OUR SPIRITUALITY

At the origin of the Community, young adults, married and single, experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: God alive and at work. They then had the desire to open their lives more fully to God by putting everything in common in the manner of the first Christian communities and by devoting more time to Him through personal prayer and common liturgy.

Thus the founding charism received in the first ten years of the Community unfolds through life in the Spirit , the communion of states of life, overflowing into apostolic mission.

This life in the Spirit, nourished by the sources of Christian Tradition, takes shape in a variety of forms that make up the Community’s spirituality:

A NEW PENTECOST

ESCHATOLOGICAL HOPE

LIFE OF UNION WITH GOD

SACRAMENTS AND LITURGY

THE little TRIDUUM

PRAISE AND CHARISMS

THE MYSTERY OF ISRAEL

CHRISTIAN UNITY

LIFE WITH MARY

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    “Votre don sera reçu par la Fondation pour le Clergé, en faveur de la Communauté des Béatitudes et les données recueillies sur le formulaire de don serviront aux communications de la Communauté des Béatitudes et de la Fondation pour le Clergé.”

    A NEW PENTECOST

    An experience of Pentecost and an eschatological hope have been at the heart of the charism of the Community of the Beatitudes from the outset.

    Born in the current of grace of the Charismatic Renewal, the Community wishes each day to become a dwelling of the Holy Spirit. With docility and surrender to the Spirit of God who blows where He wills and when He wills, the Community follows the Lord towards the coming Kingdom.

    As our Book of Life expresses, each member fulfills this call, according to his own state of life, by:

    • an intense life of union with God through the search for unceasing prayer at the school of the East and the faithful practice of prayer at the school of Carmel
    • a regular sacramental life
    • the celebration of the liturgy, which unites us to the praise of Heaven
    • the practice of fervent praise and the exercise of charisms
    • consecration to the Virgin Mary
    • a share in the prayer of the People of Israel and intercession to hasten the fulfillment of the Lord’s purposes for them and for the nations
    • ardent intercession so that all Christians might come into full unity
    “The goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.”

    Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833), one of the Community’s patron saints

    MARANATHA! THE ESCHATOLOGICAL HOPE

    The Church confesses the mystery of faith at every eucharistic celebration: “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again!”

    The Community, with the whole Church, awaits the coming of Jesus in glory, the day when all of humanity and all of creation will be united in the love of Jesus Christ.

    Seized by this eschatological longing and striving toward the perfection of the world to come, the Community “groans and sighs” (Rom 8:22) with the whole of creation in incessant and vigilant prayer: “Maranatha – come Lord Jesus!” 

    Through its way of life, the Community proclaims implicitly and explicitly the reality of the Kingdom and the imminence of its advent. (see Book of Life, n° 5)

    In this time of awaiting, she has at heart to watch in prayer, bearing in particular five points of intercession:

    The Community proclaims by its life, in an implicit and explicit announcement, the reality of the Kingdom and the imminence of its advent. (cf.  Book of Life,  n° 5)

    Seized by this eschatological urgency and straining towards the perfection of the world to come, the Community “groans and sighs” (Rom 8:22) with the whole of creation in an incessant and vigilant prayer: “Maranatha – come, Lord Jesus! »

    LIFE OF UNION WITH GOD

    We consider prayer in all its forms, which are innumerable, as the means par excellence of acquiring the oil of the Spirit in the trade of friendship with the Father. Our spirituality is marked by the new and the old, a renewal of tradition by the breath of the Holy Spirit.

    Our friendship with God is nourished by  continual prayer at the school of the Christian East  (the prayer of the heart) and the faithful practice of  prayer at the school of Carmel

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    THE LIFE OF PRAYER

    “The Community recognizes the life of prayer as its principal grace.” (Book of Life, 60)

    Prayer occupies an essential place in our lives. We believe that the contemplative life allows us to enter into the beatitude of those who see God and gradually become more and more like Him, thus fulfilling the words of Saint John:  “When Jesus is manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is”  (1 Jn 3:2).

    It is this heart to heart with God from which all fruitfulness flows. Indeed, this contemplative life opens us up to personally and as a community to be available to the action of the Holy Spirit. It is a matter of surrendering to the Spirit, more and more, personally and communally, and thus becoming co-workers with the Holy Spirit.

    Contemplation is nothing but a secret, peaceful and loving inflow of God, so that when you give it space, it ignites man in the spirit of love.  -St. John of the Cross

    ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

    Each day, we each take a time of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, Sun of Love. Persevering in this silent prayer, we seek the abandonment of our works to enter into the gaze of Him who IS.

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    LECTIO DIVINA

    The words of Sacred Scripture are our delight. Through Lectio Divina, a contemplative and prayerful reading of the Word of God, we learn to perseverely scrutinize the Scriptures and keep them in our hearts in order to be conformed to the wisdom of God whose weakness confounds the those who are strong. Like the Virgin Mary, Daughter of Israel, we seek to keep these words in our hearts day and night and, following the Chosen People, we draw from the tradition of the Fathers, the treasures that Word.

    Our friendship with God is nourished by continual prayer at the school of the Christian East (the prayer of the heart) and the faithful practice of prayer at the school of Carmel.

    SACRAMENTS AND LITURGY

    Sacramental Life

    The Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation strengthen our daily journey of holiness and accompany us in our life of faith, hope and charity. The seven sacraments are the privileged channels of divine grace in our lives.

    The celebration of the liturgy unites us to the praise of Heaven

    Challenged by the testimony of the first Christians who  “showed themselves diligent in the teaching of the apostles, faithful to fraternal communion, to the breaking of bread and to prayers”  (Acts 2:42), the Community gives particular importance to the liturgy. “The liturgy as the irruption of the sacred in time and space will allow us to participate in the eternity and infinity of God, and will thereby anticipate the coming of the Kingdom”  (Book of Life, 51).

    “When celebrating Sacraments and Liturgy on earth we participate, by way of a forestaste, in the celestial Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we, as travelers, are striving.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 8).

    THE LITTLE TRIDUUM

    Each week we celebrate the Little Triduum, the memory of the three holy days, which culminates in the celebration of the Resurrection on Sunday.

     

    THURSDAY NIGHT

    We meditate on the institution of the Eucharist in the light of Christ’s infinite love. We keep watch with Him in Gethsemane, praying an office of intercession followed by a Holy Hour or the night of adoration.

    FRIDAY

    We fix our gaze on the Cross, contemplating his Passion with fasting and prayer.

    On Friday evening, we gather around the table to welcome the peace and blessing of the Sabbath through a liturgy at table, borrowing elements from the Jewish Tradition and Hebrew songs. In communion with our Jewish brothers, we remember the work of Creation. We give thanks and contemplate the work of redemption accomplished by Jesus, Messiah of Israel.

    SATURDAY

    On the seventh day of the week, we associate ourselves with the Virgin Mary who did not lose hope, even in this hour of darkness. With her, we await the hour when Christ will reveal his victory over the power of evil.

    SUNDAY (Day of the Resurrection)

    We carry out the week, in our community prayer and in our personal meditation, as an ascent towards Sunday, the day of the Lord’s Resurrection. Beginning Saturday evening, we enter into this mystery through the celebration of Vespers of the Resurrection, and the dances of Israel, thus expressing our joy and our thanksgiving.

    We give special attention to our Sunday liturgies and to highlight this feast day which in a way anticipates the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Sunday is par excellence the day that brings us together for common prayer and fraternal life , following the example of the first Christians. As St. Paul says: “Because there is only one bread, together we are but one body, for all of us share in this one bread” (1 Cor ?. It is therefore in the grace of the Resurrection of Christ that our community life is constantly renewed.

    PRAISE AND CHARISMS

    Already through baptism, Christ has made each of us a new creation, a being who is made to praise to the glory of the Father .

    This is why, inspired by the faith received from the Church, in communion with the members of the Body of Christ in Heaven and on earth, we find our joy in praising our God for Who He is and in giving thanks for all He does.

     

    By our hymns and songs of joy, we want to sanctify the Name of God. We desire to enter into this celestial praise and anticipate the Kingdom by becoming authentic witnesses of Christ through beauty, joy and fervor.

    Our liturgies are open to charismatic expression through spontaneous prayer, singing in tongues and free praise. Listening to the Holy Spirit, we discern the practice of charisms with a view to the good and the edification of all, to confound the strong by the wisdom of God.

    "Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to building her up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world. Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by their receiver as well as all members of the Church. They are a wonderfully rich grace for apostolic vitality and the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms."

    CCC 799-800

    THE MYSTERY
    OF ISRAEL

    St. Paul speaks to us of the Mystery of Israel as connatural to the mystery of the Church: the Church is in a way grafted on the root of Israel, which is the Frankish olive tree (Rm 11:25).

    Contemplative prayer helps us hare the sentiments of God for his People, and we thus receive from him that love which always burns in him for his first-born chosen son, always “cherished for the sake of his fathers” (Rm 11:28).

    “We will marvel at the splendor of God’s plan for Israel . Our contemplation will bring us to the doors of this mystery which transcends our intelligence. Like poor people and beggars, we will try to listen  “to what the Spirit says to the Churches,” knowing that only a revelation communicated to the heart by the Spirit can make us fathom the mystery of Israel, which St. Paul does not want the Church to ignore

    Each of us will therefore have at heart to love Israel, as God loves him and because God loves him, He who revokes neither his gifts nor of his call; He who “surrounds it, elevates it and guards it like the apple of his eye” (Book of Life, 89-90).

    Intercession for the Jewish People therefore finds an important and privileged place in our prayer for the fulfillment of God’s plan for his people Israel.

    The Community, seized by the eschatological tension arising within it by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, aspires to the common Passover with Israel, and to the glorious manifestation of the Lamb, who will establish us in the definitive Sabbath which is the Coming Kingdom.

    Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

    Unité des Chrétiens

    Intercéder pour l’unité des chrétiens, c’est d’abord s’unir à l’intercession même de Jésus, l’unique Médiateur. C’est laisser l’Esprit Saint prier en nous, ” car nous ne savons pas prier comme il faut.” (Rm 8,26).

    Notre intercession ardente pour que tous les chrétiens parviennent à la pleine unité s’enracine dans les paroles du Christ avant sa passion : ” Et moi, je leur ai donné la gloire que tu m’as donnée, pour qu’ils soient un comme nous sommes un : moi en eux, et toi en moi. Qu’ils deviennent ainsi parfaitement un.” (Jn 17, 22-23).

    Nous prions pour que cesse le scandale de la division dans le Corps même du Christ, en demandant au Père de susciter le dialogue là où il y a de l’insensibilité, d’inspirer les responsables des Eglises et de leurs communautés et de donner à tous l’amour de l’unité.

    A la recherche de cette unité, nos prières et nos célébrations s’inspirent particulièrement de la spiritualité de l’Église orientale et des richesses de sa liturgie. Nous nous engageons à manifester la lumière de l’Orient à travers la splendeur des icônes de nos chapelles et les mélodies d’inspiration byzantine de nos chants.

    Deux poumons, un seul souffle :
    vers une unique communion de foi entre l’Orient et l’Occident.

    LIFE WITH MARY

    “The Community belongs to the Blessed Virgin”: this statement by Marthe Robin encourages us to deepen the mystery of Mary. Mary reveals to us in her person the mystery of humanity already transfigured, and she intercedes for us so that the human heart may finally conceive its hidden vocation as a creature born out of love and for love. She is our model of the creature’s intimate union with the Creator.

    Marian spirituality is not only an aspect of our spirituality, but Our Lady intends to take her place in a very hidden, but very real way, in our hearts and in our Community. She is our model of life and our mother who teaches us to live the Beatitudes. We want to enter into a communal and personal relationship with her and let her be the Guardian and Queen of our Community.

    In the footsteps of St. Louis-Marie Grignon de Monfort, we begin each day with our consecration to the Virgin Mary. Our Marian devotion is also expressed by the daily prayer of the Rosary and other devotions.

    “True devotion to Mary consists in doing everything with Her, in Her, through Her and for Her. »

    Saint Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort