House of Prayer celebrates 25 years

In an Albany neighborhood where people still gather on expansive porches and hang wind chimes, Abba House blends in as quietly today as it did when it first opened on Western Avenue as an oasis of prayer, Bible study and peace. It is celebrating its silver anniversary this month.

The three-story single family house has been home to Abba House of Prayer since 1973. It was established in 1971 at then-Kenwood Academy (now Doane Stuart School) with goals that included the aims envisioned by house of prayer founders like Thomas Merton: to provide a place where people could dwell for a time with a small community whose lives were centered in prayerful worship of God.

From that experience -- a weekend, a day as a hermit, a sabbatical of several months, a week-long retreat, an evening of prayer, or a hour before the Blessed Sacrament -- people could return to their homes and work, re-energized as God's children in a wonderful and challenging world.

Named for 'Father'

"We found in our prayer with the original community of five sisters that those few passages of Scripture which use the term 'Abba' stood out over and over," says Sister Mary Gen Smyth, RSCJ, one of the two founders and core members of the house of prayer.

So the Semitic word "Abba," which is an intimate way of addressing the Creator as loving parent or "daddy," became the center's name. It is the term Jesus used when creating the "Our Father."

"It is actually a prayer in itself," added Sister Elizabeth (Libby) Hoye, RSCJ, co-founder and co-director today.

Serving thousands

Over the past 25 years, thousands of people from almost every continent have walked through the doors of Abba House: clergy and religious on sabbaticals; laity from near and far; and often, clergy of other Christian denominations who come for prayer or quiet time.

Among the specially developed programs at Abba House are:

* The Daily Life Retreat, offered in two-hour evening sessions, weekly for eight weeks, twice a year. Some 150 people have completed the year-long program over the past 10 years;

* The New Year's Eve program with Midnight Mass as a high point for some 35 to 50 participants;

* Weekly Bible classes, offering morning and evening sessions concentrating on one book of the Bible or one theme, along with prayer and faith experience touching on life today. From the first, classes have been "ecumenical," Sister Libby says, with each class drawing 15-20 men and women of several Christian denominations.

Recently, a woman in Honolulu, Hawaii, tried to sign up for centering prayer classes at Abba House. Calling long distance, she expected a "satellite" Abba House somewhere on the islands.

In speaking with her about contacting the Honolulu Diocese for the name of a local spiritual life center, Sister Libby discovered she had not been to any church in many years; she simply felt more comfortable approaching a house of prayer.

That phone call from half a world away reassures the Abba House team once again of the value of their efforts. Being a bridge for those who want to deepen their relationship with God but who may be hesitant about approaching a church is one of the "goals behind the house of prayer development in the first place," Sister Libby noted.

That unspoken evangelization aim is a development they have seen lived out countless times over the past 25 years.

(Editor's note: A calendar of events and information on Abba House is available by calling 438-8320.)

(10-10-96)

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