Peoria, IL 61612-0684
What is Palanca?
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In Cursillo, we use the word Palanca to designate the spiritual force represented by voluntary prayers and sacrifices which are done individually or in community with the aim of obtaining the grace of conversion.
In the same way that the lever enables a person to lift something which is beyond his or her strength, the prayers and sacrifices allows the person to accomplish more than he or she could alone. The Palancas help to overcome the resistance to grace for those for whom we pray. Palancas help to make life arise in abundance.Palanca is an ACTION – intercessory prayer, sacrifices, works of mercy, or actions that help before or during a Cursillo weekend.
Palanca Can Be…- Prayers: spending time in Adoration, offering a Mass, saying the rosary, etc.
- Sacrifices: fasting, giving up something, doing a kind act that only you and God know about, etc.
- Works of Mercy (spiritual or corporal): giving alms, working in the food pantry, or visiting the sick, etc.
- Actions that help the weekend: spending time in the in-person and/or virtual 72-hour prayer chapel, coloring love script pages, helping in the kitchen and/or serving meals, helping to clean-up after closings, driving someone to a weekend, attending a weekend closing, etc.
Fasting can either be a hard fast (only water, etc.), or a Lenten type fast (two small meals, one medium meal, no in-between snacks). Fasting may also include something other than food, e.g., fasting from social media, television, etc.
Many types of Palanca are self-explanatory, this section will focus on those that might not be clear to someone who is new to offering Palanca. The descriptions and examples are used to help without reference to any particular source. You may share any of these that you have done for Palanca in a Palanca letter either handwritten or submitted in the online form.
Acts of FastingActs of Personal Devotion
Think of an Act of Personal Devotion as something that you do that furthers the Cursillo Movement or brings a friend to Christ. For example, you might call a friend who hasn’t been grouping to encourage him/her. Respond to a request for assistance helping to set up or remove chairs at a Clausura or an Ultreya. You can probably think of other examples. An act of devotion may not take long, but you can count it as Palanca.Acts of Personal Sacrifice
This is like acts of personal devotion, but you give up something else when you act. For instance, you’re asked if you can help a Cursillo event with your time or treasure. You may be giving up time when you would have done something else or spent money on something else. Perhaps it’s simply inconvenient, but you do it anyway, count it as an act of personal sacrifice.Catholic Prayers
These are traditional Catholic prayers that aren’t covered in another type of Palanca. Examples are Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, the Morning Offering, the Angelus, the Divine Office, etc. If it’s in a Catholic book of prayers, then it’s a Catholic prayer.Chaplets
Most of us would think right away of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, but any chaplet can count. The Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel, the Chaplet of the Ten Virtues of Mary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary are examples of other chaplets.Days of Abstinence
A day when you give up something, food or otherwise, for the Cursillo, it’s a day of abstinence. The Cursillo has received Palanca for our weekends when people count as abstinence a day when no television was watched, or the radio was left off in the car. Think of anything that would be a normal and expected part of your day and let go of it for a day.Hours of Adoration
This one is straightforward enough, but it is sometimes confused with Visits to the Blessed Sacrament. If you are before the exposed Blessed Sacrament in a Perpetual Adoration chapel or a holy hour, please count the hours spent.Hours of Personal Devotion
The difference between this type of Palanca and an act of devotion is that it can be measured in hours, and it is one that any active Fourth Day Cursillista will have no trouble counting. How long does your group reunion last? How long was that Ultreya that you attended? How much time did you spend on a team or as a weekend volunteer? Are you a member of the Cursillo Secretariat or on a Secretariat committee? If you can say yes to any of these questions, I’ll bet you can also count one or two hours a week as Palanca. Oh, and don’t forget to count drive time as part of those hours.Litanies
This is a specific type of Catholic prayer. Examples: Litany of Humility, Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Litany of Loreto, etc.Masses and Communions
Self-explanatory.Novenas
A novena is comprised of Catholic prayers or intercessory prayers that are prayed over a nine-day period. For example, the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, or the Novena to St. Jude.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
No explanation is needed. Count them if they’re not part of a recitation of The Rosary or a novena.Personal Prayers
This type of Palanca is just the way it sounds. If you say a prayer in your own words, it is a personal prayer. For example, one might pray, “Lord, thank you for your infinite love and mercy. Please be with me as I talk to my friend about Cursillo. Send forth the Holy Spirit to guide my words and open my friend’s heart to your love. In Jesus name I pray.”Prayers of Intercession
This is a prayer with which you petition our Lord’s help by asking a saint or the Blessed Mother to intercede on your behalf. It can be either a personal prayer of intercession or one of the many Catholic prayers of intercession.Rosaries and Stations of the Cross
Self-explanatory.
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament aka ‘Tabernacle Visit’
This can be counted each time you visit a tabernacle in a church/chapel sanctuary or the exposed Blessed Sacrament. In the case of the latter, if the visit was an hour or more, count it as an hour of adoration.
What Are Palanca Letters?
You send a Palanca letter to someone informing them of the prayers and sacrifices that you offer to God on their behalf. The letter is not the Palanca. Even if you don’t send a letter, the Palanca is still raised up for their intention.
Weekend Palanca Letters
General Palanca letters to those on the Cursillo weekend will be posted with others from the international community in an area for all to read and experience. Personal Palanca letters to candidates and team members will be put into the packet of materials the new cursillistas and team members receive at the end of the weekend.