of Jesus crucified
Saturday, March 20
Sunday Vigil
Sunday, March 21
Liturgy of the Sunday

Intentions of prayer

- O Lord, you who with your death conquered death and with your resurrection give us life, we pray that you listen to our prayer for the whole world, for peace among peoples, for the prosperity of every land, so that evil is defeated, violence no longer reigns over humanity, and every war ceases.

- O Lord, we give you thanks for the gift of this Easter, for the communion that you have allowed every one of our communities to taste. Help all of us, starting from these days, to grow in love.

- O Lord of every consolation, on this day of exultation we pray that you give to every man and woman the liberating power of Easter, so that no one will remain a prisoner of sin, death, and sadness, but all may taste the joy of the redemption.

- O Lord, you who in your resurrection dissolve every fear and make possible that which our hearts often did not know how to hope for, allow us to receive the new life that rises from your tomb and that this Easter be for each of us of a new baptism in love.

- O Lord, we pray that you strengthen the faith of this your family, so that it may live your love without limits now and in the days to come, witnessing to everyone that you, the Risen one, are the hope of a new and peaceful world.

Special intentions

We pray:
- For peace all over the world
- For children
- For the elderly
- For Africa

Personal intentions of prayer

Whoever wishes can send, through this page, one's intentions of prayer. During Sunday's liturgy, all the received prayers will be presented to the Lord in the common prayer.

 

Personal intentions of prayer...