Let nothing trouble us but strive to empty ourselves. God calls us to make a total surrendering to His Holy Will. Dying to ourselves, as Jesus said: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake, will find it.” – Matthew 16:25
Dying to self is the transformation of the soul. To be a true beggar, one must be emptied – poor in spirit. Through our emptiness, we’d be able to beg God to fulfill the needs that He desires for us. Only through Jesus, by Jesus, and with Jesus, that our lives would be fulfilled.
- A Life of Sanctifying Grace: Beggars are encouraged to continuously seek to live a life of sanctifying grace; to ensure that God continuously dwells within your soul.
- Accountability: All beggars of Christ are one family in Christ. Because of this we support each other growing in the Faith. As imperfect humans we need encouragement from one another. The road to holiness is tough and narrow, and the hillsare steep. Together with God we are stronger as a group, making the journey to our Heavenly destiny easier than if we were to do it on our own. “Encourage each other daily while it is still today.” –Hebrews 3:13
- Confession: Ensure never to fall into a state of mortal sin, and always strive to avoid venial sin. Sin opens doors to evil. Small venial sins, if left uncheck or unrepentant, can lead to another and then another, then a grave sin. That’s how the cunning devil gets us. Regular confession not only brings us back into a state of grace, but also pushes us to carry out examinations of conscience. St. Ignatius of Loyola considered the examination of conscience to be the most important spiritual exercise.
- Mass: Attend Mass and receive the Holy Eucharist daily if possible, to help maintain your state of grace. As Thomas à Kempis wrote in The Imitation of Christ, “we come to His table as a beggar having been invited to dine with the king. In return, our littleness has nothing to offer THE KING above all kings. For this reason we must humble ourselves and praise Him unceasingly.” When we receive Jesus we receive the whole Christ: divinity and humanity, body and soul, flesh and blood. With great veneration, let no fragments of His flesh touch our unworthy beggar’s hands or fall to the ground. Receive Him directly on the tongue, kneeling (if possible). He is the principal source of strength. We are to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength.Through our love for Him we are able to love others.
- Eucharistic Adoration: Our Savior is hidden in the Real Presence of the Eucharist.How humble He is, His desire to be with us. We must beg Him in the Blessed Sacrament to infuse in us the spirit of humility. A true beggar of Christ must dwell in humility. Salvation is through humility, without which we cannot reach our heavenly destiny. It is a need for us to spend several hours a week adoring Jesus.If we are unable to adore Him while on earth, how then can we adore Him for eternity when He calls us home?
- Word of God: To love Jesus is to know His works and life. Jesus has paved a way of life for us to follow. He is the life! It is very important we set aside time each day to read Holy Scripture, meditate and live the Word of God.
- Praying the Our Father: The Our Father is the ultimate beggar’s prayer. When praying it our hands need to be in the position of begging. We are begging our FATHER to provide us daily food, forgive our sins, grant us graces to forgive others, and protect us from evil (sin).
- Immaculate Heart of Mary: The members must strive to increase their devotion to Our Lady as per Our Lady of Fatima’s messages, and also follow the 33 days of St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary
- Sacred Heart of Jesus:
Jesus opens up His heart to us, inviting us into a personal, intimate relationship with Him. Beggars of Christ are to accept this Amazing invitation and embrace His heart to dwell into ours. From Jesus’ heart, endless Divine Graces and Mercy gush fourth to the whole world. The same Precious Blood from Jesus’ heart sprouts the Sacraments of the one true Catholic Church, from which sanctifies us into the true children of God and reserves for us places in Heaven with Him. “…in the pierced heart of the Crucified, God’s own heart is opened up; here we see who God is and what he is like. Heaven is no longer locked up. God has stepped out of His hiddenness.” – Pope Benedict XVI – The Spirit of the Liturgy, p. 48
- Prayer and Fasting: Why is it important? Because Jesus did it! Jesus fasted for 40 days prior to His ministry. During fasting, we too will be facing many temptations. Denying the desires of our flesh and worldly things to increase the awareness of our spirits, from which, we’re made more in union with God through prayers and supplications. Beggars of Christ are encouraged to fast often, and abstain from meat on Fridays and Wednesdays.
- House cleaning: Your dwelling place on earth should be blessed and cleansed of unholy objects.We suggest it be occupied with old-rite blessed objects such as Holy Crosses (for each room), statues of Mary and St. Michael, and other saints’ and angels’ statues and pictures.
- Sacramental Objects: Wear a Benedictine Cross and a Brown Scapular for protection against evil spirits.This also is an outward way to be a witness to our great Catholic Faith. Always carry a Rosary. It is a wonderful way to remind us to say the Rosary anytime, anywhere, and at any available opportunity.
- Spiritual Director: It is suggested, but not required that beggars of Christ members have a confessor or a trained spiritual director.
All the requirements and suggestions above are free will and it is not a sin if you are not able to follow them.