Prayer-Life

Prayer Life is a personal word used by the Founding Mother, Mother Mª del Carmen. She used to insist that, for the Oblate, prayer is her own being. It was not a matter of having much or little prayer time, of multiplying the piety exercises. No. Prayer is the being of the Oblate by vocation, and it should not be interrupted.  It is like breath: If you stop breathing, there is no life.

With these two words, PRAYER-LIFE, she spoke about prayer that goes on during jobs and occupations. What does it consist of? How is it done?

“Life of prayer is a continuous act of love, giving oneself to the Will of God, which manifests itself to us through everything that surrounds us. God will never manifest his Will against another one, also his. There is no contradiction in God. The union with his Will requires total devotion of my whole being, so that only his Will remains fulfilled in obedience

(…) But love must be combined with this. Yes, love is Life of God and, if there is not love, there can be no prayer. Life of prayer can be broken by an act of selfishness, just as it is broken by an act of self-will (…); because life of prayer is union with the Will of God, always love giving and, this Will is often shown in charity with the sisters, by caring for others.

In community life, the union with God, the loving dedication to fulfil his Will, nearly always or always has an impact on the dedication to the Community. Each one has to be in that posture of giving love continuously. This means “a constant giving of oneself to the Will of God, forgetting oneself”. Devoting oneself to that Will of God, manifested in all these small things, dying to our own opinion, our own criteria, our self-love… By doing that, the life of prayer does not break, and we can always be in authentic prayer, the one God asks us, exactly the same as in the acts of prayer.” (Mother Mª del Carmen. Founder)