The Vocabulary of Prayer - Walking

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Articles and movies have explored the spiritual dimension of walking this road.

However one does not have to go to Spain to enter into the spiritual experience of walking. Every year, the entire Church is invited to enter on a journey on the vigil of Easter. The Church gathers in the silence and darkness that follow upon Good Friday.

Vatican Council II used an image of the Church as a pilgrim people: Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an exile in the desert, was already called the Church of God. So likewise the new Israel which while living in this present age goes in search of a future and abiding city is called the Church of Christ. (Lumen Gentium #9)

A new fire is kindled and the Paschal Candle is lighted from it, a sign of our risen Lord. That burning candle then leads us all.  The LORD preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light. (Exodus 13:21)

The oft repeated command of Jesus in the gospels is: “Follow me.” We follow Christ into the church building, the sign of the heavenly Jerusalem, illuminated by the light that each of us bears, the light of Christ that enlightens each of us.

The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and to it the kings of the earth will bring their treasure. During the day its gates will never be shut, and there will be no night there. (Revelation 21:23-24)

The darkness of a world in need of Christ, the light of Christ entrusted to each of us, the power of that light when we walk together, the vision of peace as we gather around the Lord’s table to share in the wedding feast of the Lamb.  (Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed* are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:9)

The Easter Vigil procession is not merely a matter of getting from one place into our usual place it church. It is a summary of our Christian faith. It is an invitation to see in our walking behind the Paschal Candle an image of discipleship lived out in daily life. It is an invitation to pray.

The Vocabulary of Prayer – Ritual Gestures

Probably, our most common ritual gesture is signing one’s self with the cross. Like any action that is repeated often, it is easily done in a rote manner.

This act is rooted in our baptism. When an infant is brought to church to be baptized, the priest together with the parents and godparents mark the child’s forehead with a cross as the priest says: We claim you for Christ with the sign of the cross.

The sign is repeated in Confirmation when the bishop signs the forehead of the one being confirmed and says “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

This added notion of sealing has its roots in the book of Revelation: Then I saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the Israelites. (Revelation 7:2-4)

The idea of seal is rooted in the practice of sealing official documents with a signet ring which left an impression. The seal of the Holy Spirit imprints in us a likeness of God.

The hymn “Lift High the Cross” has these same ideas: “the new-born servants of the Crucified bear on their brows the seal of him who died.”

When we begin our prayer by signing ourselves with the cross, we are, as it were, identifying ourselves to the God we are praying to as one of his own, as one who is a member of the Body of Christ.

Signing the forehead of an infant or child is a fine practice for parents when they put their children to bed or send them off on a trip.

I think that it is also an appropriate act when infants or young children accompany their parents in the communion procession. It is a sign that this person belongs to Christ. (This is quite different, in my mind, to inviting non-communicants to “receive a blessing.)

This ritual gesture is rich in meaning even before we add any words to the act.