body-praying rb72, the good zeal of monks

BMPS: RB72A Blessed Movements Prayer Session for

Chapter 72 (The Good Zeal of Monks) of the Rule of St Benedict’s

BMPS is Blessed Movements Prayer Session*.

It is a sequence of slow meditative movements and gestures that more or less relate to the spoken prayer. BMPS enables the pray-er to feel, to sense, the essence of prayer, which is, union with God. It is a

holistic prayer session which involves everything you’ve got:your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual selves.

Prayer, therefore, is defined here as being with the Divine,

in body, heart, and soul.

*designed and illustrated by

Roy DeLeon, Oblate of St Benedict

blessedmovements@yahoo.com

Copyright 2012

O most Holy One,

Acknowledging the Divine Presence

Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness, which separates us from Thee

and leads to hell,

Fighting fists

Pushing God/Love away

hell

so there is a good zeal, which separates us from evil

and leads to Thee and everlasting life.

Palms on heart

…pushing evil away

…pointing to God within

Oh Joy!

Grant us, then, the good zeal which we must foster with fervent love:

Palms on heart

Teach each of us to try to be the first to show respect

to the other (Rom 12:10),

Palms on heart

Offering the heart to the other

supporting one another's weaknesses of body or behavior, with the greatest patience

Palms on heart

‘of body’

‘or behavior’

Patience of the suffering Jesus

and earnestly competing in obedience to one another.

Palms on belly

Palms facing forward ready to serve

Help us not to pursue what we judge better for ourselves,

Palms on heart

…pushing away selfishness

…bringing hands back to heart

but instead, what we judge better for someone else.

Palms on heart

…offering goodness to the other

To our fellow oblates, let us show pure love of brothers and sisters;

Step to right, palms on heart

…offering pure love

To you, O God, loving respect and deep obedience;

Looking up, palms on heart

Bow down in reverence

To our abbot/director, genuine and humble love.

Step to left, palms on heart

Offering genuine and humble love

Let us prefer nothing whatever to your Son, Jesus Christ,

Sense Jesus in you and around you

and bring us all together to everlasting life.

Palms on the belly

…then to the heart

…Oh joy!

Amen.

Deo Gratias