Prayers From The Upper Room
It is only a room, isn’t it?
Yet the evangelists – usually taciturn on details – took care to name such a place. The Upper Room, or the Cenacle (from the Latin “coenaculum“) was the room where the Last Supper took place, where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. It was also to the Upper Room, to the Cenacle, that the disciples returned after the Ascension and, with Mary in their midst, “devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14) until the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Thus the Cenacle is no longer just a room, it is evocative of the heart’s journey throgh fear and loss, to courage and discipleship, love and mission. Indeed, Pope Paul VI once declared, “to enter the Cenacle is to enter the heart.”
For it is the heart that quickens in remembrance…
Of the memory of a gathering and encounter of deep intimacy, which was, above all, an occasion of love, a celebration of friendship. In the poignant symbols of broken bread and shared cup, in the humbling and intimate gesture of washing of feet, love was given, accepted, shared, remembered.
And in remembering, finds repose.
There is a certain quietness in the profound interiority that accompanies and gently encloses, as it were, this place. The nonchalant world, with its quicksilver dreams, may hurriedly pass by, but to those who wait in the Upper Room, life – with all its promise – is one remembered moment of prayer. For it is prayer that is at the heart of the mystery of the Cenacle.
Until the Spirit comes …
In bursting wind and transforming fire, to send the men and women of the Upper Room into eager witnesses “to the ends of the earth.”
These songs – many of them long cherished in the Cenacle – are indeed prayers from the Upper Room. We in the Cenacle hope that as they gently lead you to the Upper Room of your hearts, you will encounter the Lord. And in that sacred place, discover that our lives are truly journeys of faithful companionship, filled with the Presence of this One Love. Henceforth, in whatever way our lives unfold, may we be led by the Spirit to cast fire upon the world, in order
“to make Jesus known and loved.”
Album Tracks:
Featuring: Bubbles Bandojo, RC & Arnel dC. Aquino, SJ
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Cenacle Retreat House and Spirituality Center
From its beginnings in 1968, the Cenacle Retreat House has always been an oasis of peace and solitude right in the midst of the city.
Sing of Him
Listen to some excerpts from latest audio production from the Cenacle Sisters. You will need Adobe Flash Player installed on your browser to listen to the clips.