International Day of Prayer

International Day of Prayer for Eastern Christians Today, Sunday May 14th , the Sixth Sunday of Easter, is the day of prayer for the Christians of the East (FACE).

The International Day of Prayer for Eastern Christians is celebrated annually on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. It offers an opportunity for Eastern and Western Christians together to pray for peace in the world, especially in the Middle East. Christians from all over Europe, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and India will join together in solidarity on May 14th to pray that Eastern Christians may be strengthened in their faith so that they can continue to give witness steadfastly to Jesus Christ. At Mass during Easter, Western and Eastern Christians hear the Acts of the Apostles which witness to the first preaching of the Gospel. These readings remind us of the origin of the Eastern Churches and the history of the first Eastern Christians, who brought the Gospel to us. Nowadays, many of these Eastern Christians are oppressed and persecuted, and struggle to survive and to pass on our faith to their children, in their own lands, where Christianity was born and first spread. Pope St. John Paul the Second said in the document ‘Orientale Lumen’ – ‘Light of the East; that “The venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church… the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition. Often, we Western or Roman or Latin Catholics forget that within the Universal Church there are 24 Churches, which are part of the Catholic Church led by the Bishop of Rome, and that our Church is only one, while the 23 other churches are known as Eastern Churches, because their liturgy and history are closer to that of the Easter Orthodox churches, yet they remain in communion with Rome. Hence this day is set aside so that we can know more about the Eastern Churches and their traditions. This article by Ascension Press is a useful summary of the 23 other churches and their traditions - https://media.ascensionpress.com/2019/01/21/the-other-23-catholic-churches-and-whythey-exist/ In the UK the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are the most common, each having its own Eparch, the Eastern word for Bishop, in the UK. So, today why not find out more about our faith and pray for the wider church throughout the world. You can also support the charity that promotes the day of prayer in this country: Fellowship and Aid to the Christians of the East (FACE) – https://facecharity.org/. If you wish to support its projects under the patronage of the Eastern Catholic Churches,

you can: Donate online at https://facecharity.org/act-of-giving/ or text DAYOFPRAYER to 70450 to donate £10.