Eucharistic Adoration 
Lecture at Retreat for Women 
Concert “Memories of Paradise”
Dear listeners of our daily meditations,
Today I want to break the usual pattern and report of our just finished mission in Mexico and the USA. We know that many people pray for us and thus actively accompany our journey and are very grateful for it. Knowing that people are behind our mission is immensely valuable to us. That’s why we want to inform them shortly what we are doing.
First of all, I would like to thank for the prayers for Ecuador against the violence, asking to continue. In Ecuador, the dramatic situation has turned and negotiations have reached a political compromise that initially restored calm and allowed people to start their work, and life began to return to normal.
Now to the mission: What is the purpose of those voyages?
First of all, this is a mission of the Lord, whom we simply serve. That is the main thing, because mission means being sent by God. It is not something that one thinks and imagines, but is carried out in a spiritual obedience. We are primarily responsible to the Lord, and we rely on God in all situations of life. Wherever the Lord calls, we go there. That, in any case, is our will.
The missions to the land of Our Lady of Guadalupe now take place for a few years. First of all, we came to Mexico with the prayer “Quebrar la vara del Violento” and invited many people in the parishes to pray with us against the violence. That was the primary mission in the first period and we can say that this was a sign of hope for Mexicans.
The choir of Harpa Dei accompanied the Holy Masses with Gregorian Chants. Then more and more came the so-called Holy Hours and concerts. In Mexico, it is common that after the Holy Mass the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and the priests asked us oftento lead such a holy hour with the music and then also with our meditations. This was a very beautiful service and “Harpa Dei” unfolded the repertoire of their spiritual chants even beyond the Gregorian Chants, which they sing mainly in the Holy Mass.
With the increasing familiarity with the Mexicans, who received us wonderfully, generously supported us, and in particular listened to the message that the Lord had entrusted, the mission was unfolding. Now lectures and retreats were added, so that the word spread even more.
In 2019 we were in Mexico for over two months and we again traveled through many states and met many people, met communities, had fruitful contact with priests. Mexico remains a country of God’s choice for us, and in that sense we are at home in that country.
The following mission in USA was only intended for a shorter period. People didn’t know us there, and this time, unlike our first visit to Houston in Texas, we were more white Americans, not with Latinos. That is why sacred music was at first in the forefront. We knew that the faithful had to hear the Harpa Dei, because many people cannot imagine the sublime beauty of this music. When they heard them, the doors opened wide and invitations followed. So we saw the stay in the U.S. as an opening for more services in this country. We have been confirmed in our view – as we saw in Jerusalem – that the Americans are very open to sacred music. That is why the mission will soon bring us back to this great country! Here, too, we met very generous people who supported us greatly.
What is the heart of the mission?
Sacred music:
The most beautiful word I have heard about the music so far comes from St. Hildegard von Bingen. She said that music is still the last memory of paradise.
I think this is the experience of people when they hear the Holy Music of Harpa Dei. We have received wonderful testimonies that confirm this word: a reminder of paradise and a foresight for the time after death, when we will be united with God in eternity. The soul recognizes this music and responds to it.
In addition, people come into contact with the sacred tradition of the Church, which is increasingly neglected today, especially in the Holy Mass. This music is a special gift of the Holy Spirit and it is in some ways incomparable. With the Gregorian Chants, the centuries of the Church come and it connects us with the early Church and with all the centuries in which the Gregorian Chants resonated everywhere, especially in the monasteries.
The Gregorian chant is part of the essential identity of the Church and, with the beauty of the chants, we remind the Church in a way of herself, of the richness of her God-entrusted spiritual treasures. Thus we understand sacred music as a service for the glorification of God and a service for the Church.
The service at the word:
It happens through the meditations in the Holy Hours of Eucharistic Adoration, through the lectures and retreats.
The basic point is always the authentic teaching of the chruch, without relativizations and modernisms. The spiritual doctrine of following the Lord needs this clear starting point because the inner path has to be in accordance with the doctrine. Just as the right pastoral practice needs conformity with the right doctrine, if it does not want to experience irritation, so is it with the spiritual teachings.
We try to provide people with good food and we realize their gratitude for it. They trust what we tell them and it strengthens their Catholic identity. The representation of the right doctrine, which is like pure water, as well as a clear spiritual doctrine also refer to the treasures of our Church, which, thank God, are not yet fully destroyed.
At the end we invite them to listen to the daily meditations and many people gladly accept the offer and so it can be continued, which was initiated by our coming.
Our testimony:
We also hope that through our service we will be able to give people a testimony of a life in the Lord. This is also confirmed to us by men, and we are very pleased about this, because we should be a good smell of Christ.
This may be enough as a brief impression, and we look with great gratitude at the Lord and also at the many people we have been able to reach and who listen to us every day. We cordially ask for your prayers to be able to carry out further fruitful missions according to the will of the Lord, wherever He may call us!
First, however, the mission comes home to the Holy Land, from where all the mission originates.
We will take all those people we have met and who listen to us daily with us and include them in our prayers at the Holy Places.
God willing we will be soon be back in the Holy City: in the city of the great king whom we love and are loved by him!
Harpa Dei accompanies the daily scriptural interpretation or spiritual teaching of Br. Elija, their spiritual father. These meditations can be heard on the following website www.en.elijamission.net
