Chair of Unity Octave

Fourth Day of the Octave

January 21

Intention of the day
The reconciliation of European Protestants with the Holy See

In Private Recitation shall be omitted all that is herein printed in blue

The first Verse of the following Hymn shall be sung kneeling.

Hymn: Come Holy Ghost

KNEEL

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
Vouchsafe within our souls to rest;
Come with thy grace and heavenly aid,
And fill the hearts which thou hast made.

STAND

To thee, the Paraclete, we cry;
To thee, the Gift of God most high,
The Fount of life, the Fire of love,
The soul's Anointing from above.

The sevenfold gifts of grace are thine,
O Finger of the Hand Divine;
True Promise of the Father thou,
Who dost the tongue with speech endow.

Thy light to every sense impart,
And shed thy love in every heart;
Thine own unfailing might supply
To strengthen our infirmity.

Drive far away our ghostly foe,
And thine abiding peace bestow;
If thou be our preventing Guide,
No evil can our steps betide.

Make thou to us the Father known,
Teach us the eternal Son to own,
Be this our neverchanging creed,
That thou dost from them both proceed.

Proper Doxology
All praise be thine, O risen Lord,
From death to endless life restored;
Whom with the Father we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore.  Amen.

In the name of the Father, † and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary.

V.  O God, † make speed to save us.
R.  O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.  (Alleluia.)
(After Septuagesima instead of Alleluia shall be said: All praise be unto thee, O Lord, King of glory everlasting.)

Prayer for the Conversion of European Protestants

Let us Pray.
O most beloved Lord Jesus Christ, who hast redeemed the world at the price of thy most Precious Blood, look down in thy mercy upon the Christian peoples of Europe, who are still outside thy fold, and let the full light of thy truth shine upon them. Multiply, O God, the true messengers of thy Gospel, inspire them with fervor, make them fruitful in good works, and bless with thy grace their zeal and their labours, so that the separated Christians of Europe may be fully converted unto thee, their Creator and Redeemer. Recall the strayed sheep to thy fold, and the wanderers to the bosom of thy one true Church. Hasten, O dearest Saviour, the happy advent of thy Kingdom on earth, draw all men to the treasures of thy Sacred Heart, so that all may share in the priceless benefits of thy Redemption and in the eternal happiness of Heaven.
R.  Amen.

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary

O Mary, Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners, we beseech thee to look with pitying eyes upon the Protestant peoples of Europe. O seat of wisdom, enlighten their minds, that they may come to know that the Catholic Church is the one True Church of Christ. Complete their conversion by obtaining for them the grace to believe every truth of our holy Faith, and to submit themselves to the Sovereign Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth. Once more united to us by bonds of divine charity, they will sing with us forever thy glorious praises: "Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, alone hast thou destroyed all error throughout the whole world."
R.  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 St. Bridget of Sweden

With trusting hearts we turn to thee, O blessed Bridget, in these hostile and unbelieving days, to implore thine intercession in behalf of those who are separated from the Church of Jesus Christ. By that clear knowledge thou didst have of the bitter sufferings of our crucified Redeemer, the price of our salvation, we offer thee our supplications to obtain the grace of faith for those who are outside the one true fold, that so the sheep who are scattered may return to the one true Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ.
R.  Amen.

V.  Pray for us, St. Bridget.
R.  That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

A short sermon or instruction

Chair of Unity Octave hymn

That all be one O dearest Lord, we pray,
That all be drawn within Thy one true Fold,
Back to Thy Church from which the wand'rers stray,
And Thy true Faith she keeps, like saints of old.
O bring them back Good Shepherd of the sheep;
And rouse the heathen nations from their sleep.

O Michael, who hast strongly kept the way
Invaders sought, and hast undone their boast:
With thee may blest Saint Boniface now pray,
And Mary, Queen of Peace, and heav'nly host,
That all misled by heresy, may search
The paths and find the Way to Holy Church.

Then praise we God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Holy Spirit, Three in One,
That one in Him and one together we
In unity may praise the Trinity,
Till all the ransomed fall before His Throne
And give all glory to our God alone.  Amen.

Hymn: O Salutáris Hostia

Chair of Unity Octave Prayer

Ant:   That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art 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 didst say unto thine Apostles: Peace I leave with you, my Peace I give unto you; look not upon our sins, but on 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 for ever and ever.
R.  Amen.

An indulgence of 300 days during the Octave of Prayers for the Unity of the Church from the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Rome to the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  A Plenary Indulgence on the usual conditions at the end of the devout exercise.

Let us Pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, most gracious Saviour of the world, we humbly beg of thee by thy most Sacred Heart, that all the sheep now wandering astray may be converted unto thee, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. Who livest and reignest from this time forth for evermore.
R.  Amen.

Prayer to our Lady, Help of Christians

O Mary, Virgin Immaculate, our Mother and Mother of our God, thou seest how the Catholick Faith is assailed by the devil and the world, that Faith in which we purpose, by the help of God, to live and to die ; do thou, O Help of Christians, renew thy victories as of old, for the salvation of thy children. To thee do we entrust our firm purpose of never joining the assemblies of the hereticks. Do thou, all Holy, offer unto thy Divine Son our resolutions, and obtain from him the graces necessary for us to keep them unto the end.  Bring consolation to the Church, support and protect the Catholick clergy and people who proclaim thee Queen. Hasten, by the power of thy prayers, the day when all nations shall be gathered together in the one true Fold.
R.  Amen.

V.  O Mary, Help of Christians.
R.  Pray for us.

V.  The Lord be with you.
R.  And with thy spirit.

Prayer for Unity

Let us Pray

GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divísions. Take away all hatred, prejudice, and error, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord: that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all; so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
R.  Amen.

V.  The Lord be with you.
R.  And with thy spirit.

V.  Bless we the Lord.
R.  Thanks be to God.

Benediction
May the Almighty God, the Father, † the Son, and the Holy Ghost, bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and for evermore.
R.  Amen.

Hymn:  Faith of our Fathers