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Blessed are the humble of heart; they will receive the land that God has promised.
Matthew 5:5
Spirituality is the basis and heart of our community life. Volunteers come to the Farm to personally develop their relationships with God and to share their unique spirituality with one another. All volunteers are asked to participate in the established community. The foundation of our community is based on our shared prayer life and spirituality. When facing hardships in relationships with others and in our work, our community prayer life serves as a source of strength to resolve difficulties. In order to share our gifts and serve others in the volunteer community and the larger community around us, we must nourish ourselves individually and as a community with prayer.
Volunteers are asked to make community prayer commitments before arrival. All volunteers gather at 6:00 a.m. to pray the Liturgy of the Hours each weekday morning with the house parents, house helpers, and children in our chapel. Individuals take turns offering personal reflections and additional spiritual readings of choice as part of the Morning Prayer. The entire Farm community attends Mass on Sundays in Trujillo and participates in a communion service in our chapel usually one morning a week in place of the regular Morning Prayer. Community night, mentioned above, is an opportunity for volunteers to pray together, reflect, and discuss. Volunteers take turns leading community night and can choose the topic of discussion. The success of the volunteer community relies on the commitment by all volunteers to participate fully in these spiritual activities.
The volunteer community is welcome to complement these established prayer commitments with other prayer times that occur on the Farm. For example at 8:00 p.m. each weekday evening, a small group of adults gathers to pray Evening Prayer and to discuss daily readings. Women from the local villages and the Farm gather weekly to discuss the challenges of the Gospel in their lives. In addition, the children pray the Rosary together each weekday evening and have catechism classes on afternoon a week.