The Cenacle
What is a Cenacle?
The Cenacle is an invitation from Our Lady to prayer and fraternity.
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"Multiply everywhere the cenacles of prayer and fraternal sharing"
(296j from the Blue Book)
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The word Cenacle originates from the late Latin word, ‘cenaculum’ which means the Upper Room, the room where Christ and his disciples had the Last Supper and also where the First Pentecost took place.
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In her messages, Our Lady insistently calls us - priests, religious and faithful - to gather together with her in fervent prayer and fraternal love, in authentic Cenacles as when the first apostles gathered with her in the Upper Room in Jerusalem awaiting the First Pentecost. What is most important in the world and in the Church today is the preparation for the Second Pentecost through the triumph of her Immaculate Heart. To draw down upon us this gift of the Holy Spirit, we must enter with her into the Cenacle.
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The more a priest lives the spirit of the Movement, the more he commits himself enthusiastically to the initiatives of the Church and makes them his own. Sometimes, the Movement develops within the life of the Church with an activity proper to itself, which is that of bringing the priests and the faithful together in gatherings of prayer and fraternal sharing called “Cenacles.”​
“I recommend to you to gather together often in your cenacles, in order to give me a great force of prayer, with which I may be able to intervene before my Son Jesus, that He may quickly obtain for you from the Father the gift of a new and second Pentecost for the Church and for all humanity.”
(310b, May 26, 1985)
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Structure of a Cenacle
Since its beginning, the Marian Movement of Priests has spread worldwide in a silent and extraordinary way. During those years, the Cenacles have multiplied in direct response to Our Lady's call made known in her messages to Fr. Gobbi. Because the many Cenacles have been formed prior to the existence of the any official Cenacle booklet, it is evident that to form a Cenacle, no booklet is necessary. However, every Cenacle should always adhere to the basic structure which has always marked the distinctive spirituality of the Movement.
The structure of the Cenacles is quite simple. In imitation of the disciples who were united with Mary in the Cenacle of Jerusalem, we also find ourselves praying together with Mary, living the consecration and having fraternity.
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I - Invocation to the Holy Spirit
II - The Rosary
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Prayers after each decade:
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Fatima Prayer
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Prayer for a new Pentecost
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O Sacrament Most Holy (may be sung)
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Prayers after the Rosary​
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Hail Holy Queen / Salve Regina​
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Rosary Prayer
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Prayer to St. Michael​
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III - Prayers for the Pope
IV - Reading and Meditaion on a message from the Blue Book.
V - Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
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Order a copy of the Cenacle guide booklet +here+
Goals of praying in a Cenacle
TO PRAY WITH MARY
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The cenacles must, above all, be gatherings of prayer. This prayer must be made together with Mary. It is for this reason that one of the characteristics that is common to all the Cenacles is the recitation of the Holy Rosary. Through it, we invite Our Lady to join us in our prayer; we pray together with her, while she herself unveils to our souls the mystery of the life of Jesus.
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“Your entire rosary, which you recite in the Cenacle in accordance with the urgent request of your Mother, is like an immense chain of love and salvation with which you are able to encircle persons and situations, and even to influence all the events of your time. Continue to recite it, and multiply your cenacles of prayer...”
(184d, October 7, 1979)
TO LIVE THE CONSECRATION
During the cenacles, we should help each other to live the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is the way we should do it: by accustoming ourselves to Our Lady’s way of seeing, feeling, loving, praying and working. The pause for meditation which is made during the Cenacles must serve this purpose. There are other times and places for general discussions which are likewise indispensable for all. Usually this space of time is given over to a communal meditation from the Blue Book. It is not therefore within the spirit of the Cenacle to spend this time listening to learned conferences or cultural updates. Otherwise, we would run the risk of getting away from that atmosphere of simplicity and of familiarity which makes our gatherings so fruitful.
TO CREATE FRATERNITY
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Lastly, in the Cenacles we are all called to take part in the experience of a true fraternity. Is this not perhaps one of the most beautiful experiences which always occurs in every Cenacle? The more we pray and allow time for the action of Our Lady, the more we experience as well an increase of mutual love among ourselves.
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“Why do I want them to come together in cenacles with me?...To love each other and to live in true brotherhood in the company of their Mother. It is necessary today that my priests know each other, that they help each other, that they truly love one another, that they be as brothers brought together by their Mother. There is today too much loneliness, too much abandonment for my priests!... I do not want them to be alone: they must help each other, love each other, they must feel as – and really be – brothers.”
(34g,m,n,o, January 17, 1974)