24-7 prayer spreads like wildfire across AustriaSusanna Rychiger - 30 Aug 2012
Here at 24-7 Prayer HQ we keep hearing stories of Prayer Rooms springing up in Austria, it seems obvious that God is doing something powerful in that Nation. After a little research we discovered it was the Catholic community, Loretto, that was to blame for this new surge of prayer …. we sent Susanna Rychiger to investigate:
"I want to feel real” screams Robbie Williams in his song 'Feel', probably at the pinnacle of his fame. Understandably – who wouldn’t like that? Who is not thirsty and has a deep longing to have a perspective and a meaning in life?
We long for a new fire of the Holy Spirit in our country, according to a new Pentecost.
In the heart of the Church let us therefore pray for a renewal of the Church, act and live.
Trusting in the grace of God we create spaces in which God can be experienced.
That’s the introduction found on the Loretto community website and I can assure you it is not the only sign that this is a young, charismatic movement in the Catholic Church, who stand up, love Jesus and bring hope to the world. Founded in 1987 by a small student prayer group, Loretto has grown to a 
community of several hundred members. At Pentecost every year they organize a vibrant Party for young people in the Salzburg Cathedral. This year saw around 4000 people between the age 16-25 (and some older) attending the event. Divided into different communities, the members live a life marked by prayer, community and proclamation of the Gospel.
A couple of years ago “Red moon Rising" (the book that tells the story of 24-7 Prayer) found its way to Georg Mayr-Melnhof, the founder of the Loretto movement. George found it’s pages echoed his heart and the heart behind Loretto. The two movements are very similar in many respects, though one is catholic and one isn’t. As the registration of 24-7 Prayer Rooms increased massively in Austria, we were very curious why there was this sudden growth in prayer and we had to get in contact. It was a huge encouragement to find a young, dynamic, movement that passionately lives for Jesus.
The prayer fire of the Austrians ignited three young people in Switzerland. Being members of the Catholic church, they organized a week of 24-7 Prayer in a chapel monastery in Brig. Under the first skeptical but yet curious eyes of the nuns, the Prayer Room opened. After a few hours it was clear that this was a call of God and the people followed. The nuns were thrilled to see a passion amongst the young people to get serious with prayer. The 24-7 prayer week twice made the headlines in the local newspaper and the Holy Mass at the end of the week had to be moved to another church because the chapel at the monastery was just too small to hold the 700 people attending.
We are excited that the Loretto Community will be joining with the 24-7 family at Eurogathering in October. We are thrilled with what Jesus is doing in the kingdom and it is great to know our catholic friends are part of it! Yes we are different, live out our faith differently - but we have one thing in common: the passion for Jesus burns continuously within 24-7 as within Loretto.
Together we agree: THE VISION IS JESUS!
All images showing the Loretto pentecostal celebration 2012 - the entire album can be viewed on the Loretto Community Website (www.loretto.at) and are owned by the Loretto community.