Home church – a solution to the current spiritual crisis

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Every sincere bishop, priest and believer perceives that the contemporary Church needs a spiritual revival. This must begin with each individual, and especially with the basic cell of the Church, which is the family, that is, father, mother and children. For everyone, it begins with prayer, that is, building a personal relationship with God. But the conditions for this must be created, because in the daily pace of life one is unable to find time for deeper prayer. On the other hand, however, young people and children spend several hours a day on smartphones, which have swept the world in recent years. Thus, they waste their time not only in vanities, but directly in instructions on moral depravity, crime and satanism.
What are the prospects for humanity that refuses to accept the truth? People may be deceived a hundred times, and still continue to believe lies that lead them to their own self-destruction, both temporal and eternal. What is the solution for Christians who want to keep the faith and save their souls? The only way to save oneself is true repentance and persistent prayer. Many ask: What should we pray, how and when?
We provide here a short guide entitled “Home church”, the basis of which is the so-called Holy Hour daily from 8 to 9pm.
Christian spirituality is connected with the basic truths of faith and keeping God’s commandments. It is a life that reckons daily with the living God, with the reality of the struggle with sin and the spirit of lies, and remembers eternity, death and God’s judgment. It is vital to maintain a personal contact with God, a living connection with our Lord and Saviour, from where the Christian draws light and strength for each day to remain faithful to the Lord. This also includes keeping God’s laws and Christ’s commandments in our personal life. Modesty that the Gospel urges upon us is extremely topical today. It is the opposite of materialism, i.e. slavery to things and the pride of life.
God is looking for true Christians to become the salt and the light, the new leaven that can leaven the paralyzed Catholic Church. Today, moreover, pagan pseudo spirituality is being sucked into the spiritual vacuum created by a consumerist society overwhelmed by the spirit of this world. In no case can a Christian replace prayer with the so-called oriental Zen or yoga meditation or other New Age psychotechniques or practices. That would be spiritual suicide. Saints became saints primarily through persistent prayer, and this is still true today.
We recommend the following tried and tested prayer schedule for the home church, which is based on the Holy Hour from 8 to 9 pm:
Monday 8-9pm
5 minutes confessing sins to God and to one another – after each short confession of sin you say, “Lord, have mercy!”, and the others also say, “Lord, have mercy!”
5 minutes giving thanks to God – after each short prayer of thanks you say, “Thank You, Lord,” and the others also say, “Thank You, Lord”
5 minutes of prayer intentions – after each intention you say, “Lord, hear our prayer,” and the others say the same
15 minutes singing
About 25 minutes praying the Rosary
The hour ends with a prayer stop and the faithful receive a blessing given by bishops and priests at 9pm
Tuesday 8-9pm
The same schedule
Wednesday 8-9pm
About half an hour – prayer of unity and power acc. Mk 11:23 (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=13812)
Prayer of the Rosary
Prayer stop and receiving a blessing at the end
Thursday 8-9pm
Contemplation of the Lord’s passion and the Way of the Cross (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=812, https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=808)
Prayer stop and receiving a blessing at the end
Friday 8-9:25pm
One week – contemplating 1st-4th word from the cross
The other week – contemplating 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th word from the cross
(Seven Words from the Cross – see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?cat=47)
At 9pm – we make a prayer stop, receive a blessing, and then continue the prayer
The schedule of the Holy Hour can be modified according to the period of the year. For example, during Christmas time we can sing carols for half an hour and pray the Rosary for another half hour. We can also, for example, devote a whole hour to singing religious hymns once or twice a week, which may also be accompanied by musical instruments if possible. Through singing, we often open ourselves easily to the Spirit of God, and in this way, we can deepen our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, with Jesus and His and our Mother.
It would be ideal to try to follow the suggested schedule for a whole year, and only then can various changes be introduced. But above all, one must be vigilant to ensure that the change does not quench the spirit of our personal relationship with God and that the spirit of the world does not penetrate through it. It is very good, for example, to read about the lives of the martyrs and saints at least once or twice a week after the end of the Holy Hour. The Holy Hour should become a part of our daily life. The beginnings are the most difficult, but anyone who perseveres will see positive results.
The Holy Hour is truly a necessary condition for rooting a family in a Christian lifestyle amidst the pressure of the world. It completely changes the atmosphere in the family. This one-hour prayer brings us God’s peace and harmony and has a beneficial healing effect on human souls. Jesus said: “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” This request of Jesus should be our primary motivation every day.
The time we devote to prayer is a concrete gift to God. It is also our living and holy sacrifice, our spiritual service (cf. Rom 12:1). This time brings us great blessing. Jesus encourages us: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Therefore, we must begin and persevere.
The weekend schedule also includes a renewed Celebration of Sunday, which begins on Saturday evening.
Saturday 8-9:20pm
Prophetic prayer acc. Ezek 37 (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=18244)
At 9pm – we make a prayer stop, receive a blessing, and then continue the prayer
The Celebration of Sunday begins:
Saturday 9:20-10:20pm
Contemplating the resurrection truths – the first hour (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=785)
Sunday 5-7am
Contemplating the events of Sunday morning connected to the resurrection, accompanied by songs (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=796, https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=794)
8-9am
Contemplating the descent of and re-filling with the Holy Spirit (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=800)
Attendance at Mass
Those who cannot be present at Mass can experience the Mass spiritually according to the booklet (see http://vkpatriarhat.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/en-The-mystery-of-faith-%E2%80%93-the-Eucharist.pdf)
Afternoon:
A fellowship of about 3-5 families gather together, preferably both men and women separately, for approximately 1-2 hours. The meeting may end with contemplating the apparition of Jesus to the Emmaus disciples – 20 minutes (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=802)
8-9pm
Contemplation – Jesus appears to the apostles without Thomas and then to the apostles together with Thomas (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=802, https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=11579)
Prayer stop and receiving a blessing at the end
This is the current model of celebrating the Lord’s Day, i.e. the day of Christ’s resurrection and of the descent of the Holy Spirit. We seek to apply the idea of the four basic principles of the early Church in Jerusalem: 1) prayer, 2) apostles’ teaching, 3) liturgy, 4) fellowship (see Acts 2:42).
The model of celebrating the Lord’s Day, i.e. the day of Christ’s resurrection and of the descent of the Holy Spirit, involves the application of the four basic principles of the early Church in Jerusalem, namely: 1) prayer, 2) apostles’ teaching, 3) liturgy, 4) fellowship (see Acts 2:42).
For the home church, we also recommend a daily prayer stop of 3-5 minutes according to the old church tradition at fixed times: when getting up, at 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, and before bedtime (see https://vkpatriarhat.org/en/?p=4952).
It is said of the early Christians that they gathered daily in the temple and from house to house (Acts 5:42). The Apostle Paul speaks about home churches: “Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.” (1Cor 16:19) “Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.” (Col 4:15) The family, representing a small church, is the foundation of the home church. A healthy Christian family is a living cell of the Church keeping its own prayer schedule.
The current crisis of faith has been compounded by a literally death blow in the form of Fiducia Supplicans. Because of this, not only the spirit of the world, but also the curse has penetrated the Catholic Church. Thus, the Church is being transformed into a New Age anti-church that leads not to salvation but to damnation. Now it depends on each bishop whether, through his courage and fidelity to Christ, he will remove this cloud of spiritual darkness from the souls entrusted to him by God, or, on the contrary, give it space. It is the prayer of the believers that is decisive here. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize the revival of the family through the home church. All other activities that would replace prayer are unimportant, misleading, or even harmful.
A situation may arise that when a faithful bishop opposes the Bergoglio sect, he will be literally forcibly deprived of his office and replaced by a heretical bishop who will hold the diocese under the curse of Fiducia Supplicans. What should this bishop, persecuted for Christ, do? He should start living the form of monastic life together with a group of 4 5 priests in an ordinary house in a suitable place in his diocese. At the same time, this community will become a spiritual centre from which they will guide and encourage faithful priests, as well as active laypeople and families. From there, they will also carry out external missions according to the existing opportunities. The system of discipleship also serves the revival of the Church. This is something similar to the former so-called catechumenate in the Church.
Therefore, today’s true Catholic bishops have two options: either they will save the diocese and remain in office, separated from Bergoglio’s apostate structure, or they will turn into a catacomb Church. The catacomb Church also needs a bishop and a group of priests. The reality is that if only one bishop in a given country separates from the Bergoglio sect, he will hardly withstand the pressure and remain in office, as the gay network that occupies the Catholic Church will not allow him to implement a revival programme. If two or three dioceses separate from the apostate structure, it will be easier for the bishops to keep their churches, monasteries, retreat houses or, if possible, other means of catechesis and spiritual activity, for the sake of the revival. But today we must reckon seriously with the second form, namely, the form of the catacomb Church. However, let us remember that it has always been and will always be true that the gates of hell will not overcome the Church of Christ!

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

+ Methodius OSBMr + Timothy OSBMr
Secretary Bishops

12 February 2024