We’re a bit late getting to this – and apologies for that, but better that than never. The best laid plans o’ mice and men and a’ that. This is the week of prayer for Christian unity, encouraged by Popes from Leo XIII to our current Leo, in these days leading up to the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. We intercede for that full unity which already subsists in the Catholic Church, as the Mystical Body of her divine Founder. We pray that those divided from that unity seek that fundamental ‘mark’ of the Church, found only in the truth, ut unum sint, so that all may be one.
Here is one prayer from Pope Saint John Paul II we could modify for our own use:
I entrust to you, Mother of the Church, all the problems of this Church, the whole of her mission and of her service, while the second millennium of the history of Christianity on earth is about to draw to a close.
Spouse of the Holy Spirit and Seat of Wisdom, it is to your intercession that we owe the magnificent vision and the program of renewal of the Church in our age that found expression in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council…Grant that the whole Church may be reborn by drawing from this new fount of the knowledge of her nature and mission, and not from other foreign or poisoned “cisterns” (cf. Jer 8:14).
Help us in the great endeavor that we are carrying out to meet in a more and more mature way our brothers in faith, with whom so many things unite us, although there is still something dividing us. Through all the means of knowledge, of mutual respect, of love, of shared collaboration in various fields, may we be able to rediscover gradually the divine plan for the unity into which we should enter and bring everybody in, in order that the one fold of Christ may recognize and live its unity on earth. Mother of unity, teach us constantly the ways that lead to unity.
Mother of the Church, grant that the Church may enjoy freedom and peace in fulfilling her saving mission and that to this end she may become mature with a new maturity of faith and inner unity. Help us to overcome opposition and difficulties. Help us to rediscover all the simplicity and dignity of the Christian vocation. Grant that there may be no lack of “laborers in the Lord’s vineyard”. Sanctify families. Watch over the souls of the young and the hearts of the children. Help us to overcome the great moral threats against the fundamental spheres of life and love. Obtain for us the grace to be continually renewed through all the beauty of witness given to the Cross and Resurrection of your Son.
How many problems, Mother, should I not present to you by name in this meeting! I entrust them all to you, because you know them best and understand them.
I who am the first servant of the Church offer the whole Church to you and entrust it to you here with immense confidence, Mother. Amen.
