VS his year, François Meusnier, surgeon in Toulon (Var), member of the movement Ecclesiola , did not feel deprived spiritually by the lack of masses. His long habit of a family prayer allowed him to measure that he held a treasure. “Thirty years ago, I discovered the prayer of the hours, he testifies. After my marriage, with my wife and our children, we continued this form of prayer at home, as a family. »
Domestic prayer is at the heart of Ecclesiola’s charism. This movement brings together committed men and women around the world. Founded about thirty years ago in Bordeaux (Gironde) by students in connection with the Dominican convent, this “little church” (the meaning of the word Ecclesiola) encourages its members to transmit the Gospel and the taste prayer, not only in church on Sundays, but first of all “at home”, every day, and in particular proximity to the most vulnerable people.
“To pray at home is to receive the Lord in my home!” marvels Marie, retired and widowed for ten years. The liturgy of the hours constitutes the heart of the life of the members of Ecclesiola. “The prayer of lauds opens my day and my house to the dimensions of all who pray,” she explains. I never feel alone. I live in real communion with all believers and with my husband who is with God. It was our prayer as a couple for forty years. »
An “all-terrain” liturgy
The liturgy of the hours, from lauds in the morning to compline before bedtime, is daily. It can be celebrated everywhere, in nature, a chapel or its living room. Along with the Eucharist, it is the prayer organized by the Church for all the faithful, whether lay, consecrated or cleric. Like the Mass, it is based on a precise scheme: a selection of identical psalms, biblical passages and intercessions for the whole Church.
“If I missed the parish mass during the confinements, I also understood better how much the Lord also lived in my house, that his presence was very real in my house, underlines François Meusnier. As a family, we realized that the dining room table was our altar! Around her, we read the Word, exchange our joys and sorrows, confide the prayer intentions of our loved ones. »
At Easter, when his whole family was under house arrest, they renewed, at home, all the liturgical gestures of holy days usually practiced in churches. “We washed each other’s feet, worshiped the family cross, lit candles and read all the Easter Vigil readings,” he recalls. The presence of the Risen One among us was evident to all! They were there, with us as with his disciples, in the Cenacle, on the evening of the resurrection. »
For Father Arnaud Franc, “God likes to visit our homes”. This young curate of Castanet-Tolosan, in the suburbs of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), organized, throughout the month of December, a course for his parishioners and his friends on his Facebook page. Each day of Advent, he proposed to reflect on a scene from the Gospel where Jesus visits a dwelling. “The Gospel begins there,” explains the priest. After his birth, Jesus is visited by the Magi in a house. »
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Let God make his home with us
He continues: “As we read the Gospels, we discover that the house is a place of healing for the mother-in-law of Peter, of forgiveness for the sinner with the perfume in Simon, of life for the daughter of Jairus, the place for a new departure for Zacchaeus, or even a space for listening to the word at Marthe and Marie. For the young vicar, “reading the Bible in the family is essential, a sign of the real presence of Christ in one’s home. And to conclude with a smile: “It would be a shame to let your Bible gather dust on the highest shelf of your library! »
When Thomas and Louise moved in together, after their marriage, they immediately asked the parish priest to come and bless their apartment as well as their “prayer corner”. “Every day, we pray there, they testify. An Our Father when we are in a hurry, a rosary when we have a little more time. The forms of domestic prayer are endless. Whether it is the reading of the Word, a rosary, the liturgy of the hours, a simple Our Father or even a time of prayer and silence, she gives God the opportunity to make his home with us.
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A prayer corner
“My house will be called a house of prayer. (Mt 21, 13)
Organizing a space for prayer in your home means reserving a place for God in your home. Long before the fashion of feng shui, the choice of a place of prayer in a house was not left to chance. Christians of Eastern tradition have always chosen to install it in what they call the “beautiful angle” of the living room of their home; the one that we see immediately when entering the house. Choose the location of your prayer space carefully, it doesn’t have to be huge. For example, you can install in your bedroom an image of Christ or a statue of the Virgin Mary surrounded by photos of the family and a candle that you will light for evening or morning prayer.
An open bible
“You will take care to read all these words. (Jer 51, 61)
What if you organized a space that invites you to read the Word of God? On a small table in the living room, you can, for example, place your open Bible next to a bouquet of fresh flowers and a candle to light when you read it. As a source always offered to all, you can drink from it in joy as in sorrow and let the Lord speak to you.
Practice hospitality
“When you have found hospitality in a house, stay there. » (Mk 6, 10)
If receiving guests at home has remained complicated since last March, perhaps this is an opportunity to measure the preciousness of a visit and to prepare, without waiting, for a guest to come to your home when it will be possible again. To do this, invent a little welcoming ritual to honor the people who cross the threshold of your door. Suggest a little thanksgiving when they arrive. Offer them a “kiss of peace”, which Saint Paul evokes as a fraternal greeting. Invite them to recite the benedi-cite when they sit down to eat. When they leave, offer them a piece of paper on which you have written a Bible verse or a prayer. Read the Gospel for the day together or recite an Our Father, etc.