The Oratory of Divine Love

By Mary Beth Bonacci
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 11/24/05)

Believe it or not, it’s been almost two years since I wrote a column asking you to pray for Father Benedict Groeschel, who had been struck by a car and badly injured.

I am happy to report this Thanksgiving season that we have something to be very thankful for. I saw Father Benedict last month. He has made a miraculous (in the literal sense of the word) recovery. The accident has taken its toll on him, to be sure. He has lost the use of his right arm, and he claims he is trying to "slow down." (Although on the day I spoke with him he was giving three different talks in two different places — hardly "slow" in my book.)

His injuries were apparently much more serious than we knew initially. The hospital trauma staff offered little hope that he would survive at all. In fact, he "died" on the table more than once. (No "out of body" experiences, he tells us. Apparently God wants him to continue to walk by faith.)

He has, of course, published a beautiful, inspiring book about this experience. It is titled There Are No Accidents, and it is available from Our Sunday Visitor (www.oursundayvisitor.com).

We have so many reasons to be grateful for Father Benedict’s continued presence in the world. Primary among them is that he is still busy making a difference in our Church. He and his order, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, have launched a new project that I wanted to make you all aware of.

A person doesn’t have to look very far to see that the Catholic Church in the English-speaking world is desperately in need of reform. Our newspapers are full of stories of scandals, of dissent and of outright hostility toward our beloved Church. It can be very discouraging to be a Catholic today. What can we in the pews possibly do to make a difference?

The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have launched a new project, the Oratory of Divine Love, to help us do just that. This is not the first time the Church has been in need of reform. The Church of the 15th and 16th centuries was in a state that makes today’s problems seem minor. We were in desperate need of reform. Martin Luther realized this. Unfortunately, his response was not to work for reform within the Church, but rather to break off and form a new church that better suited his own theological ideas.

A woman named Catherine Adorno in Italy also recognized the need for reform in the Church. But she took a different approach. She began to form small prayer groups — called "oratories" — made up primarily of lay people. The members of these groups prayed together and committed themselves to doing what they could to work for the poor and help with religious education.

Soon these groups began to spread throughout Italy. Many of the saints of the Catholic reform were members of — or influenced by — this oratory movement. Catherine Adorno, who is known to us as St. Catherine of Genoa, is credited with reshaping the face of Catholicism through Southern Europe — all by starting these little prayer groups.

It makes sense, after all. Who is the Church? The people are — those Catholics who sit and pray in churches all over the world. How does reform in the Church happen? By reforming those within the Church — her members. And how does that reform happen? By the power of the Holy Spirit — by prayer.

Seems to me we could use a little of bit of the Oratory right about now. And that is exactly what the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have done.

The Oratory of Divine Love is the Friars’ re-creation of St. Catherine’s Oratory. Small groups of lay people gather together to form prayer groups — to grow spiritually as individuals and to pray for the Church.

What do these modern Oratory groups look like? Well, they actually look a lot like St. Catherine’s groups. The setting is different, the wardrobe is definitely different, but the concept is the same.

A group of people (at least six), agree to come together for prayer once a week, or at least once every two weeks. The meetings follow a structure of scripture reading, silent prayer, open sharing, group prayer and singing. The whole meeting should take about an hour.

The beautiful thing about this concept is that every oratory group, everywhere in the world, will be meditating on the same scripture passage. Those passages, thanks to the wonders of the internet, will be provided by Father Benedict himself.

Members of an oratory group will also obligate themselves to a few other commitments:

Can you see where a movement like this, spreading across the Church, could make a difference in the world — and in our own individual lives? I want to invite all of you to consider starting an oratory group of your own. To begin the process, go to www.oratoryDL.org. And let’s bring on the real Reformation.

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