Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Cardinal Newman's Prayer for Church Unity

For the last month or two I have been using a collection of prayers by John Henry Newman. It is entitled 'A Newman Prayer Book' published in 1990 by Vincent Ferrer Blehl, S.J., The Newman Secretariat, The Oratory, Hagley Road, Birmingham B16 8UE, England and contains a short prayer for each day of the month.

Here's the prayer for the 18th of the month:

Lord Jesus Christ, who, when you were about to suffer, did pray for your disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as you are in the Father, and the FAther in you, break down the walls of separation which divide one party and denomination of Christians from another. Teach all men that the see of St. Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, centre, and instrument of unity. Open their hearts to the long-forgotten truth that our Holy Father, the Pope, is your Vicar and Representative; so that as there is but one holy company in heaven above, so likewise there may be one communion, confessing and glorifying your holy name here below.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Fr John,

    Lots of Newman stuff here! Can't remember if I asked you to add my new blog to your links please?

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  2. dear fr john;
    I'm in bed cus a nerve pinch on my lumbar area i'm going to start pray to cardinal newman intersection for my illness. i see the interview that they have with the decon that cardinal newman make a miracle. is my first time i hear about cardinal newman, and i was crying because is hard my situation is really bad. please pray also for me Priscilla Santana, North port, fl 34287.

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  3. Father John Boyle,
    I'd like to thank you for Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman's Prayer for Christian Unity. Although I've formulated a couple myself mentally for this intention, they're not as elegant and 'dogmatically precise' as his. And as is my usual habit, I formatted it in MWord and added a picture of our Lord, praying [http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:9EaZBFVNPgkHBM:http://www.jesusiam.com/mystery/sorrowful_1.jpg] as well as a picture of Blessed John Newman, himself. and, of course, I gave credit to your blog and added the link and sent it to people, mostly of my own parish.
    With regards to our Pope's trip to UK, I'm particularly impressed by his call on Catholic school pupils to take becoming a saint a 'normal' aspiration in daily life, even as they pursue their academic and professional careers. As a result, I have been Internet-researching Catholic schools in the Philippines where I come from [I'm a convert here in USA, not even a 'grew-up Catholic'!] to check if there is an upsurge of blogs among them about the Pope's trip and speeches. Unfortunately, my suspicion that most have been predominantly secularized in thoughts and way of life is confirmed - I didn't any discussion to that effect! Indeed, there is so much prayer and work to reverse this spiritual malady. I'm always praying that somehow I can be a tini-tiny version of Saint Benedict of Nursia and do for my nation of birth what Saint Benedict did for Europe.
    And since I also gathered from a book, NUMBER GAMES-Exploding the Myth of Overpopulation by Philip P. Eapen [http://www.scribd.com/doc/7803892/The-Myth-of-Overpopulation], where it was mentioned how the proponents of contraception and abortion from USA use the CIA modus-operandi of 'scouting' for locals whom they can use to change the thinking and policies that are previously in line with Catholic teachings, it is not a far-fetch speculation to consider that even Catholic schools are made vulnerable by such cunning operation.
    One is, of course, reminded of the NT passage Matthew 13:24-30 about the man who sowed good seed, went to sleep. Only to wake up and discover weeds sprouting among them.
    To have a glimpse of how this is taking place which is very contrary to the Catholic spirit of sanctity that Pope Benedict had admonished the Catholic students in UK, have a look at this link: picture and write-up:
    http://www.thewomenofateneo.org/?p=11
    It is not very difficult to discern that in this scenario, it is very unlikely that someone is thinking of personal sanctity. And Ateneo is a very prominent 'Catholic' school in the Philippines.
    Long term, I even suspect that once China, Korea and Japan...and even Vietnam eventually grasp the essense of the Catholic Church in building civilization, they will, once again, surpass my poor, habitually mediocre country while always ready to declare with pride that the Philippines is '80% Catholic'. Such is my spiritual agony.

    Please include my country and my poor self in your prayers as a member of the Holy Orders.
    ~graciously, shy_catholic_lad
    soldierforchrist@winning.com

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