8th edition of a great intercessory Prayer of all Churches for our time 23/04/2012
THE 8th EXTRAORDINARY PRAYER OF ALL CHURCHES WILL BE HELD ON THE VIGIL OF THE ORTHODOX PENTECOST AT THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF JERUSALEM LOCATED AT THE 3rd and 4th STATION OF THE VIA CRUCIS, WHERE THE MEETING OF JESUS WITH HIS MOTHER IS COMMEMORATED AND A DAILY EUCHARISTIC ADORATION IS PRACTISED
In a desire of communion with the Orthodox Churches, the Armenian Catholic Church of Jerusalem has chosen the Vigil of the Orthodox Pentecost, Saturday, June 2nd, 2012, at 6 pm Holy Land time, to host the 8th Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches for Reconciliation, Unity and Peace, beginning in and proceeding from Jerusalem.
The extraordinary prayer of all Churches was born during a Vigil of Prayer at the Holy Sepulchre between few clergy representatives and lay worshippers in 2005, and is based on the inspiration of the urgency of a great intercessory prayer to God the Father for our time, involving all Churches and beginning from Jerusalem: a fervent and recurring prayer, spontaneously coming from the hearts of Christians inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is a fundamentally joyful prayer, because the participants adhere, by its very nature, to the Unity for which Christ prayed (John 17: 21) and which is itself a source of Joy. It is a prayer within everyone’s reach, because participation therein requires only that one recalls this intention of prayer on Saturdays at 6 p.m. local time, and that one actually pray, in a communion of prayer with all participants. Unity is in fact primarily a spiritual truth and is expressed in an essential manner in the community of prayer. Christians praying and celebrating together accept to enter into the dimension of eternity that frees them from evil.
The common prayer’s intentions are Reconciliation, Unity and Peace with God, and in God, with each other, both on individual and on collective level, first of all within the Church, and thus, in the world through the Church. The lack of Peace in the Church is not only a counter-testimony to Christ’s message, it is also, and especially, a negative spiritual reality, which weakens her spiritual strength. The Jerusalem Church, the “Mother of all Churches,” using, each time, the words of one of the rich Christian traditions represented in the Holy City through the different Churches, calls the whole Church back to its primary mission, and all nations to “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” in the name of Christ, “beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24, 47). The three intentions of the Extraordinary Prayer are also an act of faith in the Divine Mercy, who knows our limited forces.
The Armenian Catholic Church’s liturgy for Pentecost , which closely corresponds to the liturgy of the Armenian Orthodox Church, foresees the blessing of the four corners of the world, with the reading of four Gospels and an invocation to the Holy Spirit at each cardinal point. The blessing of the four corners of the world will be followed by the Vesper prayer, dedicated to the Glorification of the Holy and inseparable Trinity, and especially to the invocation of the Light, of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of gifts, the Giver of Peace.
7th Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches at the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate Church in Jerusalem 06/02/2012
Terra Sant New refers about the 7th Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches for Reconciliaition, Unity and Peace, held at the Coptic Orthodox Church of St Anthony in Jerusalem:
Seventh Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches to be held at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Jerusalem 19/10/2011
ON JANUARY 28. 2012, CHRISTIANS ARE INVITED TO JOIN AGAIN IN A GREAT INTERCESSORY PRAYER FOR OUR TIME HELD AT THE COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST. ANTHONY, CLOSE TO THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN JERUSALEM
With Our Lord’s help, on January 28, 2012, at 5 pm Holy Land time, all Churches will join again via a four continent live broadcast by Christian channels in a great intercessory prayer for Reconciliation, Unity and Peace for our time, beginning from Jerusalem.
In a spirit of communion, the seventh Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches for Reconciliation, Unity and Peace coincides, as in January 2011, with the Jerusalem Week of Prayer for Unity. It also coincides with the start of the 4th International Intercessory Prayer Day for Peace in the Holy Land, an initiative that gathers prayer groups in over two thousands cities all over the world and is patronized by the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The Catholic Church, promoter of the latter initiative, chooses with this coincidence to be in communion of prayer with all the participating Churches.
In these times of change, more than ever, it is urgent and necessary to ask for Our Lord’s Mercy. May He, insistently requested to do so, touch our hearts and inspire in them the irresistible desire to convert and to renew our faith, to reconciliate, to unite, and to live in the interior Peace of Christ, both as single Christians and as Christian Churches.
The Coptic Orthodox Church, who has often and also recently given witness of her profound faith in Jesus Christ, up to martyrdom, will propose a simple and very intense celebration, reflecting her rich and profound tradition.
May the intense call of the Church to Our Lord and Father be heard! May He bless His sons and daughters, those who hear the Word, those who listen to the Spirit of Life.
Pray for and with the Jerusalem Church 04/02/2011
AT THE VIGIL OF PENTECOST, ON JUNE 11, 2011, THE JERUSALEM CHURCHES SHALL CALL UPON THE SPIRIT WITH ONE VOICE
On June 11, 2011, at 6 pm Holy Land time, the Latin Catholic Church will host the sixth Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches for Reconciliation, Unity and Peace, beginning in and proceeding from Jerusalem. The prayer will be presided over by H.B. Mgr. Fouad Twal, the Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, from the Latin Patriarchate Church in the Holy City.
The coincidence of the sixth edition of this great intercessory prayer for our time called upon by the Jerusalem Churches with the Vigil of Pentecost - which this year all Christians celebrate on the same date – makes her a particularly joyful and solemn event. The Jerusalem Churches with one voice will call all Christians in the world to join in a communion of prayer for the intentions of Reconciliation, Unity and Peace.
The spiritual background of this profound and intense prayer, which was inspired as an urgent necessity to a few monks and lay people during a night prayer vigil in 2005 at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, is both the renewal of mankind in the Triune God, on individual and collective level, and reconciliation, unity and peace in the Church as an essential part of this renewal.
The initiative has been lifted and conducted by the Spirit since its very start; Indeed, there is no other possible explanation why it is developing, notwithstanding all difficulties that arise along the road, and considering the limited means available to spread it into the world.
The Latin Church shall propose a liturgy of the word held in Latin, Arabic and Hebrew, reflecting both her beautiful tradition and her local specificities, as the initiative proposes to do, so that Christians learn to know each other better. The heavenly Church will be called to join the earthly Church in her fervent prayer to the Lord with a litany of Saints.
The prayer will be broadcast live by Christian TV channels to the Middle East, Europe, and to the Americas, as well as in differed mode. It will be followed by a documentary on the Latin Church.
I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
(Is 62: 6)
The next Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches coincides with the Jerusalem Week of Prayer for Unity 10/12/2010
ON JANUARY 29th. 2011, at 5 P.M. HOLY LAND TIME, THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF JERUSALEM WILL HOST THE FIFTH EXTRAORDINARY PRAYER OF ALL CHURCHES
Archbishop Abba Matthias, the Head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, will preside over the next Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches for Reconciliation, Unity and Peace. This great intercessory prayer for our time, beginning in and proceeding from Jerusalem, coincides with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Jerusalem, which is being held one week later than in the rest of the world this year, in order to avoid interfering with the Christmas celebrations of the Armenian Orthodox Christians of Jerusalem.
The proposed prayers for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are particularly significant this year. Composed by Jerusalem Christians themselves, they beautifully reflect the solidarity that made the early Jerusalem Church 'One in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer' (Acts 2 : 42 - 47).
The Extraordinary Prayer of all Churches for Reconciliation, Unity and Peace, is an invitation from the Jerusalem Mother Church to establish, among all the Churches, a continual communion in prayer throughout the year, every Saturday at 6 p.m. local time, so that through our profound and sincere petitions, and with the Lord's help, the Churches may again find the path to full communion. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" (Revelation 2:7)! More Peace in the Church in fact will spiritually strengthen our time.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, with her rich traditions inspired by ancient Judeo-Christian practices, with her strong devotion to the Virgin Mary and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael and with her deep sense of Mystery, will offer us a celebration of great beauty.
As at the preceding events, the prayer will be broadcast live by several Christian Channels in the Middle East and Europe, and by a differed mode in the Americas and elsewhere.
Week of prayer for Christian Unity :
http://www.oikoumene.org/programmes/unity-mission-evangelism-and-spirituality/spirituality-and-worship/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity.html
