Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlak

Tomorrow (14 December) begins the Novena in Honor of Saint Thorlák, prayed during the nine days leading up to his feast day of 23 December.

This year, we would like to suggest praying this novena as a spiritual bouquet to the clergy serving in the Diocese of Reykjavik: offering our prayers for the intentions and wellbeing of its sixteen priests, one deacon and one seminarian.

This bouquet reflects the prayer on a regular basis throughout the year by the Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlák, a volunteer corps of missionaries-in-place whose work is to pray from where we are, in our current circumstances, in our present states of body and mind.  We are “domestic,” meaning, staying in place; we pray from wherever we are able to be, transforming “everywhere” into one, common household, one family of God: “Domestic” Missionaries of St. Thorlák do our work from within the “home” of God’s Household. This Domestic form of missionary work differs from that of missionaries who leave home to do their work elsewhere, publicly.

The Domestic Prayer Missionaries’ focus is prayer in any way we are capable, including all forms of communication: fully spoken, low speaking, variably spoken and non-speaking. Our prayer takes the form of however we best express our hearts and intentions to God, in the place best suited to our abilities: at home, in chapel, outdoors; standing, kneeling, sitting, walking; wherever we connect fully with God at any given moment. Many Domestic Missionaries spend their time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, but others may pray better in motion. Some “practice the presence of God” throughout the day, offering as we go, and some simply focus on the breath in prayer (e.g., breathe in “My Jesus,” breathe out “Mercy”) to create a “chapel of the heart” wherever we happen to be. Domestic Missionary prayer deliberately minimizes physical and social demands to keep our efforts focused on prayer. We draw special inspiration from the ways of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, whose Practice of the Presence of God is an excellent model for anyone, in any state of ability or disability, to offer prayers efficaciously and sincerely alongside those called to more conventional and active forms of missionary work.

To learn more about the Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlák, or to become a Prayer Missionary yourself, download our prayer manual or contact us at AutismConsecrated.Com.

 

Domestic Missionaries of Saint Thorlak – Prayer Booklet

 

 

Novena in Honor of St. Thorlac

by Aimée O’Connell

 

The summer Feast Day of Saint Thorlak is observed each year on July 20, which commemorates the translation of Bishop Thorlak’s relics which took place in the summer of 1198.  Such a date would be necessary for any exhumation in the twelfth century, but also reflects a season when pilgrims from all parts of Iceland would be able to make the journey to Skálholt to attend the ceremony and have the opportunity to personally venerate the relics of Iceland’s newly-declared patron saint.  More details about the summer feast day can be found in this blog post of the Icelandic National League of the United States (INLUS).

The Novena in Honor of Saint Thorlac (which uses the Latinized spelling of Thorlak’s name) was approved by the Bishop of Iceland, Most Rev. David B. Tencer, in 2018, and is a nine-day prayer and reflection on St. Thorlak’s life and example.  The English text of this prayer is available for free viewing and download on the Autism Consecrated website, and is now also available in spoken English audio on each day’s page for those who prefer to listen to the words or move about as you pray.  Furthermore, the spoken prayers of the novena have been uploaded to our YouTube Channel with ambient background music and photo slideshows of Iceland for each day’s devotion.

May we join our prayers to St. Thorlak’s, for the physical and spiritual wellbeing of Iceland, and may St. Thorlak pray for each of us in our own particular needs!