When we Good Samaritan Sisters are professed, we take vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life. One expression of these vows is the commitment to personal and communal prayer.
Prayer is not designed to take people out of the world to find God – it is designed to enable people to realise that God is in the world around them. It calls us back to a consciousness of God here and now.
– Joan Chittister OSB
Prayer is central to Good Samaritan life. Personal and communal prayer shape the rhythm of the day and are in harmony with the seasonal celebrations of the Church. Scripture is at the heart of our prayer and is recognised as where the presence of God is primarily experienced.
Good Samaritans gather around the Word, recognising that Christ is present in the Word, and Christ is present in the people gathered. Prayer and quiet contemplation allow time to recognise and respond to the invitation to enter into the presence of God, opening the possibility for inner growth and listening hearts.
We pray the Liturgy of the Hours* each morning and evening. The psalms are the core element of these prayers, expressing every emotion and mood of the human heart. It is a sacred time of reflection on the Word of God, during which we pray for the needs of the other and our world.
The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church. It marks the hours of the day through meditation on the psalms and scripture.
An ancient form of prayer practised by Good Samaritans is Lectio Divina – a prayerful, contemplative reading of the Word of God. This involves reading slowly and listening intently to Scripture personally or communally. We meditate on the text so that God reveals its meaning to us. As well as through Scripture, the Word of God can speak to us through music, poetry, art, movement, and through the beauty of the world around us.
Along with personal and communal prayer, Good Samaritans participate in all aspects of Catholic liturgy, prayer and worship. We engage in ongoing formation and study programs, and in spiritual direction and retreats. We warmly embrace indigenous and cross-cultural spiritualities and welcome mutually respectful ways of prayer which encompass ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, and inter-religious celebrations.
Good Samaritan Benedictine spirituality recognises God in all things, thus there is a strong commitment to ecological conversion. We explore the interrelationship between cosmology, theology and spirituality, and commit ourselves to practical action for sustainability.
Through a daily, ongoing commitment, prayer, work and reflection on sacred Scripture become one. In this way, the Good Samaritan Benedictine precept of living so that “in all things may God be glorified” is revealed.
*The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church. It marks the hours of the day through meditation on the psalms and scripture.
