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Testimonials of Priests in the Catholic Church
The adoration with prostration posture is the expression of the true recognition of man to God as God, and to position oneself as a creature but very dear to God, therefore I recommend you and accompany you with my prayer along with all your faithful ahead.”
(Monsignor Han Lim Moon,
Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Martín,
Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Fr. José Laureano Ballesteros Blanco, Parish Priest of the Christ the King Parish,
San Cristobal, Venezuela and Director of the Diario Catolico in Venezuela
I am Father José Laureano Ballesteros, a priest of Christ the King Parish in San Cristóbal.
This parish had the privilege of having been chosen by Monsignor Mgr. Mario del Valle Moronta to have the parish carry out the daily prayer of the Six Prostrations, an apostolic and spiritual activity which has been going on for two years with a brilliant testimony of love of God and neighbor.
The group of Six Prostrations nourished their faith with prayer. The readings are sacred writings and meditations and the practice of good works that have truly been an example of solidarity and help. Faith has grown and it is certainly beginning to bear the very good fruit of witness within our community.
The group stands out for its love for God and for neighbor. The group of Six Prostrations hold a constant participation in the Eucharistic Adoration but at the same time campaigned house-to-house to invite the faithful and neighbors to participate in the Eucharistic Adoration on Sundays and also accompany the sick and the poor, they needed so much to give them the spiritual support and help that God asks in the Bible – to love their neighbor in need.
The group of Six Prostrations of the parish of Christ the King also understood very well the message of the acts of the apostles; they help financially by paying the secretary’s salary each month, they helped decorate the temple, especially the Tabernacle, they are always ready to help, collaborate in the repair of the electricity and other needs, such that the food of the poor and possibly help for the parish priest and we appreciate this service.
THE SIX KOWTOWS IN THE HEART OF THE CHURCH
To better understand the work and fruits of this mission of sanctification of the world and adoration that advances with much faith and boldness – a growing group of laypeople, with a clear call to conversion to achieve peace and the triumph of love in our society, and in a manner very particular and urgent inside of the Catholic Church – it is necessary to allow ourselves to be illuminated by the same wisdom manifested in the documents of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.
In effect, being called to The Six Kowtows, a work entrusted to the laity in favor of the laity, we see what the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium * says in Section 34: “The supreme and Eternal Priest, Christ Jesus, since he wills to continue his witness and service also through the laity, vivifies them in this Spirit and increasingly urges them on to every good and perfect work.
But to those whom God intimately associates within their life and mission, He also makes them participate in his priestly office, in order to exercise spiritual worship for His glory and the salvation of men. For the laity, when consecrated to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, have an admirable vocation and they are instructed so that in them is produced always the most abundant fruits of the Spirit.
For all the laity’s works, prayers and apostolic projects, married and family life, daily work, the rest of the soul and the body – if they are carried out in the Spirit, even the annoyances of life, if patiently suffered, become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5) that, in celebration of the Eucharist, with the oblation of the Body of the Lord, they offer piously to the Father. So also, the laity, as adorers who do holy works everywhere, consecrate the world itself to God”.
The testimony of adoration and holy fear of God that the laity have been giving in their own families and communities, through the assiduous practice of The Six Kowtows, has been growing steadily and has borne proven fruits of conversion in those that do this exercise carefully.
In addition, there is also the growth of an intimate, sacramental coexistence within the church, with a thirst and hunger for God through the frequent practice of the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, along with the sanctification of the home through marriage. In them is felt anew that clamor of the African martyrs: without Sunday we cannot live, without the Eucharist, we cannot live.
For their part, the six nuclei of vocal or mental prayer that accompany the practice of The Six Kowtows establishes a symbiosis between heaven and earth, between the Holy Trinity and Their masterpiece of creation, redemption and sanctification that renews, reconstructs and strengthens one solid Christian life in those who practice this way of upward conversion. Thus, the warning of the spiritual teachers of the Church is completely fulfilled: to not advance daily in the spiritual life is to fall back.
In effect, the First Kowtow – in which meditation is made on the Father and his creative work – is related to the Fourth Kowtow, in which the meditation takes one to contemplate the beginning of the new creation that opens with the Incarnation and it is maintained throughout the history of humanity thanks to the prodigy of the Eucharist, the primordial food that renews the real presence of Jesus every day in the midst of his disciples and apostles until the end of the world.
The Second Kowtow is accompanied by mediation on the Redeeming Son, who, at announcing the Good News with words and works, was totally obedient to the will of the Father and accepts death and death on the Cross; thus, He opens in this way the relationship with the Fifth Kowtow that contemplates, with the renewed amazement of heaven and earth, the Five Holy Wounds of Our Lord.
Finally, they unite the Third and Sixth Kowtows in loving embrace. The meditation on the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the grand gift of Easter and the constructor of the Church, who finds in the Virgin Mary the perfect model of the new creature loved by God to save humanity – the disciple and pedagogue, the interlocutor of human beings to accept the plan of God. She, full of grace, together with her husband, Joseph, faithful husband and exemplary father, constitute the last view of this exercise that, in a good hour, thousands of men and women in the world come to practice daily with their humility and silent position of prostration before Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, King of kings and Lord of lords, really present with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.
Without a doubt, the spiritual and physical exercise of The Six Kowtows has managed to bring together, in humble and diligent prayer, everything that the Church has said about herself in the eight chapters of Lumen Gentium.
With the approval of the Bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal, Monsignor Mario Moronta Rodriguez, in Venezuela, this spiritual exercise of The Six Kowtows is taking place every day in the parish of Cristo Rey de las Lomas with proven effects of conversion and spiritual and apostolic growth in our community.
August 18, 2020
“At the end of December 2019 I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the company of friends and neighbors who have been doing The Six Kowtows daily in our Cristo Rey Parish in Las Lomas, San Cristóbal, Venezuela, and at one point I formulated without words, without moving my mouth, a humble request to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to explain to me what He felt when receiving this gesture of adoration in the kowtows, because sometimes I felt confused. And I felt that HE responded after a brief silence: ‘They cause me great joy.’ That was all.”
Father Laureano Ballesteros, Pastor of Christ the King Parish, San Cristóbal, Venezuela
Eucharistic adoration with The Six Kowtows on June 18, 2020, at 7:30 am, in the Cristo Rey parish, in Las Lomas, San Cristóbal, Venezuela.
Rev. Hildebrando Ruiz, Pastor, Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Diocese of San Cristóbal, Venezuela
“A friend of Fernando’s informed me that Doctor Roger, whom he called brother Roger, wanted to tell me about an activity called The Six Kowtows.
When I received the Doctor and looked at the leaflet that contained the guide of these praises, I realized that it summed up all the doctrine professed by our Catholic Faith regarding the mystery of God the Father and His beloved Son Jesus Christ, of the Church, and of His Blessed Mother Mary.
It caused me to have great admiration and I proposed that the faithful of the community recite them prostrated before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, whereby, I gave myself the task of summoning the faithful who came very fervently to the exercise of The Six Kowtows on Saturdays at 4 p.m.
I, together with those prostrated, have had grand experiences of God and the Lord. He has not made us wait, granting us many graces and wonderous works, especially conversions.
I myself, taking into account this beautiful experience, would like to see it extended and the Holy Spirit is the one who guides it, as well as brother Roger Parra. I think that it is the instrument of God to propagate adoration via The Six Kowtows and thus disseminate the Reign of Jesus Christ and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and we, prostrated, want to do the will of the Holy Trinity for their greatest Glory and the Salvation of humanity.”
My name is Father Tomás Sergio Alberto Zamora Calderón, currently serving as parish priest in Our Lady of Pilar Parish of Zaragoza, in León, Nicaragua.
My experience with the kowtows began with the arrival of brother Roger Parra to Nicaragua. After making contact through the will of God, we agreed to pray for our own countries on a Sunday in the parish that I serve. After his explanation, before beginning the kowtows, I introduced the time of adoration. After this, and it has been two years since then, my faith in the Eucharistic Sacrament has grown, thanks to God. This practice has helped me enormously to comprehend the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. I am reminded of the words of St. John Paul II: “To evangelize the world there is need of apostles who are ‘experts’ in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist.”
Today I comprehend that to be a witness of the resurrection of Our Lord, you have to know how to contemplate Him, just as the apostle John contemplated Him. Jesus is alive in the Eucharist, and to be a great missionary, it is sufficient to see Him there, in that Sacrament of LOVE.
Truly, the kowtows pushed me to give more time to this marvelous Sacrament. I would not be a Christian if I didn’t live, didn’t adore and didn’t believe in Jesus made bread. And only in this way do the words come to my mind to illuminate the faithful that I guide to eternal life, to Jesus our Lord.
My name is Father Enmanuel Pernía Roa. I am the pastor of the Parish of San Judas and San Pedro de La Romera, of the diocese of San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela.
About two years ago, I heard about the adoration prayer of The Six Prostrations before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
It is after a year in the Church of San Judas Tadeo, my brother Roger Parra encouraging me greatly, that I put into practice this prayer of adoration. I always take the one to God the Father (1st Kowtow). What peace you feel! And more during these moments that we live, I feel the protection of the Lord, whom I adore with more love now.
The Prostrations have brought many blessings to my parish, as one of the people who always accompanies and who also directs this adoration, Mrs. Angelina Perera says:”Father, this prayer will bring many blessings to your parish, you will remember this, because the Lord does great things for his children who love him with devotion”
One lives everything, I live this moment in my country, and I see reflected in the great work of God. Let’s give all blessings of worship to Him. I have the project to build the parish hall, which we need, I heard the voice of the Lord:”Ask that you will receive”. Today I thank him for his love and blessing, I have almost ready the 18 columns that this room has. In this time that we live so difficult, and without resources, I see the blessing of God in this parish. God bless us all!
Father José Alirio Zambrano,
Parish of San José in San Cristóbal Venezuela
The kowtows, or as we have called Eucharistic Adoration, following the six meditations in honor of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Body and Blood of Jesus, His Five Holy Wounds, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, have been done freely or inspired. It has been a good instrument for some people to come closer to the Eucharistic Jesus, because in my case, that is what we seek to become aware of the importance of prayer before the Eucharistic Jesus.
[…] Therefore, this way of praying, I have seen that it bears fruit, since it has led many to grow spiritually and humanly; they are also more aware of the Presence of Jesus the Eucharist, as well as of their being as Church, disciples of Jesus. I ask the Lord not to stay in a novelty or innovation and that people continue to truly come closer, to quench their thirst for an encounter with Jesus. I bless the Lord for this group. I offer prayers so that many come closer and can live their experience of being of Jesus and for Jesus, and able to affect and encourage others to discover the greatness and richness it is to pray before the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.It is the attitude, the surrender, the disposition and not so much the position, that leads us to approach the Lord, love him and follow him. For this reason I have supported them and will continue supporting them because there is nothing better than discovering how much God loves us to the point of wanting to stay with us forever in that Consecrated Host.
Thank you God for so much love and thank you to all who strive to make Jesus’ presence and life known in the Eucharist.
With my loving blessing,
Father José Alirio Zambrano
Pastor of San José Church
San Cristobal, Venezuela
I am Oscar Varela, the parish priest of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, in Las Mesas, Táchira State, Venezuela
June 9, 2020
Receive a hug in Our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Virgin Mary.
Today it is Friday and we are in preparation for what will be Corpus Christi Sunday, a special moment to give thanks to God, especially because he has made us brothers in his Holy Cross.
We know well that, in the middle of the difficulties that the world can have and the problems that can exist in the middle of this pandemic, the Sacramental presence of Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, has made us remember the beautiful prostration taken from the Old Testament when the Lord through Abraham shows us the sacrifice of his son, Isaac. When he lifted his eyes before his own father, he said, “Father, we have the wood, but where is the animal for the sacrifice?” And the response of his father Abraham was: “God will provide.”
Jesus today wants to tell us the same: God has provided us time, talent, and treasure to love Him and adore Him. We are living in difficult times in history, in which man has always wanted to stay far away from God, away from the Divine Salvation. But the Lord, for that great mystery unfathomable to man, and at times unknown to humanity, will present simple and humble people whom He sends to us to adore Him and love Him.
The Ark of the Covenant came to be the first sanctuary in which the manna was, the tablets of the Law, and the Staff of Aaron, but that manna, as our Lord Jesus Christ said, stayed in history. Their fathers ate it and died, but we love Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; just as it says in the encyclical Gaudium et Spes, we adore Christ in the Eucharist as in the Word.
And that mystery, so great and powerful, was revealed in a very simple Vietnamese woman; according to what Dr. Roger Parra related, it leaves for us like an account of the spiritual life and mystique of the Church.
How did that woman question brother Roger? How did she talk about the great plan of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament? This brings to mind the mind that all the saints prostrated before the Lord. It is so beautiful so see the adoration of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; St. Thomas Aquinas came out with that beautiful canticle of Pange Lingua – the last verse starts: “Tantum ergo Sacramentum, veneremur cernui, et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui…”
Today we have the privilege to continue being evangelizers, to put our knees and our foreheads on the ground, to adore Jesus Christ alive and true, with His body, His blood, His soul and His divinity in the Holy and Consecrated Host.
It is beautiful to see how in the parish of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, in Las Mesas, a small group of people, with love and mercy, come close and place our knees and foreheads on the ground to praise and bless Him. This is not an act of magic, but of humiliation, like the great St. John the Baptist said: “May He increase and may I decrease.”
We cannot lose sight of the importance of what it is to prostrate. Today we are facing the pretense of evil installing a new world order, that wants to take God out of our lives and put the enemy in God’s place. Then, you, with your knees and with your foreheads on the ground, prostrating before the Only true God, say always and everywhere: “Only before the Lord do I kneel. Only the Lord do I adore. Only before the Lord do I prostrate.” It is the same response from Our Lord Jesus Christ during the temptation in the desert.
My experience, as a priest in the kowtows, is very beautiful: Every Thursday I dedicate a time placing myself in prostration before the Lord to tell Him: “Forgive my sins, my weaknesses, and my falls. I love you, Lord Jesus. In the midst of this shell that is my body, in the torture of sin that is in my soul, only you do I adore, My Jesus.”
My experience encourages me to invite others, so that many brothers, many Christians, may bend their knees, place our foreheads on the ground. It is true that there are other religions, other cultures that do this, that prostrate their heads on the ground, but they do this to a god that cannot hear because it does not exist, a god who may be alone in the heart, but we have the One true God who is present, live, real, in the Holy sacrament of the altar. For this reason, he hears us, understands us, strengthens us, does not let us fall in the temptations of this world, and delivers us from all evil.
God bless that Vietnamese woman who initiated this way of adoration prostrated at the feet of God, in the real presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I encourage you to continue praying, to continue kowtowing. There are barriers that we must overcome. And remember what Pope Paul VI said: “The smoke from hell has penetrated the walls of the Church.” Well, we have to open the windows so that the smoke comes out and the light comes in, which is Our Lord Jesus Christ. May the One and true Jesus Christ live in the Holy and consecrated host! May You be always blessed, loved, praised and adored! That all evangelizers of the kowtows, apostles of the truth, in the midst of the valley of tears, never give up.
We are One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, obedient to Saint Peter, and his bishops. We know that where Peter is, there is the Church, and there is the rock: “You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the powers of hell will not prevail against it.”
May God bless you always and I do not tire to say: Praised and Adored be Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Father Oscar Varela
Parish priest of Nuestra Señora del Carmen Parish,
in Las Mesas, Táchira State, Venezuela
Testimony of Fr. Carlos Macias, Pastor of Holy Family Parish in San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela
Good afternoon, God bless you and accompany you. I hope you are well and doing well in the name of the Lord.
I have read the document that you have sent me and I really have no qualms about what is said there. Indeed, I believe that it is a very important part also, so that we can understand what it means to be before the Blessed Sacrament. I have been telling people, which sometimes even we priests find it difficult to understand, and that is the fact that we have to remove from our lexicon; objectify the Blessed Sacrament.
In recent days I saw on Facebook that they said: “What is the Blessed Sacrament?” I say that we should not say what he is, but who he is, because he is truly Jesus with his Body, with his Blood, with his Soul, with his Divinity, that is, the same one who was born from the Blessed womb of Mary, the same one who preached, the same one who celebrated the Last Supper, who died on the cross and who rose again, the same one who is there in the Tabernacle, the same one who is the consecrated host. So we must remove that language.
The host, but what host? The consecrated host, we must put the adjective to what we say, that noun that is Jesus, right? And who is the Blessed Sacrament? The Holy of Holies. And this action of the kowtows gives us more understanding of what we really need to have as an attitude before the Blessed Sacrament.
I believe that kowtows lead us to truly worship the Lord. That is why I congratulate you and I congratulate all those who are making the effort so that Jesus may be loved, honored and revered in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. He is there, present; as Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer says: He is there, crazy, crazy with love, imprisoned for us in the Tabernacle; from there, to pour out and radiate all possible blessings for all who come to adore and bless Him.
May God pay you for that effort, and entrust me in your prayers on this day of the priest and always. Hugs, may God always take care of you.