CHAIR OF UNITY OCTAVE - SECOND DAY

     CHAIR OF UNITY OCTAVE

                    

                   ANTIPHON

That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. (John 17:21)

V. I say unto thee that thou art Peter,

R. And upon this Rock I will build My Church.

                 Let us pray

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who saidst unto Thine Apostles peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, regard not our sins, but the faith of Thy Church, and vouchsafe to grant unto Her that peace and unity which are agreeable to Thy Will Who livest and reignest, God, forever and ever Amen.

     Second Day of the Octave

                 January 19th

          Intention of the day 

The return of Oriental Separatists to Communion with the Apostolic See.

Prayer for the Reunion of the East and West      

O Lord, Who hast united all nations in the confession of Thy name, we pray Thee for the Christian peoples of the East. Mindful of the eminent place they have held in Thy Church, we beg of Thee to inspire them to occupy it again, so as to form with us one single fold. Grant that they, together with ourselves, may be penetrated with the teaching of those holy doctors of theirs, who are also our Fathers in the Faith. Grant us that the spirit of peace and charity, which is the mark of Thy presence among the faithful, may hasten the day in which their prayers may be united with ours, so that every people and every tongue may acknowledge and glorify Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son. Amen.

   Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, we thy servants and children, full of confidence in thy powerful protection, humbly beseech thee to implore of the Holy Ghost the abundance of His gifts for our brethren, the separated Christians of the East. Enlightened by His vivifying grace, may they return to the bosom of the Catholic Church. We pray also that our Oriental brethren, once more united to us by the indissoluble bonds of the same faith and the same charity, may, with us, glorify by the practice of good works the most august Trinity, and at the same time pay homage to thee, O Virgin Mother of God, full of grace, now and forever. Amen.

V. Our Lady of the Atonement intercede for us.

R. That there may be fulfilled the prayer of thy Divine Son, "That all may be one."

Prayer to the Fathers of the Eastern Church

O glorious martyrs, Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, and thou, illustrious Doctors of the Church, Saint Athanasius, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil, who worked and suffered so much for the purity of faith and the salvation of the souls entrusted to thy paternal care, look down from heaven upon thy beloved Eastern countries, which, forgetful of thy teaching and example, live now separated from the body of the true Church. By thy powerful intercession, O holy Eastern Fathers, obtain for all separated Oriental Christians the grace to return to the Center of Unity, and to form with us one and the same family, in Christ Jesus, Our Lord. Amen.