Apostleship of Prayer
The Apostleship of Prayer is a body union of the faithful. By their daily self-offering, they unite themselves with the Eucharistic Sacrifice and by this vital union with Christ, cooperate in the salvation of the world.
The Apostleship of Prayer was found on 3rd December 1844 by a group of Jesuit seminarians at Vals, France, where in the great apostle of devotion to the heart of Christ was placed in charged after Rev. Fr. Francois Xavier Gautrelet S.J.
After realizing that he was not going to be the one to organize it any further than just as it was, he invited Rev. Fr. Henri Ramiere S.J. to continue to propagate the idea that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is essentially apostolic and perfectly accord with the “ideals of the Apostleship of Prayer”.
The ideals of the Apostleship of Prayer are our prayers, our studies, our works, our recreations, and even our sorrows and pains. If these are offered in union with the Christ’s sacrifice, we would attain our intention which is the salvation of all mankind.
Truly the Apostleship of Prayer is Pope’s own “prayer group”. It is, as Pope John Paul II wrote in 1985, “a precious treasure from the Pope’s heart and the Heart of Jesus”.
Pope John Paul II also expressed the hope that the Church would become more and more distinguished in the “art of prayer” learning it even anew from the lips of the Divine Master. This effort must be expressed above all in the liturgy. The Apostleship of Prayer offers the faithful a program of apostolic spirituality whose center is the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
The Apostleship of Prayer is now 169 years old. On 1st December 2013, at St. Teresa Church, Kowloon, we celebrated a dual activity in which both the Chinese and English speaking Apostleship of Prayer celebrated the 169th year global anniversary and the installation of the newly elected lay council officers. We started this celebration by praying the Holy Rosary, followed by the Eucharistic celebration, being celebrated by Rev. Fr. Alfredo Rollon, the National Director of Macau and Hong Kong Apostleship of Prayer, and concelebrated by Rev. Fr. Jun Jacobe, the Spiritual Director of Apostleship of Prayer English Speaking, Hong Kong.
During the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected lay council officers, Sr. Mary Felicitas Nisperos, the Assistant Spiritual Director of Apostleship of Prayer English Speaking, assists Rev. Fr. Jun Jacobe. Thereafter each of the participating community groups take pictures and we enjoyed the snacks provided by the Chinese specking community.