PRAYING IS AN ART

CONTENTS

THE BACKGROUND:

THE UNIVERSAL VOCATION ..............................................

GRACE’ S SYNTHESIS ........................................................

THE GROWING CHRIST .......................................................

PRAYING IS AN ART:

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT ...............................................

TALKING WITH GOD ............................................................

LISTENING TO GOD WHO SPEAKS ......................................

CONTEMPLATION .................................................................

DOING THINGS IN GOD’S SPIRIT .........................................

LIVING IN GOD ...................................................................

THE SACRAMENTS ..........................................................

PRAY WITH THE BIBLE ....................................................

THE ROSARY ....................................................................

OUR LADY MARY................................................................

SAINTS AND ANGELS .......................................................

SACRED IMAGES .................................................. .........

USE THE SIGNS .................................................................

NEW SIGNS ........................................................................

TO PRAY WITH NUMBERS ...............................................

PRAY WITH YOUR HANDS ................................................

THE PHYSICAL CONTACT ................................................

TRUSTING ABANDNOMENT...............................................

WHERE TO PRAY .............................................................

WHEN TO PRAY .................................................................

WITH WHOM TO PRAY .....................................................

CONCLUSION ....................................................................

THE UNIVERSAL VOCATION

God Holy Trinity

LOVE

Will of union : Will of good

H o l y S p i r i t

H o l y S p i r i t

EXPLANATION

* God is Love. The Holy Trinity is a communion of love.

* The unique and universal vocation for all human

beings is Love, that is “union with God”

* God calls, God wants to unite in His Spirit all the souls. As a magnet, like a magnet, God attracts all the

souls and attracting them, God makes them holy, polarizes them, makes them consistent, similar,

homogeneous with His good nature: good, pure and holy.

* To realize this union, Grace (the divine Person called

Holy Spirit) enters the souls and moves them in search of God, to come into knowledge of God, union

with God

* Some people are called directly, explicitly, clearly, by means of signs, visions, words, meetings, friendships

and knowledge.

* These people, if they accept, they become holy in life, that is : conscious, aware, involved in Providence

action of sanctifying, homogenizing, unifying the souls.

GRACE ’ S SYNTESIS

Creatures and Grace

CREATURES AND GRACE

***************************************

Cosmic omnipresence (Acts 17.28-Wisdom 1.7- Job 34.14)

* MATERIAL

All particles and waves of energy that exist in the universe are

permeated by the Holy Spirit. Your body is filled, crossed,

inhabited by the Holy Spirit. Like the fishes in the sea. Like the birds in the air.

* NECESSARY

If the Holy Spirit would withdraw out of the cosmos, universe

would collapse, there would be cataclysms and disasters of

time and space. For this reason the Holy Spirit never leaves us alone.

*********************************

Spiritual Communion (John 14.23 - Revelation 3:20)

* SPIRITUAL

These are all the souls pervaded and immersed in Grace. It's a personal interaction between Persons and person. As between

the spouses. As between brothers. As among friends. As

between father and children.

* POSSIBLE

Souls can be united with God or separated from God

EXPLANATION

Who are the saints? Saints are all the souls that are in communion with God, all the souls who have the

living presence of the Holy Spirit in them, all the souls that belong to the mystical body of Jesus Christ. Even the souls in Purgatory (or Purificatory as someone

say) are holy, because there is the presence of the Holy Spirit in them, that is: of Grace, Who purifies,

makes them homogeneous to God nature and ready to live for eternity in Paradise. In the communion of

saints we feel the greatest living communion and the maximum freedom. The diagram above explains the

relationship between divine Grace and us.

The diagram above is a summary of the most simple and true relationships that exist between the Holy

Trinity (God) and the living beings. In particular, between God and human beings. In fact, the whole

Creation (cosmos, universe, bodies, material of any type) is "inside", "dipped" and "filled" by GRACE, that

is, by the SPIRIT OF GOD. But not necessarily all souls are equally "inside", "embedded" and

"permeated" by GRACE. Indeed , the souls transcend material, souls are not made of atoms and particles,

but of a spiritual substance that transcends the cosmos, although each soul has his own immanent

human body. Indeed, in reality, there are souls who are not in God’s Grace (souls in a state of mortal sin

on this planet or the souls in hell after death).

By analogy it is like to be inside or outside an

immense lively sphere. Who lives in, shares all the properties and characteristics of God (love, joy, peace,

communion, freedom, life ...). Those who live out, do not live these characteristics of the holy TRINITY , but

its opposites, which are de facto deprivation of these goods. To "enter" the Spirit of God and stay there,

JESUS Christ, who is the SON of GOD, has chosen and established some ways, means, which are and will

always remain the same, until the end of the world. These ways (which can also be defined as criteria of

judgment of souls, or the criteria of homogeneity to divine nature), are four:

* FAITH (in short, the knowledge and therefore the

relationship, with God, especially prayer).

* The SACRAMENTS (baptism, communion, confession, confirmation, marriage, order, anointing of

sick).

* WORKS (all the good actions that men do down here).

* CHARITY (the love of God, the love for God, the love for humanity).

The saints have grown and deepened, and had all

these four things, aspects, elements in abundance: so much faith, frequently receive the sacraments, so

many good works, so much love.

Let us imitate them.

THE GROWING CHRIST

In 1997, during Lent, while I was praying and fasting

I had a vision from God

I saw a little blue dressed Jesus

coming into the humankind and human history.

Around this blue dressed Jesus

there was a continuous birth of new lights.

Little stars did born out of nothing, continuously.

Most of these lights-stars became part of Jesus himself

and He grew more and more through years and centuries.

Some others little stars deny to become part of

Jesus mystic body

and disappeared in the darkness.

I felt a strong will in Jesus

that ordered and directed human mankind and history.

This strong will was irreversible, resolute and constant.

What I learnt from that vision?

I understood that there is a master plan in history.

God is making more and more actual and real

the Kingdom of Heaven on this Earth.

Year after year, century after century:

unity, peace, brotherhood, friendship among people

are growing by the action of Holy Providence

and Holy Spirit.

Men can only delay the actualization of this plan,

but they cannot stop it.

I understood that not all the people go to Heaven.

Those who stubbornly and continuously

refused to belong to God for all their lifetime

they will disappear in the darkness.

Hell is not empty.

I understood that men are free.

God creates all the human souls

with their own freedom.

They all can choose: yes or not.

I understood that the mystic body of

Jesus Christ the Lord is a real thing.

All the souls who are in Grace,

belong to the mystic body of Christ.

So the question of God is very easy: in or out.

In Grace or out of Grace.

Grace is a name for the Holy Spirit,

for God Himself.

Faith, sacraments, good deed, charity.

These are the four necessary things to be in Grace.

To have faith in Jesus.

To receive the holy sacraments.

To do good things to the others.

To love God and to love humankind.

Those who lack all these things they are out of Grace

and they won't go to Heaven.

Those who have all these things, like the saints,

they are great in Heaven.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

The first of the 10 commandments says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. " Actually it says to

pray. The 10 commandments (which actually can be summarized in 8, being two almost identical pairs) are also called the Decalogue. Decalogos means: ten

words. In fact, the original Moses commandments are much shorter than ours and were written on a stone

tablet : they appear really like ten words.

Why God has spoken to us? Why God speaks to us?

As shown in the initial scheme of universal vocation, God speaks to unite us to Himself. By His Word, by

his words, God begins and continues since millions of years a relationship with some men, and by means of them with whole humanity , in order to unify all these

billions of souls to Himself.

The saint priest of Ars, France, Saint John Mary

Vianney, said: "LE MOT A’ LA MISSION D’UNIR LES AMES", which means: " The word has the mission of uniting souls. "

When a man speaks to God, we say that he "prays"

There are many ways to pray. Some forms are spread around the world. And so every day, for example, the

same prayer "Our Father" rises to Heaven by millions of voices repeating the same words in Italian, French,

English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean ...

And this applies to many other forms of prayer

universally and widely known in the Church of Jesus.

So we have a number of ways of praying which are

popularly practiced. And then we have another set of ways of praying which are new and that not everyone knows.

Let 's see these various forms ...

TALKING WITH GOD

When we speak with God we can do this in different

ways:

TALKING WITH GOD USING OUR WORDS

Many prayers going up to Heaven every day are similar in substance, but extremely varied in shape.

Requests of help, thanksgivings, words of love, thoughts of admiration, feelings of love…All the

degrees of human feelings and thoughts that humanity has expressed over millions of years have

come to God with our words. Using all the different languages of the world, with different words we spoke

and still speak with God, using words that our people has taught us, in a way more related to our character

and personality.

We've got everything: short prayers, long prayers,

words educated, popular words ...

The whole range of humanity is also expressed in

prayer, which is, in summary: "Elevation of the soul to God."

God, who is our Father, has billions of children. Each

of these children is different, although there are, among the multitude, homogeneous groups for

character and personality. The fact is that every child, every son, speaks to the Father in a way that is

own.

In the Gospel Jesus says that the Father look for such people to be adored by, “the free children of God”,

who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Jesus himself, that is God-man spoke and sometimes still talks with

us, using human words. And all those who have spoken to Him, they used their own words and their own personal way of speaking.

Certainly a Saint Bernadette, little shepherdess of sheep, did not speak to Jesus with the same words

and in the same way used by a St. Thomas Aquinas, a professor of philosophy and theology at the

University...

But both had one thing in common, like all the saints: by speaking, they expressed themselves, their souls,

and their spirit was a good spirit, a spirit of love.

TALKING WITH GOD USING SACRED WORDS

Sometimes it is easier, simpler, more useful, to pray using sacred words, instead of using our words.

What are the sacred words? Essentially they are the

two prayers most known and used by the Christian: the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Why are sacred words?

The Our Father is holy because it comes directly from

God. Was God Himself, through His Son, Jesus, to tell us to pray using these words:

Our Father who are in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

The comments and explanations on the Our Father

would occupy several pages, but the best and most important thing is to use, repeat, pray with these

words. By practice and personal experience you will get a clear idea of what I can write myself.

And the Hail Mary? The Ave Maria consists of two

parts, of which one also comes directly from God, as those words were spoken by an Archangel, St. Gabriel:

HAIL MARY

FULL OF GRACE

THE LORD IS WITH YOU

Then there are the words of St. Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, who is a saint, then a person worthy of

confidence and esteem:

BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG ALL WOMEN AND

BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB JESUS

Finally, we find this prayer that has been added over the centuries, which is very useful and good for us:

HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD

PRAY FOR US SINNERS

NOW AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH

AMEN

We must also think that the HAIL MARY has been

recommended as a prayer by Our Lady herself during the various apparitions: Lourdes, Fatima ...

Finally, there is another factor of sanctity and holiness in these words: the use since thousands of years. For thousands of years, millions of good souls,

and really Saints people, they used these words and by using it their grace and their blessing has been

someway linked to these two cardinal prayers.

There are also other prayers very common and used

(the Gloria, the Angel of God ...), but it is sure that the Pater and Ave are the ones that you have to take to heart and use.

TALK TO GOD WITH SOUL

All the prayers that I say to God, I can express them by using the voice (air vibrations modulated by the

vocal chords ...) or by using the spirit.

Since you and I, and every human being, we are a soul in a body, soul can speak; and does this with a

light and an intensity that can glare the entire cosmos, since the soul is transcendent and immanent,

that is, soul is much more than material universe and yet is present in the material universe.

When it is said commonly “thought”, “thinking” ...

actually usually it's soul’ s activity, not brain.

The consciousness, for example, what is it ?

This is not a place inside your head ... Consciousness is a period of time. The consciousness exactly is the

time during which the soul discerns the good and the bad and decide what to do, where to go, where to side. Thanking God, most often it is to choose between

good and better, at least for many of us.

Let you know therefore that God hears, feels, sees

everything, even the words and intentions, however short, you express with your soul.

LISTENING TO GOD WHO SPEAKS

It is not impossible. It is possible that in your life

would happen to you sooner or later to hear the voice of God . In history it happened billions of times. God

the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, Grace ( the divine person called Holy Spirit), over the centuries have

spoken to millions of people.

With someone there was a real dialogue, which continued, at times over the years and also after the

earthly existence.

Abraham is the first man of whom we have historical

witnesses, who has heard God’s talk. For this reason Abraham is also called the father of faith, as Galileo is the father of science.

Moses is another man, with whom God really spoke

to, and spoke to him several times.

Elijah, Isaiah .... All the prophets have heard the

words of God

Like the saints. Maybe someone heard God’s voice only once and it was enough to go and do. Others

have heard over and over again.

Some saints call these words “interior locutions”. Saint Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, major

of mysticism, they call them “apprehensions”.

Do not be surprised by this fact. Every time that Jesus talked and talks to a person, as he did with

the people of his time, was and is God who speaks.

Just as every time that Grace spoke to the apostles or spoke to the saints and still speaks to any soul, it is

God speaking.

How then recognize whether is God really talking to you? And not your unconscious, or other factors ....

Well .... Discerning true God’s words depends on experience, years of personal experience and

judgment based on certain criteria such as: the words must be homogeneous with the Gospel, homogeneous

with the divine Being, having the same direction, the same essential content of Jesus’ words; the person

saying he listened God’s words must be righteous,

moral, virtuous, good; the words must produce good

fruits, effects, consequences...

What is certain is that whenever God really has

spoken to someone, something has changed and there have been some evident good fruits.

CONTEMPLATION

The word “contemplation” comes from Latin word, and

basically means two things: to see the things God sees and to see things as God sees them (the same

perspective of God).

It's a gift of the Holy Spirit presence inside us, Grace inside us, that sparks, generates in our soul or mind,

suddenly or then continuously (e.g. by dreams...), words, images, feelings... that we, as humans (living

in this material space time), we couldn’t have. To understand this, let's make an example: God can

show you the galaxies rotate, which you can’t absolutely see by yourself, because the galaxies are

far beyond our human senses.

Likewise, God can show us the life of other souls, other places ... God for example can show you the life

of the saints in Heaven.

Finally, God may show you Himself.

In this way we can see, we can hear, reality in the

same way God sees it.

This is very useful and important, because God sees

the truth of all things and by the knowledge of the truth, as Jesus says in the Gospel, we become free.

To contemplate means to observe something for a long

time. In case of prayer, contemplation is given when the man is so close and intimate with God to see,

with the eyes of his own soul, God’s mysteries, His works, His goodness and His wonderful beauty.

Contemplation is seeing, hearing creatures, life,

universe, people, like God Himself sees, hears them .

DOING THINGS IN GOD’ S SPIRIT

This is the dynamic and active prayer. It's all that the man does and that corresponds to God’s will. A

saint used to say that Our Lady, Mary, the mother of Jesus, had told him one day: "La caridad es la

oracion maxima " (CHARITY IS THE HIGHEST PRAYER) and " The works of mercy is the form of

prayer that I prefer "

In Exodus chapter 31 it is written: "The Lord said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri and

grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I filled him with my Spirit to make him clever and intelligent,

capable in every kind of work, so that he can do projects and execute them. "

Doing things in God’s Spirit is not only doing sacred

things (like priests do).

It is not an accident that the greatest scientist in

history was a man who went to church regularly, it is not a coincidence that the man who discovered the heliocentric system was a catholic consecrated man, it

is not a case that the greatest navigator was a devout Catholic and convinced of having to bring the Gospel

to new peoples, it is not a case that the father of genetics was a monk and a priest ... Galileo,

Copernicus, Columbus, Mendel ... are all Christians, people enlightened by Grace and therefore the greatest

souls, the fathers of their field. Such as J. R. Tolkien, the master of fantasy, was a man who wrote to his

sons: “ Dear sons, the only cure for sagging of fainting faith is Communion. The Blessed Sacrament does not

operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by

exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at

intervals. Also, I can recommend this as an exercise: make your communion in circumstances that affront

your taste. Go to Communion with them (and pray for them). It will be just the same (or better than that) as

a mass said beautifully by a visibly holy man, and shared by a few devout and decorous people. It could not be worse than the mess of the feeding of the Five

Thousand — after which Our Lord propounded the feeding that was to come”

Such as Antonio Gaudì, the greatest architect of 20°

century, who is to be proclaimed saint by the Church.

And this gift of wisdom or practical intelligence is also

for all types of work: electricians, mechanics, carpenters, engineers, farmers (as we learn from Saint Isidore the farmer) ...

In summary: if there is the presence of the Holy Spirit in him, man works better.

LIVING IN GOD

In Heaven life goes like this: we live immersed in Grace and divine Providence that inhabits in all souls and angels and renews light, joy and of all good for

eternity. Who is in Grace, enlightened by Jesus, and is guided by Providence, can live this way also in this

world. (Matthew 18,4)

THE SACRAMENTS

The sacraments are not strictly a form of prayer.

The sacraments, despite being made of humble and

simple things (water, bread, wine, oil, human words), are a great mystery. Only on the Eucharist, the saints

have said and written pages and pages ...

We remember them here because, like prayer is a

mean of elevate the soul to God (as says Saint John of Damascus), so the sacraments are the most effective

means to pour in our souls and bodies God’s Grace. The sacraments were created and established by

Jesus Himself, that is by God Himself.

And Jesus is our Savior, our good Shepherd, Who loves us much more than everyone else, always,

despite our deserving it or not. Because God made us, created us: we are all His creatures, His sons. And a

Father always loves his children, despite their deserving it.

Actually, to say that the soul is elevated to God is not

exactly right.

As God is everywhere (see above the Synthesis of

Grace) rather than rise, elevate, we should say “prayer opens the soul to God , who is all around you and renews the spiritual communion, friendship,

interaction between man and God”. Says the Book of Revelation: "I stand at the door and knock. If someone

opens the door to me, I and the Father will enter and dine with him. "

By receiving the sacraments, the man does this act of humility, faith, love in these poor things that are visible signs (bread, water, oil, human words) and in

change receives by the never-ending merits of Jesus Christ the Savior, graces upon graces.

In two words: the sacraments unite us to God.

PRAYING WITH THE BIBLE

I have more than five Bibles. Some are so read, over read, underlined and annotated that are now

unglued. For years I fed on Sacred Scripture. Sometimes winning my will and my desire to not to

do it. I write this to let you know that I love the Bible and when I speak, I speak from experience and love.

So: praying with the Bible can be summarized in

this: *** read and meditate ***communitarian lectio ***highlighting.

The Gospel is a door. It is not just a book. Jesus is

much more than words. The Gospel is a door that opens to the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is not by accident that many of the greatest saints (Francis, Antonio, Augustine ...) were born by reading or listening the Gospel.

* Read the Gospel. Read it. Read it again. Meditate ... and you'll understand.

And if you do not like to read: listen. There are now

widespread audio files of the Gospel. So even when you are driving your car, or at home with your

computer or stereo on, you can listen to Jesus' words

* The communitarian lectio means to read the Bible

together with your brothers and sisters. I made it several times and it is a great good thing. Really

worth it. The method: you find it below:

Lectio divina is intended to:

* Learn more about the Bible

* Learn more about the One who wrote the Bible

together with men

* Learn more about Jesus Christ who is the subject, the main theme of the Bible

* Having experience of the living God speaking to us in the silence of our soul

* Having experience of community, of sharing, of

Church

* Having experience of prayer

* Become a community of brothers and sisters .....

This happens because of what says St. Paul of Tarsus

to Timothy: "Stay firm in what you have learned and you are convinced, knowing from whom you have learned and that from childhood you know the

Scriptures: they can instruct you for salvation, which is obtained through faith in Christ Jesus. All

Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, correcting and training in

righteousness, that the man of God may be carefully

equipped for every good work. "

Stages of lectio-collatio (if it is done together with

other People: in fact you can do it yourself with God in any other way)

***1-site preparation (if applicable): a quiet place, with

few signs that recall the presence of Christ (an icon, an open Bible, lights, sacred music relaxing

background ...)

***2-initial sign of the cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, song (or invocation) to the Holy Spirit (Veni Creator

Spiritus, Come Spirit of Love, Spirit of God heal me ...)

***3-LECTIO = proclamation of the biblical text (one person reads for all a passage from the Bible: you can

use whatever bible text you choose, for instance the next Sunday gospel, or a whole book of the Bibles

(Wisdom, Genesis, Act of apostles…) of which you will read chapter after chapter, piece after piece, meeting

after meeting, a book of your choice

***4-MEDITATIO = each person , in silence, on his own meditate on the text and Asks himself: What it

says to me this text ? Which character of the text I could be ? What is the main idea that involves me ?

Which verse touches me personally ? What teaching will I get ? What feelings aroused in me ? …

***5-COLLATIO = gathering of reflections, sharing

freely, not forced. It 'good that everyone is concise, clear, simple, basic, humble. Is not the time to judge,

is the time to listen with respect. It's the time when everyone freely and humbly shares. The idea is that,

listening the thoughts of others, one is built, that we grow in knowledge, in faith, hope, charity,

communion.

***6-ORATIO = prayer. Everybody freely pray to God with his words: thanks, praise, requests, call ... Here

is good that everyone would pray with simplicity, without multiplying words unnecessary (Gospel of

Saint Matthew chapter 6). If the community thinks it necessary, you can make an actual proposal about

the common life of the community itself or its activities.

***7-conclusion: song of praise (Praise God or a freely

chosen song by the community)

Concluding Prayer (Our Father, or other prayer of the community).

Sign of the cross

TIME: Approximately one hour. It have to be clearly defined at the beginning of the meeting how long it

will be the time left to meditation, and sharing so that everybody knows how much time they have to do it.

You begin at NN hour and you finish at NN hour.

PARTICIPANTS: they don’t have to be too many to give

everyone a chance to share. If you can it is better that the text has been read and meditated home privately,

before the meeting, so to make the sharing slenderer

and more interesting.

HIGHLIGHTING THE WORD OF GOD

Over 20 years ago, I asked God to teach me a way to

pray that was not boring. A way that was swift, interesting, fascinating.

God heard my prayer. It took years of small events,

reflections, illuminations to reach a clear and simple summary.

One of these ways of praying is to highlight the word.

Let me explain ...

If I keep exposed in my house for a time long enough a phrase from the Bible, well, that sentence would

become real. Maybe not in the literal way, but it will happen.

I started observing this when I saw that in the time in

which the Church, or a Christian community, meditated so a particular page of Scripture, something

happened inherent to it. It's a bit like Jesus said, "Neither a comma nor a iota passed away until all

Scripture is fulfilled. " Examples: the day on which the whole Church in the breviary pray saying: "Prepare

for rain clouds" , often it happens that the sky clouds

over and prepares the rain. In the day when the Church prayed by meditating the chapter 12 of

Ezekiel, which tell us that Ezekiel made a hole in the wall, in the evening, at the presence of the inhabitants

of the land, it did happen that I found myself having to make holes in the wall with the drill, to set a

protective metal surface, for a pipe of the stove, in the presence of the inhabitants of my small village. And

only in the evening, reading the breviary, I realized that I had just done what was written and the

Church had meditated a few hours before, or just during those hours. Facts like this, they happened

many times (I call them P words, that is “prophecy words” “providence words” “previewed words”

“predicted words”). I realized that in the Word of God there is a prophetic power, which is an ability to make things come true. For this reason, and for other

reasons, if one person highlight for a long time with faith a Bible text, sooner or later God will make you

live it.

So, how do you highlight Scripture?

Easily:

emphasize a sentence (by underlining it, highlighting

it) and leave the Bible open in one place where you live in (room, study, dining ...).

THE ROSARY

What about the rosary? The saints have already talked so much about the rosary that ...

I only know that if we pray saying the Hail Mary, we

please the mother of Jesus and she will be happy and will help us.

Praying is a bit like making a stairway, that goes up to

Heaven and climb it. Praying the Hail Mary (I usually say this prayer in silence, with my soul, sometimes

slowly, sometimes quickly, while also sometime I pray it loudly with other people) is like climbing a ladder

with azure staircases. It's a kind of stairway that we know God the Father too likes...

OUR LADY MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS

By the words “freedom of interaction” I mean the freedom enjoyed by saints in heaven to interact with creation and the creatures. Such freedom is

expressed in the countless graces and gifts and help of all kind, given to us from heaven to help us, to heal

us, to protect us.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, own the highest, the

greatest freedom of interaction, among human creatures, because she is a very special person whose merits are great, because she was the mother of

Jesus, the Son of God. She is now the only daughter

of God who is already in heaven with her soul and her

body. This freedom to interact with creation and creatures is unlimited to God the Father, Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit, being these three Persons , one God to whom nothing is impossible.

Such freedom of interaction is given to saints and can

be deduced from The Bible and from history.

Examining the Bible, we read that some of the great

saints of the old covenant, after their death, are already present and operating in the nation of Israel

(and beyond) for the sake of people who have faith in God (see about: Onias and Jeremiah in 2 Maccabees chapter 15 to 16; and in the Gospel the episode of the

Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah talk friendly with Jesus).

By studying the Bible we see that Jesus and the apostles deal with the angels and saints and demons, but never, not even once with the damned souls. This

means that the souls of the damned people, eternally in hell, are slaves and do not enjoy any freedom to

interact with creation and creatures. You can understand this also reading the parable of Lazarus

and the nameless rich. The rich in fact, who had gone to hell, asks Lazarus and Abraham to tell his

brothers, who are still living on the Earth, to save them from punishment without end, sign and proof

that he can’t get out of the condition, situation, that the Christian tradition has called hell. And the

demons themselves are subject to an eternal slavery,

fixed and determined by God, and they in fact fear Jesus because He has the power to cast them into the

abyss forever. Again: Revelation Chapter 12 speaks about the devil thrown out, and the Church on the

day of Pentecost speaks of the devil thrown away from the whole cosmos by the action of the Holy Spirit. And

that's what we ask with the prayer "Come Creator Spiritus" when we say "hostes repellas longius"

meaning "expel away the enemies as far as possible" so they can not harm in any way. Moreover, even the

second letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, chapter 3 declares and confirms, if it is needed, the absolute

subjection of demons to the power and will of God and therefore to all those who share his power, his

bliss, his freedom. It is also evident that freedom, a great gift recognized by all and regarded as one of the

first thing (a highest good for some people who come to give their lives for it) is granted to a large extent to

the friends of God and denied to God’s enemies.

Tradition then, and especially the history of the Church and the lives of the saints, show us with

plenty of confirmations what is the freedom granted to those who in this life have loved God and neighbor,

accumulating merits with the prayer, good works, the practice of the sacraments, and all other good things

that the new "torah" (torah means teaching, directive of life and salvation) which is the Gospel, has given

us.

Looking specifically to Our Lady of Lourdes, Fatima,

Guadalupe .... you understand that she enjoys a freedom of interact with human lives and created

things which is not own even by the greatest saints.

And all this happens because God’s Spirit and power dwells in the saints of Heaven, and they belong to

Jesus. Jesus himself in the gospel promised his apostles that they would sit close to him in his

kingdom judging (and therefore "ruling" in participation in the divine Providence, which is the

real government of God over creation and humans) the twelve tribes of Israel, prefiguring thus their future

freedom to interact with the history of mankind.

Speaking at a human level, it is as if the head of a great farm expanding, granted to its employees, which

have proved faithful and capable, in the first place his friendship, that puts them in a different and better

relationship, and secondly the confidence and the freedom to make their own decisions and activities,

because he had the certainty that they will always be good and do good things.

In two words freedom of interaction expresses the

concept that lies underneath the words spoken by the risen Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowalska (the one of the

Divine Mercy). So Jesus told Sister Faustina, prophesizing her Heaven and glory: "Do what you

want. Distribute graces as you will, to who you will, and when you will."

The most important passages of the Bible in this

regard are: Wisdom 3.1 to 9, Matthew 19.28, 1 Corinthians 6.2.

Believing, knowing, holding these things has several positive aspects. Among them a great benefit for the man who knows he can rely on a multitude of

brothers and sisters who see, know and can do much more than we can, and therefore are able to help us,

support us, comfort us, recreate us, protect us, save us, heal us ... Among them a strong motivation to be

more fervent disciples of Christ, good Christians and better witnesses of faith (which is not faultless: fidelity

is not impeccability) down here to be freer there.

All this to say that is worth praying to the Virgin Mary.

SAINTS AND ANGELS

As I wrote in THE CHRISTIANS PYRAMID (which you can easily find with GOOGLE, looking just for THE

CHRISTIANS PYRAMID LAMBERTI MICHELE), the saints and angels are our brothers and sisters. They

see us, they listen to us, when and if they want to. They can talk to each of us, and above all, as St.

Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, they love us, they care for us, they want us too to go in Heaven with them.

It is very useful to know them and to know their lives

("God knows the lives of good people" says Psalm 37,18) and talk to them. As we talk, we listen, we

contemplate, we live in God’s Holy Spirit, even so it is

possible to speak, hear, see, and live in the spirituality of a saint. Like a leaf carried by a river, like a plume

blown by the wind. Here things are much simpler to understand. The saints are men and women, like us,

our brothers and sisters and therefore this is enough to make us understand how it can be our relationship

with them.

SACRED IMAGES

Wherever there is a picture of a saint, there, is

present in mysterious way the saint depicted. Mysterious means real, though mysterious, invisible and normally imperceptible. Remember that people

like St. John of Damascus made the worship of images a fundamental reference for prayer and

catechesis, as well as the frescoes in the churches were called the Bible of the poor ....

Let there be in your house at least a crucifix (wood,

iron, plastic ... but hold a crucifix in your home) and an image of Mary and at least a saint.

About the crucifix you must know that it has a value and a unique spiritual power, being the death on the

cross of Jesus Christ, the largest and most powerful exorcism of human history.

Over thousands of years a multitude of Christians and

saints has prayed before the sacred images. They were and are square paintings, carved statues,

photographs... It is typical of human nature to

watch and observe things around. And the things that we look forward to arouse in us feelings and thoughts.

One of the most straight and immediate way to remember and think about Heaven, is to see an image about Heaven. If I see a picture of Jesus is certain

that I will think and feel for a while about Jesus. In two words: holy images stimulate and help to pray.

The people whose image we hold close to us, (as well as those invoked, prayed, called) are actually present

in the place where they are shown. It is clear that their presence is mysterious, it can’t be quantified as

the presence of everything that is material: these words are about people already living in the

immaterial universe of supernatural kingdom of God.

USE THE SIGNS

The signs are all the things that God does in this

created universe. For further information, search, if you will, with the GOOGLE Italian text ALCUNI SEGNI

written by MICHELE LAMBERTI (and I am sorry I always refer to, but no other wrote about this...)

Signs also mean symbols, references, ideas. All things

useful to recall the soul and the thoughts to God and to higher things. For example, do you think maybe

that when St Augustine or St Thomas or St Francis saw a Lamb thought about the sheep? Do you think

that when St Ambrogio, St Antonio, St Chiara saw the

ear of Wheat thought about normal bread? Those people, those souls full of Christ, when they saw

things, animals linked to the Gospel, to Jesus, to the Bible, they thought about God .

Today, for many people it is difficult to see grapes of

wine, ears of wheat, lambs ... We need modern signs, other symbols, other hints that recall God and the

Gospel of Christ. Here is the usefulness and necessity of the new signs.

NEW SIGNS

What are the symbols that we see today more often? Numbers. I am writing to those who have open mind,

like those new wineskins mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel (MARK 2).

ACRONYM SIGNS

In the catacombs, in Christian epigraphs, we have plenty of abbreviations. For the sake of simplicity and

brevity instead of writing such as Jesus Christus, they wrote XH, or XR ...

St. Bernardino of Grosseto is also remembered for an

acronym JHS (Jesus Hominum Salvator).

Here's a little useful abbreviations:

JESUS 'CHRIST: JH, JS, JE, XH, XR, CH ...

MARY: MA, MR, MV, BM, AM(Israèl word for mother) ...

GOD THE FATHER: AB, BB (Abba was Jesus word for

Father)

HOLY SPIRIT: SP, SS, HS ...

And other acronyms that you can choose to use.

Where do we find these and other acronyms?

Guess where?

.... On the plates of the cars, you can see them every day if you live in places where there are cars, or if you drive yourself.

And in many other places that modern life has created. Written references, codes ....

And if I, while I'm driving, and maybe I'm in line

behind a slow moving vehicle, I am "by chance" to observe a license plate that says: CH nnn XR ... what I

can think of, if not about Jesus?

This intention of my soul directed to Jesus, inspired by a plate, read during my ordinary days, it is also

prayer.

Prayer that distracts me from the time situation here

et now and puts me in a dimension of light, of grace, of calm, even in the midst traffic ...

TO PRAY WITH NUMBERS

SUMMARY

In history we find some events which have been attributed to the actions of saint Michael the

archangel. Some of these events are associated with the number 29. Other facts are signed (branded,

marked) with the number symbols of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit…

I believe there are some numbers associated with

certain meanings. I believe that God can still today communicate with us through numbers. Without any

kind of symbolic idolatry and always with wisdom and no fanatism.

INTRODUCTION

In 1989 while I was talking to God, I told Him that I didn't like the traditional way of praying and that

those ordinary ways were boring for me. So I asked God to teach me some new ways of praying which

would be interesting and inspiring for me.

Now, twenty years later I am older and wiser. Now I esteem both the traditional and the new ways of

praying and I use both of them, appropriate to the

situations.

I.E. If I am with other people I pray the rosary, or the

breviary, or make adoration… And also when I am alone I pray like this.

But I can't forget the new ways God taught me.. I still

use and love them.

Since that day in 1989 Providence has done what I prayed for.

Grace showed me how to pray with the Bible too, by

highlighting the passages I wanted to live. I.E. If I wanted to be happy I had to underline some words of

joy and happiness written in the Bible. If I wanted to live something else I had to underline something

else… And this really worked!!!

The Holy Spirit has also taught me how to pray with hands. I put in the WEB a short explanation of this.

Just look "PREGARE CON LE MANI" di "MICHELE LAMBERTI".

Providence has also taught me how to pray with

numbers. This is the matter I will now explain:

TO PRAY WITH NUMBERS

In 1989 I asked God to teach me new and more

interesting ways of praying which were more adapted to me. God answered me. He heard my prayer. Grace

told me how to pray in different ways and She also

told how to pray with numbers.

In the beginning God made me notice some historical

and biblical facts, events and data.

I.E.

* St. Joan of Arc who was very devoted to the archangel Michael completed her mission in 1429 and

conquered Orleans on the 29th of April.

* In the grave of St. Francis of Assisi, who was also very devoted to St. Michael, there were found 29

ancient rosary beads.

* Sts. Catherine of Siena and Faustina of Poland were absolutely Christ-centred and both lived 33 years.

* King David, a biblical prefiguration of the Messiah, ruled Israel for 33 years.

* The word beloved ("DODI" in Hebrew) is written 33

times in the Song of Songs, and the real "DODI" of the Bible is Jesus.

* The State of Israel (whose patron saint is Michael)

was created by the UN on the 29th in 1948, with 33 votes in favour. The same State of Israel lies between

the 29th and the 33rd parallel (I would say: the people of Israel is walking from the Old to the New

Testament-Alliance).

*The word "FATHER" referring to God Father is written

44 times in the gospel of St Matthew

*The word FATHER is written 44 times in the gospel of

St Luke

*The word FATHER is written 44 x 3 (132) times in the gospel of St John

*The chapter 44th of Genesis is about a FATHER

*The chapter 44th of Sirach is about the glorification

of the fathers

*The word SPIRIT (Spiritus in Latin, pneuma in Greek)

is written 88 times in the books of St Luke, the gospel writer of the Holy Spirit, who wrote the gospel of the Holy Spirit (Acts of apostles)

*The Psalm 88 (89) is the only 88th chapter in the Bible and is about the relationship between the Holy

Spirit and men

* etc…

Then I began to link a few numbers with a few precise meaning.

For example: 29 with saint Michael archangel, 33 with

Jesus, 44 with the Father, 88 with the Holy Spirit, 95 with Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Then I began to think of those meaning when I read or heard those numbers during my ordinary life.

I.E. When I read or heard the number 33 I thought

about Jesus, when I heard or read the number 88 I thought about the Holy Spirit…

After some years it became normal, spontaneous, simple and easy for me to think about these celestial beings whenever I came across numeric symbols.

Then the most interesting events happened. God started to put numerical signs in my life!

For example when I talked to people about the Holy

Spirit, the number "88" appeared out of the blue. I.E. After two talks about Holy Spirit in two different

places, in two different times, the number 88 appeared on the bottom of the glass I was drinking

with, or on the ticket I used, or on the paper from where I took my food… Appeared doesn't mean appear

from nothing. The numbers were already there, written on something. But the amazing thing was that I found and read those numbers just in that

place and in that moment, without having any idea of their presence there… And no other number was

there in my life in that day…To my intelligence and reasoning these events, after I checked many of them,

can only be signs from Heaven.

So, after more than 20 years of experience I am sure of these two facts:

*God uses numbers too to communicate with us

*To pray with numbers is possible and useful

HOW TO PRAY WITH NUMBERS

Since the dawn of history, men have decided to use some things as symbols of the deity. In churches

around the world you find many such symbols. In the Bible there are also a lot of these symbols, used by the

prophets. Jesus uses symbols, as well, to explain His Gospel. Of course these ancient symbols relate to their

time and corresponding reality.

Since they are written in the Bible these symbols will last forever because the Bible will last till the end of

time. The Bible is the true Word of God, written by men and mediated by men, but the Bible is

nevertheless God's Word.

I.E.: the sheep, the Shepard, the vineyard, the lamb, the lion, etc

Today numbers (also used as religious symbols in the

Bible) are more often used in our ordinary life than ever before.

Addresses, cell numbers, licence plates, sums of

money, times, references… We deal with numbers much more than our elders did before us. Numbers

are also used in the media as the basis of every digital/binary codification and transmission…

So I wonder if maybe the numbers can be useful for

everybody in their religious life…

I worked once in an office and I had to deal with sums

of money for some years and I know many people deal with numbers every day. So, what if everybody

thought about God while reading or listening some symbolic numbers?

Imagine those millions thinking about God (Jesus, the

Father, Grace, Mary, etc) in their offices, in their ordinary work… Lifting their souls to the Holy Spirit

(essentially praying) using those signs as a kind of tool for their praying…

So what about giving it a try?

1) Memorize the symbolic meaning of these numbers: 44-the Father, 88-the Holy Spirit, 33-Jesus, 95-Our

lady-Mary-the Mother, 29-Saint Michael …

2) Begin to think of those celestial beings when you read or listen to those numbers

3) Try discipline yourself this way for some time

(weeks, months) till it becomes natural, spontaneous and easy to make a connection

You are now praying with numbers naturally, like it

was natural for the prophets to pray with animals, plants, country life…

TO PRAY WITH YOUR HANDS

Observing over the years the people who pray and images of people praying (paintings, photographs,

sculptures, movies ...) I noticed that there are some typical positions of the hands. In this short paper I present some of these gestures and give you my

interpretation, which is based on direct personal experience. In the last chapter I tell that in the course

of human history we have come to use universal gesture of prayer by the action of Grace.

IN THE SIGN OF LIFE

The first photograph shows the most common way to

hold hands when we pray. It is found in all peoples of all continents. One learns it from childhood and

shows two attitudes: invocation and recreation. I mean for invocation: praying for help, the begging, the

ask. When this prayer is addressed to God, to the saints, to the angels and good people, and it is done

with faith and humility, always produces fruit. For

recreation I mean what I have noticed over and over

again: when there is one person who prays with his hands as well, you see a recreation, a strengthening of

his own and those who are united to him spiritually. Recreation, namely : life, energy, warmth,

joy, energy, light ...

IN THE NAME OF MARY

It's a fact: almost all the representations of Our Lady show this position of the hands. Or you see Mary, the mother of Jesus, to keep hands this way , or are

the people depicted with her. In my experience I have noticed that the souls of Marian spirituality, when

they pray, often hold hands in this way. Well me myself, experienced that when a person prays with

faith in this way, it becomes an effective prayer of invocation to the Virgin Mary, which always brings

forth good fruit. Also we note that when a soul is cloaked by the spirit of Mary, puts his hands so.

A specific theological: this hands position recall the

almond shape of the hands of the icons. The almond is the way of depicting the glory of God, the

“gracefulness” that is in the image of Our Lady , when

she is seen surrounded by a kind of almond of Light of various colors. It's a bit like the halo of the saints,

but, only in depictions of the Virgin Mother of God, it wraps the whole person of Mary to signify the fullness

of grace, that only Mary, the mother of Jesus, had since its birth. See as an example the image of the

Virgen de Guadalupe.

IN THE SIGN OF CHASTITY

The third picture shows a way to keep your hands

recalling the virtue of chastity. The two hands completely adherent to each other, palm to palm,

finger to finger, recall a never changed virginity. In some way, this invocation is the counterpart of the

one made by praying in the name of life. The effects of this form of prayer, made by people who have faith, are in fact different and are marked by the typical

notes of the virtue of chastity.

Use this with way of hands praying with wisdom.

It should be noted that the ministers of the altar, the

priests, deacons and others who serve at the table of the Holy Eucharist, in the past centuries, they were

taught to keep their hands in this way during the mass. This reminds us of the singing Psalm 23: "Who

shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, who shall stand in his holy place? Who has clean hands and a

pure heart."

After the birth, the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is only one effective altar before God: the

altar of the Eucharistic consecration. These millions of altars, on which every day is consecrated the body

and blood of Christ, by the bread and wine, are the true mountain of the Lord. Access to it worthily only

virtuous people.

IN THE NAME OF MERCY

In this position the hands are held together, with the index fingers parallel and thumbs overlapping. I

started to notice that some people called John (which means: God is merciful) prayed with his hands as

well. Then, I saw that other people demonstrating the

virtue of mercy prayed so well. Finally, I have experienced many times myself, that when one person

prays in this way with faith, he becomes full of mercy and mercy spread all over.

What are the features of mercy? How can you tell if

one man is merciful or not? Each of us has an idea, some more and some less, when we ourselves are

merciful to others or when others are merciful to us. Add to this the knowledge of this virtue that

anyone can reach by reading the Bible (especially: certain parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, and

the beatitudes speech of Jesus) and the writings of the saints about mercy (e.g. saint Faustina Kowalska). I'll

just highlight some features of mercy, the most simple and basic: peace, love, joy, forgiveness, good works,

fellowship, communion.

Use this way of hands praying often, because mercy is the greatest virtue: “I want mercy and not sacrifice”

(Matthew 9,13; 12,7) “Justice, mercy and fidelity” (Mt 23,23) “Blessed are the merciful because they will

receive mercy” (Mt 5,7) “Be merciful just as the Father is merciful” (Luke 6,36; Mt 5,48).

IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST

This position is similar to that of mercy, but here are two fingers, the index and middle fingers, to be

straight, parallel and united. This gesture links the two hands of the two next images, which are the

typical gesture of blessing that you find in depictions of Christ. I started to observe this gesture by some

priests more explicitly “christo-forous” ( “”Christ-bringers” , people who made more evident the

presence of Christ, which presence is real in all the priests, but not all the same way and with the same

intensity. I am speaking obviously not about the validity of the sacraments: any priest in fact, as if they

are sinners, effectively and validly consecrate the Eucharist and the other sacraments).

My personal experience too, told me that indeed, those who pray in this way, with faith, they make present,

in a mysterious way, the spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Risen Christ, the spirit of Jesus

IN THE NAME OF THE MASTER

In many crucifixes, statues, paintings and other

representations of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is seen to keep a hand in this way. Jesus is usually depicted

with his right hand in blessing position, that is, as in the picture. Other times, Jesus holds both hands as

above, especially when open arms.

This is the typical gesture of the Master, the Savior, and it is also found in non-explicitly Christian

images. Personally I have seen this hands gesture in some

people who I know to be “Christ-bringers”.

I leave it to you, who are reading this text, to find this gesture in the many images of Christ that you will see

in your life.

IN THE NAME OF SAINT MICHAEL

I named this position, but you could also call in other

ways. We are indeed in a not dogmatic field, but experiential and symbolic.

Anyway, in depictions of angels and Archangel Saint Michael you see these spiritual creatures, holding

their hand so while: indicating Heaven, showing the way of salvation, pointing something else, driving out demons. The same meaning we find in the images of

the saints. We ourselves, when we indicate something, we use our index finger. And even when we want

someone to go away, we also use this gesture, saying words like: "Get out! Get out! ...".

In the pictures representing Saint Michael Archangel

driving Adam and Eve out of Eden, He is depicted using precisely this sign. And even when driving out

the devil.

This sign reminds Jesus words: “The finger of God”.

"The finger of God" is a phrase typical of the time of Jesus to indicate the Holy Spirit. Jesus uses it when

he wants to clarify to be the Savior, saying, "But if it is

by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you"

In this case we find the sign connected to the power and act of exorcism. Catholic Tradition shows in Saint Michael Archangel the glorious winner in the fight

against the devil, by the power of God, which inhabits in Him. This truth of faith has become a classic theme

of religious iconography.

IN THE FIGHTING WAY

This photograph depicts two clasped hands. The right hand is like in the picture on the next page ("In the

name of the father") and the left is like in the picture on the previous page ("In the name of St. Michael").

The two hands joined in this way, remind already an idea of advancement, penetration, of something that

as a tip, a spear, that may be used to fight. It 'a kind of Gothic arch.

As the position in the sign of chastity was in some

way the counterpart of the sign of life, so in some way

this, in the name of the fight, is the counterpart of the

sign of mercy. By itself the will to fight each other and that instead of forgiveness are all different. Jesus

Christ came to earth to teach us also this: we are all brothers. We have one Father, who is God, who

created all souls and is therefore ontologically, really our Father, and for this we are truly brothers. The

redemption produced by Christ and the Grace which He has deserved enable this fraternity, this life of

brotherhood already on this Earth.

Jesus himself has shown us that we all have only one real enemy: the devil. The life of Christ and of the

saints also witness (some saints more and some of them less) this fight they had with the devil. Lately in

St. Pio from Pietrelcina we have had confirmation of this truth, which already the desert monks and other

saints had lived directly. St. Martin of Tours, St. Anthony Abbot, St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, St.

Ignatius of Loyola, St. John of the Cross and before them all the holy apostles, knew that the only enemy

to be eliminated from the hearts of men to make them brothers was in fact the devil.

I let anybody have his own experience, being

absolutely sure of the words of God, written in the Bible: “The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and

guard you from the evil one” (2° Thessalonians 3.3) and “Now have salvation and power come, and the

kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ.

Because the accuser of our brothers is cast out”

(Revelation 12.10).

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER

In Ravenna, Italy, in the Basilica of San Vitale there is

a mosaic. It depicts a symbol of the Eucharist blessed by the hand of God the Father who emerges from the clouds. In Prato, Italy, in the sacristy there is a picture

of a bishop, then a father of the diocese, who holds the right hand as in the picture. In the mosaics of St.

Mark's in Venice and San Giusto in Trieste, some of the apostles and Jesus himself hold a hand like

that. We can find this gesture in many icons and other images. Some people do it and not in the sense

and in the way it is used in some popular areas, but with an attitude that has to do with the spirit of the

person, the soul. So in some situations, this gesture has to do with the prayer that is: elevation of the

soul to God.

In the Greek tradition this gesture has a dogmatic

value: two fingers folded into the palm (middle and ring) indicate the dogma of the Incarnation and

therefore the two natures of Christ (true God and true man), and the three fingers straight (thumb, index

and little finger) indicate the Trinitarian dogma.

In my experience and in my observations I decided to define it as the sign of the Father.

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

In this short text I have highlighted some typical ways

of the people to keep their hands when praying and I tried to give a plausible interpretation, which I still feel

authentic and effective. At this point, I point out a very interesting aspect of this matter: the education of

the Holy Spirit in prayer.

As evidenced by the numerous writings of the Church's Tradition, prayer is above all an action of

the spiritual man.

The spiritual man is the “antropos pneumatikos”

mentioned in the Bible, that is the man shrouded by Grace and living according to the will of God, as Jesus

says in His Gospel and St. Paul apostle in his letters.

Grace teaches us to pray. It is Grace that makes us

children of God and relates us to God in a direct and effective way. It is still Grace that moves people to pray, as pope Paul 6° told us in the introduction of the

book of prayer used by consecrated ministers. The book of Wisdom, in the Holy Bible, says that Grace

enters the souls and educates us to holiness. So, as the facts related to the birth of the Catholic

Charismatic Renewal (see Duquesne weekend of 1967) and the same experiences of Christians and saints

(see the writings of San Juan de la Cruz about the action of the Flame of Love and Jean Marie Vianney

about the work of the Holy Spirit in man), Grace has a fundamental importance in the life of prayer.

Indeed it can be said that there is no real and effective prayer if there is no mediation of Grace. That is: we

only really pray in the Holy Spirit and with the Holy Spirit. There is no real prayer outside Grace.

With regard to human gestures that characterize the prayer is therefore also clear that there has been and

still is an interaction of Grace with us when we pray. The Bible speaks of the Spirit grabbing humans

and makes them behave in many different ways in order to salvation. Grace makes us exult with joy by

raising people standing with arms raised to the sky,

Grace makes people kneel down in adoration obedient and devoted, Grace makes them sing, talk, Grace

suggests words and thoughts, images and music, even acts in the workplace, giving skills uncommon.

That's why Grace (a female name for the Holy Spirit),

Who is One with God the Father and Jesus Christ, She herself taught us to pray.

And a proof is this: that people living in distant places, who have not ever seen each other, use the same

gestures, the same forms, the same way of saying our love to God who created us.

What would Jesus say if He were here and read this document?

I am sure Jesus would say: "It’s a way of praying."

In the Church there are different ways to pray, this is one of those ways.

THE PHYSICAL CONTACT

Since the beginning of Christianity, the physical

contact with the sacred has been of great importance. People touched Jesus clothes to be healed, and Jesus

touched people with His own hands to heal them. The relics of the saints were placed in physical contact

with patients since the time of Peter and Paul, whose relics were touched by cloths and rags which were

then placed in contact with the sick. Even before

Jesus, the physical contact had a great significance. Prophet Isaiah was touched by an angel on his face

and was purified ....

The apostles themselves, and before prophet Elijah, touched with the hands the head, feet or legs to heal

the sick.

Don’t you think it was strange: we are born from a

physical contact (conception) and grow up to adult age with physical contact (caressing, embracing,

holding ...) of parents. Among friends, brothers, even as adults, affection, friendship is expressed and strengthened by embraces, hugs, handshakes, pats

on the back ...

When we do communion, what happens if not a

physical contact between us and the immaculate, blessed, powerfully healing flesh of Jesus the Savior?

St. John Ruysbroeck in his writings speaks of the

touch of God, the touch of Christ the Savior, who enlightens, heals, invigorates the soul, the body, the

human person. By touching objects, things, we learn to know the universe. By our body we communicate,

we express ourselves in space time. When we will be in Heaven we will express ourselves beyond the space time.

Why do you think that many saints are depicted with the rosary, or the gospel, or the crucifix hold tight in

the hands? Do you think it's just an iconographic

matter? The Saints kept these things really tight in their hands. Some fell asleep clutching on their chest

the crucifix, others saints held the Bible or the Gospel, someone else held the rosary, other people

held relics of other saints ...

The direct physical contact with a sacred object has two values: human and mystic. The natural human

value is that if I'm holding a crucifix, my mind is naturally led to think about Jesus. The mystical value

is that, in holding in your hands a Gospel, you are doing a real, true act of faith in the power of Jesus’s

word: words of love, of peace, of bliss… Therefore Jesus Christ sees this act of faith, this cry for help

and answers as only a God can do.

We say that the contact with material sacred objects revives in us the awareness of the presence of Grace,

result which can be get even with your hands, without sacred objects (such as explained above) or by an act

of will, an intention of your soul. It is true that sometimes it is nice and it is useful to keep close to

you a concrete sign of God's existence as it is said in Psalm 62/63: "To you, Lord God, my soul clings”.

TRUSTING ABANDONMENT

Sometimes it happens, sometimes it can happen, that one has neither the will nor the energy to make an

active, resolute, vigorous prayer, strong and

determined. If so, like it is said in Psalm 51/ 52, you can do this: " But I am like an olive tree flourishing in

the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. "

Or as the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 30: “For

thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and

in trust your strength lies. The LORD is waiting to show you favor, and he rises to pity you; For the

LORD is a God of justice: blessed are all who wait for him!” . “In returning to me and resting in me will you

be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength”.

Practically: relax yourself, in the position that you

prefer, without any particular indication, and consign yourself to the all-pervading Presence and action of

Grace, of the Father and of Jesus ...

Also this is a concise act of faith, to which God corresponds to our faith in Him

WHERE TO PRAY

BEDROOM

Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6 says: "When you pray, go to your inner room, close the

door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your

Father who sees in secret will repay you. "

So: one of the best place for prayer is surely the

bedroom, as many saints used to do. The bedroom is indeed normally the place quieter, more intimate and more personal, where you feel safe and quiet, where

the person is revealed for what it is, and is sincere and honest in his talk with God

NATURE

Jesus, Francis and thousands of other saints loved to pray in the open, direct contact with nature. Me as

well.

HOME

Mary, the Mother of Jesus (and the early Christians) prayed often in their houses. The home environment

is familiar and here you can say the same things I wrote about the bedroom.

CHURCH

Obviously, since there is in the churches the presence of Christ Eucharist, the churches are a privileged

place for prayer. Also because in the churches many people have prayed before us and still pray. Moreover,

even where there is no Eucharist, however, there are always sacred images or other elements which mark the sacred.

EVERYWHERE

As I wrote about the new signs, using as input the new signs, you can really pray everywhere, even in

large city, even in environments where usually people don’t think about prayer: theatres, superstores, workplaces, streets, squares ...

In a recent movie of 2011 can be seen, for example, a man who prays among the skyscrapers, because he

realized that the blue sky and clouds reflected in the windows of the immense and cross-linked buildings,

are a sign of the presence of God.

WHEN TO PRAY

Man is a spiritual being, a spirit embodied and destined for eternal life. This means that man can

express himself with his body (voice, gestures, attitudes, expressions ...) and soul. And the soul

often lives and talks in silence: in a silence that God feels great. For this reason many people speak with

God in the secret of their souls, without using the voice, in their own words and by using sacred words,

that echo in the universe for centuries, if they are saints. It is usually in this quiet silence that God

speaks to man, and souls experience words that ears could not hear (and therefore other people). Among

the prayers that Christians declaim in silence there are the universal ones (Our Father, Hail Mary…) and

those personal (for example a holy priest said: "When

some bad or needless thoughts come to you, drive them out, by saying with your soul, into yourself,

words like these: “No. Go away. Get out! Delete. Burn. Dispel. Clear away…” and the Lord who hears you

will gives you nice and holy thoughts, bright and beautiful ").

During contemplation time, that is usually in the

silent prayer, it is more often revealed the reality of the Kingdom of Heavens. The great advantage of

silent prayer is that it can be experienced anywhere, anytime, in any situation and place: at school, at

work, in the streets of a city, in a crowded square, in a bar, a shop, on a train, a bus, a plane, on a beach,

walking in the countryside fields, or along the shore of a river or a seashore ...

To pray always, like it is said in the Gospel (“Then

Jesus told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary…Will

not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to

answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man

comes, will he find faith on earth?" Luke 18 – Mark 13,33) means to keep alive in themselves a persistent,

lengthy, protracted feeling of affection, gratefulness, devotion, love of the soul to God. So he said the holy

bishop St Augustine.

WITH WHOM TO PRAY

Jesus prayed either alone or with friends. His friends were the apostles and disciples. Since the Christians

have Jesus, as the only Master and perfect example to imitate, means that Christians must pray either alone

or with friends and brothers.

Who has had the grace to be born and grow up in a Christian family, learned how to pray with the family,

for example praying before eating.

Those who have the gift of attending a Christian group (catechism, boy scout, bible training group …) have

learned to pray with their brothers, usually with the guidance of an older Christian.

Who wants to be a living Christian, prays at least

once a week with his brothers (the other disciples of Jesus, other Christians) when he goes to Mass at the

church.

Praying together is a great thing, because as Jesus says: "Where two or three of you are gathered together

in my name, THERE I AM IN THE MIDST OF THEM"

And if you can’t find anyone to pray with? Well ...

remember that there are always the saints in Heaven. Although usually, for some people, not visible and audible, they are there, watching us, listening to us.

Maybe now they are just looking at you, while you are

reading this text.

CONCLUSION

If you feed one very hungry and inexperienced man,

he will devour the food without tasting it. But if you talk about food with a chef, you will discover a

universe of flavors and recipes. If you speak of transport with an inexperienced one, he will tell you

that he use this or that, but if you talk to a mechanic you open up a world of details and instruments. If you

talk about animals with common people, they will tell you: “I saw a flying bird over my head", but if you talk to a birdwatcher, he will tell you that in Italy there are

about 500 different species of birds ...

So is prayer.

Some people, thinking about prayer, they imagine

having to say the Our Father and Hail Mary (which is already a holy thing ...) but others, who have explored

the length and depth of the Kingdom of Heavens, can speak of prayer for several minutes.

The important thing is to pray.

How, where, when, with whom ... It’s up to you. The

important thing is to pray, that is to start and build a personal relationship with God, because, as St.

Augustine said : "Who prays is saved."

Saint Lucia of Fatima also said: "Never consider lost

the time you spend in prayer”. Because praying for the other people, you will make God pour on you plenty

of gold coins, that is: merits and graces.

Finally: I told you about my experience of prayer, founded, reasoned, synthesized after many years of

spiritual life with God, but this does not exclude that there are other ways of pray:

* Everything that the Holy Spirit will suggest to you and to those who pray to God for his own sake and for

the other’s.

AFTERWORD

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

The sign of the cross is also a brief prayer. An act of simple faith, short, blessed. It is directly linked to the

words of Jesus in Matthew 28: "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".

And it is also closely connected to the powerful

blessing that comes out from the cross of Jesus Christ. (Read above SACRED IMAGES ).

CONVERGENCE

Issue related to LISTENING TO GOD WHO SPEAKS

Providence is God's rule over creation and creatures. The Providence is what God does and moves in this

universe.

"Convergence" is defined as the phenomenon by which Providence makes converge the attention of a human

being to a written sentence, heard, read, to a picture, to a situation. The purpose of this action, for which

the man is guided by God with sweetness, is to communicate with humans. Examples of

convergences:

You walk among the people, and your attention is steered to some words said by someone in the crowd,

to a sentence written somewhere, to an image or a situation ... These words, images, situations, which

are part of what is happening around you, unfold to you a precise meaning, are a sure and clear message

that God send for your own good. And these are only some kind of "convergences", some of the many

different ways that God can use to communicate with you.

And the phenomenon of convergence may relate to

everything that exists: the people you meet, nature, creatures, things that man makes. It is just about the

things made by men, that you can recognize the omniscience and the wonder of God.

Among the things that man does and that are typical

of our time, we find the media: web, movies, radios, books…… And it is precisely and also through these

things that God communicates very easily. I must now give some examples to let you better understand the

story.

Books. Somebody enters a library, or simply, if he is at home, takes a book in his hands. Not knowing what

to do, picks up a book. He opens it, and his attention is steered immediately towards some words. Then he

discovers that those words have a good meaning for his life, for example to better understand a particular

situation that has lived or is living ...

Radio. It may happen, during your ordinary day, to listen to the radio for a few moments and exactly in

those brief moments, you hear some words, a song, a piece of a speech ... which for you is particularly

significant and that communicates a useful meaning.

The same can happen with all the other media.

That is why in the 3° millennium, God can

communicate with us very easily, having so many tools, so many means and so rich in opportunities and

possibilities.

How does one person discriminate, discern, recognize that it is really God who is using this medium to

communicate with him?

First of all what God communicates to man is always

for the good, the sake, the love: it is always something positive, good, constructive, for you and for others. It

is also the way in which the facts themselves happen that makes you realize that they are truly miracles,

events generating wonder and surprise. It is ultimately a matter of love, relationship, experience and mutual

understanding.

The reflections that a man can do, after experiencing many times this phenomenon, are various.

First of all, man understands what exactly means "divine omniscience."

That is: man becomes aware that God sees and really

knows all (and when I write "everything", I mean everything).

The example of the Book is very clear about it. You go

to a place where there are thousands of books, you take one book, while Grace moves your soul,

providentially. You open it exactly on that page, where you read at a glance that precise words, that

immediately tell you something that for you is light and truth. Then, after a while, you reflect and

understand that God knew that on that page of that book, lying in that place, there was written some words very useful for you in that moment. Which

means that God knows, since we're talking about

books, the exact contents of all the books of the world.

And how these books were made and printed.

Is it not this something absolutely extraordinary,

wonderful, amazing?

Who is like God ?

No man will ever be capable of so much!

Here we are in God’s signs, in the world of the miraculous, in the Kingdom of Heaven.

A HEALIG PRAYER

"I am the Lord, the One who heals you"

(Exodus 15:26)

Through this image, that anyone can print, God has

given many graces, both physical and spiritual healing. It is useful for the sick. And if God will give

you the desired grace, remember: think about what Jesus says in the Gospel and do it.