Welcome to your Virtual Spiritual Exercises Weekend Webpage!
Below are links and materials to assist you during the weekend.
Have a great retreat!
Tips for finding silence.
- Create a spot in your home where you can be away from any other activity. Here are some ideas for Creating a Prayer Corner in your home.
- Discuss with other family members your desire to spend this quiet time in prayer. If appropriate, invite them to join you on this journey.
- Plan your mealtimes to allow you to continue your prayer time. Make something ahead of time, or make the task of preparing the meal a prayer itself.
Technical preparations
- If you don't have ZOOM installed on your computer, download the app and try to familiarize yourself with the controls.
- Watch the Pre-Retreat Technical Orientation Video.
Virtual Retreat Etiquette and Suggestions for Success
Watching a retreat from home is a new experience for many of us. Here are some suggestions, requests and reminders to help us all stay focused:
- Troubleshoot your ZOOM connection early
Make sure you have the most recent ZOOM download. Even if you are a pro at video conferencing, it never hurts to double-check your settings and make sure your audio and camera are correctly configured.
If you are new to ZOOM, please familiarize yourself with the controls and options of your version. We have prepared a short “Tech Orientation Video” to help walk you through some common problems; please take the time to review this video. After all of this, if you still have questions or concerns, please contact the Tech Manager assigned to your retreat.
- Please keep your camera on during the retreat
Your camera will be turned on upon entering the ZOOM meeting room. It is helpful to our priests and other speakers for everyone’s video to remain on during each talk. Presenting a talk to an empty room can be difficult for anyone, even our priests! They have requested that your camera remain on because having the ability to see your responses and body language while they are preaching encourages them as they strive to be instruments of the Holy Spirit. Of course, if you prefer the privacy, you may turn your camera off.
- Eliminate distractions from your computer to help you focus on the retreat
Notifications from messaging applications, ringtones, and applications running on your desktop can be distracting to you, which can make your speaker feel disrespected and undervalued. Mitigating these distractions helps keep you focused on the content.
- Remember: we can see you
As mentioned above, we are asking everyone to leave their cameras on. To avoid becoming a distraction for the speaker and other participants, please try to attend the retreat from a quiet area that has minimal background noise and movement.
- Maintaining common courtesies
Though this may seem obvious, video conferencing is just like an in-person interaction, therefore it is important to use the same courtesy you would use if you were in the same room. This includes being on time, paying attention to the speaker, minimizing multitasking and background noises, and refraining from interrupting.
Please Note
We WILL NOT be livestreaming Mass this weekend.
Now that public mass is again permitted in our local churches, and to better serve your sacramental needs this weekend, you are encouraged to attend your local parish for Mass and to partake of the Sacrament of Reconcilation.
Retreat Schedule
{May be subject to changes.}
Eastern Time |
Friday Evening
|
Saturday All-Day Mass (on your own)
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Sunday Morning
Mass (on your own) |
Here are the ZOOM Links for each day of the Retreat:
Here are the ZOOM Links for the Retreat:
Friday Evening
- Friday, December 4, 2020
- Zoom Meeting ID: 843 6738 1339
- Link to the Friday Evening
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Password for Friday: SpEx4
Saturday All-Day
- Saturday, December 5, 2020
- Zoom Meeting ID: 840 4374 0363
- Link to Saturday
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Password for Saturday: SpEx5
Sunday Morning
- Sunday, December 6, 2020
- Zoom Meeting ID: 853 4599 4431
- Link to Sunday
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Password for Sunday: SpEx6
Having Problems? See "Help" section below
Materials for the weekend
Fr. Joseph Gillespie, LC
Fr. Joseph was born in County Donegal, Ireland in 1961 and entered the Legion of Christ novitiate right after finishing High School in 1980. He studied Humanistic and Legal Arts in Salamanca, Spain and Philosophy and Theology in Rome. Fr. Joseph was ordained to the priesthood in Cheshire, CT on Christmas Eve morning, 1992 (he was the first Legionary to be ordained to the priesthood in the US!) After working for seventeen years with Regnum Christi adult sections and preaching spiritual exercises in Puebla, Mexico, he returned to the US in 2010 and performed similar work in Louisiana and Michigan.
Presently, Fr. Joseph is the chaplain for Overbrook Academy, an international boarding school for girls. He also serves as chaplain to the Regnum Christi Consecrated in Rhode Island and is on the point of finishing a novel on the theme of Purgatory. Stay tuned to add it to your reading list!
Pre-Retreat Technical Orientation Video -------------->
On the right side of this page you will find the Pre-Retreat Technical Orientation Video. Please plan to watch this short video to introduce youself to the Zoom platform prior to the beginning of the retreat.
If you DO NOT already have ZOOM on your computer...
You will need to download it to attend the retreat remotely. Please follow the link below to download Zoom Client for Meetings. This version is completely free.
Troubleshooting ZOOM on various devices.
Here are links to some other videos to help troubleshoot problems and questions related to different devices.
- "How to Join Zoom Video Conference Using Your Phone" Click here
- "Using Zoom on Your iPhone or iPad" Click here
Should you have any questions or issues with the Zoom process or links
please contact the Tech Manager via phone call or text.
See the side bar to the right for contact information. --->
Various Prayers
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer to the Holy Trinity
My Lord, God of heaven and earth – Father and Creator, Son and Redeemer, Holy Spirit and Sanctifier – I adore you and love you with all my heart. I thank you for creating me, redeeming me, calling me to the Catholic faith, and watching over me last night. I offer you on this day my prayer, my work, and my struggles, my sufferings and my joys. Enable me to do everything out of love for you and according to your will. Make me steadfast in living my Christian vocation, patient in suffering, courageous in proclaiming my faith; fill me with wisdom on life’s journey and charity in dealing with others. Free me from sin and from all evil. May your grace always remain with me and with all who are dear to me. Amen.
Prayer to Jesus Christ
Lord Jesus, faithful friend of my soul and King of Regnum Christi, once more I offer you my life so you can teach me to do your will, give me the strength to follow you, and help me to imitate your virtues, especially those that please you most: charity, humility, justice, and honesty.
Make me a faithful, zealous apostle of your Church and grant me the grace that will enable me to proclaim your saving message to the brothers and sisters I meet on my journey today. May I live my Catholic faith with such evident conviction and share it with such ardent zeal that I become a fruitful and effective fisher of souls for the Kingdom. Amen.
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin
Mother, I come before you on this new day to bless you for the great things almighty God has done for you, to thank you for the graces you have obtained for me, to consecrate to you all my thoughts, words, and actions, and to ask your blessing for me and every Regnum Christi member.
Intercede with God for all of us spread throughout the world, as we strive to live the faith, hope, and charity of which you set us such an admirable and noble example.
Enable me to imitate the life of prayer, obedience, humility, fidelity, sacrifice, and simplicity that you shared with your Son, our Brother and Lord.
Help me to form a meek and humble heart like that of your son, Jesus Christ, and obtain for me the grace of receiving him in the sacrament of his love as fervently as you throughout the years of your solitude.
Mother, tell Jesus how much I want to love him, how ardently I desire to become holy and be his apostle. Tell him how fervently and constantly I want to serve him in Regnum Christi, which is called to be a faithful instrument in extending his Kingdom throughout the world. Amen
Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit, help us to know what is truly right and always rejoice in his consolation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Regína Cæli
V/ Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
R/ Because the Son you were chosen to bear, alleluia,
V/ has risen as he said, alleluia.
R/ Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V/ Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia!
R/ Because Our Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
V/ Let us pray: God our Father, you give joy to the world by the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Through the prayers of his Mother, the Virgin Mary, bring us to the happiness of eternal life. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R/ Amen.
V/ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R/ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
(Three times)
Prayer to the Guardian Angel
Angel sent by God to guide me,
be my light and walk beside me;
be my guardian and protect me;
on the paths of life direct me. Amen.
Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe you are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
To Begin:
Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit,
Response: fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Leader: Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created,
Response: and you shall renew the face of the earth.
Leader: Let us pray:
O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit, help us to know what is truly right and always to rejoice in your consolation. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Response: Amen.
Leader: Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Response: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Response: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Leader: Christ our King!
Response: Thy Kingdom come!
Leader: Virgin most prudent, Mary, Mother of the Church,
Response: pray for us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
To Conclude:
Leader: We give thee thanks for all thy benefits, almighty God, who live and reign forever.
Response: Amen.
Leader: Christ our King!
Response: Thy Kingdom come!
Leader:Virgin most prudent, Mary, Mother of the Church,
Response: pray for us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The prayers above are taken from the Regnum Christi Prayer Book. The Regnum Christi Movement has compilation of prayers has been assembled to help its members pray in the various circumstances of life, and to promote spiritual communion with Regnum Christi members worldwide. In addition to the Movement’s own prayers, it includes a selection of other prayers from the Church’s long tradition, approved and enriched by the popes.
We hope that it will also encourage you to more frequent personal, family, and team prayer, as we hope it spiritually enriches all Regnum Christi members.
Find the complete listing of prayers from The Regnum Christi Prayer Book by following this link.
Celebrating Mass
We WILL NOT be livestreaming mass this weekend.
To better serve your sacramental needs this weekend, we encourage you to attend Sunday mass at your local parish. If your situation requires that you attend mass remotely, you will find some on-line resources and suggestions to assist you.
While we await the lifting of restrictions to celebrate public masses in Montgomery County, MD, we will plan to live-stream Sunday's Mass acccording the schedule above. Here are some suggestions to help you prepare yourself for the celebration of Mass in your home.
Before Mass Begins:
- Set up a home altar or prayer space with a cross, icons or sacred art, and the Bible.
- Light a candle.
- Take a few minutes before Mass begins to gather your thoughts and prepare at least one intention to bring to the Lord.
- Finish enjoying your coffee or snacks before mass begins or wait until after the mass has concluded.
During Mass
- Actively participate: sit, kneel, stand and respond, as though you were in church.
- Please refrain from eating and drinking during the Mass. Enjoy your coffee or snacks before or afterwards.
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Recite the Spiritual Communion prayer after communion
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While we are physically separated from the Mass and the Eucharist, the Church encourages us to make a spiritual communion. By reciting this prayer, we manifest our love for the Eucharist and participate in the communion of saints, bringing great spiritual benefit for ourselves and enrichment for the entire Church.
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Spiritual Communion Prayer
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My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Find links to Participate in Mass On-Line: