Harpa Dei

Lk 4:31-37 In those days, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because his word carried authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and he shouted at the top […]

NOTE: We have added the previous verses to today’s Gospel to better understand the context. Lk 4:16-30 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

Jas 1:17-18,21b-22,27 Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Mt 25:14-30 At that time Jesus told his disciples this parable: “For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property;  to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He

1 Cor 1:17-25 After all, Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel; and not by means of wisdom of language, wise words which would make the cross of Christ pointless. The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us

Mk 6:14-29 King Herod had heard about him, since by now his name was well known. Some were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’ Others said, ‘He is Elijah,’ others again, ‘He is a prophet, like the prophets we used to

Whoever has been engaged in the prayer of the heart for a long time and practices it regularly, will experience the joy that this prayer really brings to the soul. It becomes easy for us to withdraw into that “inner cell” which has been formed through prayer, precisely at those times when noise gets in

The prayer of the heart-or Jesus prayer-requires a certain preparation. In this regard, let us listen again to Metropolitan Serafim Joanta: “The dispositions for the Jesus prayer are, as for any other prayer, the following: To be at peace with one’s neighbor, to be free from excessive worries, a certain disposition of the soul, a

Those who wish to enrich and intensify their prayer life will find a very valuable practice in the tradition of the Eastern Church: the so-called “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer”. In order to avoid misunderstandings, it is worth clarifying that this form of prayer is part of the rich treasure of the Universal

Having reflected on the sufferings of prayer and on Eucharistic Adoration, let us now turn to the various forms of prayer. Although prayer is in itself a simple thing, it is not always easy for us to pray, and even less so to pray well. This too is an art, and in order to learn