In May 2017, the little servants of Christ the King prayer community celebrated our forty-fifth anniversary. Who are we? We are a group of committed Catholics from across the Sudbury region, who surrenders fully to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We know the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith and we actively promote Exposition and Adoration. We honor Mary, the Mother of Jesus and have placed our prayer Community under her protection as Mother of Perpetual Help. We are loyal to our local Bishop and to the Magisterium of the Church. We give God permission to use us as He wants, and . continually seek His Will and follow it to the best of our ability. We spend time both in private, personal daily prayer and in group prayer spontaneously praying together in praise and thanksgiving. We are a community who recognizes each person’s uniqueness and giftedness, sharing experiences, trials and joys. We reach out to the wider community in active service to God’s people.
In May of 1972, a group of people began to meet regularly for shared prayer, firstly in a private home, then in the library at the Sudbury General Hospital. It was not long after that this small group began to meet weekly in the basement hall at Christ the King Church. Thus began the prayer community of Christ the King. It was God’s choice to visit us with a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit and His Gifts. In spite of our own personal shortcomings, the Lord used us to usher forth a move of His Spirit through the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church in this region. Many people who reflect on this renewal see it as a providential answer to Pope John XX111 ‘s prayer at the beginning of the second Vatican Council for a new Pentecost. “Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that being of one mind, and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the M~ of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of Our Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen.” (prayer of Pope John XX111 to the Holy Spirit from the Documents of Vatican 11, 1996, pp709 and 793)
We have been blessed with gifted spiritual directors who have built the prayer group on a strong foundation of prayer, both personal and communal; the Sacraments; the Lord’s Word and the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church. In June 1981, Msgr. Raymond Farrell came to Sudbury as pastor of Christ the King Parish then was moved to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. Under the direction of Bishop Plouffe the prayer community moved to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (later named Our Lady of Hope), as our spiritual home. After much prayer and reflection, the Perpetual Adoration Chapel opened twenty-four hours a day seven days a week, and remains to this day as a powerful place of worship where hundreds of people each week come into the Presence of Our Lord for His peace, joy and love. The thanksgiving box is full of notes of thanksgiving each month for prayer requests answered. Since its inception, the prayer community has administered this special chapel, and on November 1, 2017, we will be celebrating twenty-seven years of continual adoration of the Lord in the Perpetual Adoration chapel. It is truly holy ground, and a remarkable witness to the people of the Sudbury area.
Following are some of our activities over these past forty-five years. We have facilitated The Life in the Spirit Seminars and the Growth in The Spirit Seminars over ninety times. These courses are used as the foundation for developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many thousands have taken these seminars, which are very, very powerful. We have been blessed with wonderful guest speakers who have preached numerous weekend retreats, seminars, days of reflection and special teaching courses. The highlight of our many guest speakers was Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who accepted our invitation to join us on October 14th, 2009 honoring our priests during the Year for Priests. It was a joyous and wonderful celebration!
Cardinal O’Malley was celebrant and homilist for the Mass and keynote speaker at the banquet, which followed. Over eighty-five priests and five hundred and fifty people from across our diocese were present for this wonderful celebration, who gathered to pray, to reflect, to thank and to honour our priests of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. Other guest speakers have come from as far away as India and nearly every state in the United States as well as many provinces in Canada.
Over these years, we have sponsored, a Lenten Mission each Saturday morning for five weeks during Lent. Twice a year, a special Mass for all those living with cancer and other terminal illnesses, their caregivers and family members is celebrated. Bishop Jean Louis Plouffe, and now our new Bishop Marcel Damphousse is the main celebrant and homilist for this event. During November of 2016’s Year of Mercy, a twenty-four hour “I Am Mercy’ Retreat was celebrated led by Bishop Marcel and four priests of the Diocese. On October 13-14th of this year, another twenty-four hour retreat honouring Mary, Our Blessed Mother is being planned.
Each week before the prayer meeting begins, a DVD teaching series is shown on the large screen at Our Lady of Hope Church. All are invited to view these award-winning teaching series, which help us grow in our faith. Everyone is most welcome to attend and participate in all our activities.
Father Patrick Okenyi, sma, has been our Spiritual Director since Msgr. Farrell’s illness and ultimate death (2014).
Our prayer meetings are held each Thursday evening year round, for prayer, praise and song honoring God our Father, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit. The evening begins with praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, then the Rosary, a period of song and praise, followed by the Celebration of the Eucharist. At the conclusion of Mass, all who wish may be prayed with for their individual intentions.
The Sacrament of the Sick is administered on the last Thursday of every month by the priests of the prayer community. Many, many hundreds of people have been involved with the prayer community over the years, and many have remained to serve those the Lord sends to us. Within the prayer community, we have many active ministries doing God’s work. We are blessed with several gifted teachers and speakers who willingly give their time and expertise to serving God’s people. It is because of their commitment and dedicated service to the Lord and His people that we continue to be the ‘beacon on the hill’ that He is calling us to be.
For all who read this, we pray that you will invite the Lord Jesus to enter into your heart in a special way, to renew you and strengthen you, that you will grow deeply in love with Him, so that you will seek and follow the Will of God our Father.
Evangelization is the main goal of the little servants of Christ the King prayer community. Our Pope Francis summed up the three objectives of evangelization to which we are committed: firstly- to proclaim the Gospel to all people; secondly – to help bring about recommitment to those who already received the gospel but live it only nominally; and thirdly – to deepen the gospel in the lives of believers, so that we all can “Hand on The Faith” to coming generations. Praise be to God!
Little Servants of Christ the King 