Novena of Prayer for Christian Unity

Every January, many people pray the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. In February, our domestic church prays this as a Novena in the following manner.

The Novena of Prayer for Christian Unity

The Novena of Prayer for Christian Unity concludes on the vigil of the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (February 22nd).

Hymn

Hymn I: Ubi Caritas Est Vera

Sundays during the Novena.

Text: Ancient Maundy Thursday Hymn
Tune: Traditional Gregorian Chant

1. Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

    Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

    Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.

    Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

    Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

2. Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

    Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur:

    Ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus.

    Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.

    Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.

3. Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

    Simul quoque cum beatis videamus,

    Glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus:

    Gaudium quod est immensum, atque probum,

    Saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen.

Hymn II: Lead On, O King Eternal

Days one, four, and seven.

Text: Ernest W. Shurtleff (1888)
Tune: “Lancashire” by Henry T. Smart (1836)

1.     Lead on, O King eternal,
The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest
Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation
Thy grace has made us strong;
And now, O King eternal,
We lift our battle song.

2.     Lead on, O King eternal,
Till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords’ loud clashing,
Nor roll of stirring drums;
With deeds of love and mercy
The heav’nly kingdom comes.

3.     Lead on, O King eternal,
We follow, not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning
Where’er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted over us,
We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest;
Lead on, O God of might.

Hymn III: Christ for the World We Sing

Days two, five, and eight.

Text: Samuel Wolcott (1869)
Tune: “Italian Hymn” by Felice de Giardini (1769)

1.     Christ for the world we sing,
The world to Christ we bring,
With loving zeal,
The poor and them that mourn,
The faint and overborne,
Sin sick and sorrow worn,
Whom Christ doth heal.

2.     Christ for the world we sing,
The world to Christ we bring,
With fervent prayer;
The wayward and the lost,
By restless passions tossed,
Redeemed at countless cost,
From dark despair.

3.     Christ for the world we sing,
The world to Christ we bring,
With one accord;
With us the work to share,
With us reproach to dare,
With us the cross to bear,
For Christ our Lord.

4.     Christ for the world we sing,
The world to Christ we bring,
With joyful song;
The newborn souls, whose days,
Reclaimed from error’s ways,
Inspired with hope and praise,
To Christ belong.

Hymn IV: Jesus Shall Reign

Days three, six, and nine.

Text: Isaac Watts (1719)
Tune: “Duke Street” by John Hatton (1793)

1.     Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2.     Behold the islands with their kings,
And Europe her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet.

3.     There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barbarous nations at His word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.

4.     To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

5.     People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.

6.     Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.

7.     Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.

8.     Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud Amen.

Psalm 132: Ecce quam bonum.

The happiness of brotherly love and concord.

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.

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity.

Like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, Which ran down to the skirt of his garment:

As the dew of Hermon, which descendeth upon mount Sion. For there the Lord hath commanded blessing, and life for evermore.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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.

V. I say unto thee, thou art Peter.
R. And upon this rock I will build my Church.

Here is brought to mind the intention for the day’s prayer.

February 13: For the return of the “other sheep” to the One Fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.

February 14: For the return of the Eastern Orthodox Christians to communion with the Apostolic See.

February 15: For the return of Anglicans to the authority of the Vicar of Christ.

February 16: For the return of all Protestants throughout the world, especially those of my own family, to the unity of the Catholic Church.

February 17: For the return of all Traditionalist Catholics, Old Catholics, and Sedevacantists to the fullness of communion with the Vicar of Christ.

February 18: That lapsed Catholics, especially those of my own family, will return to the Sacraments of the Church.

February 19: That the Jewish people will be converted to the Catholic Faith.

February 20: That missionary zeal will conquer the world for Christ.

February 21: For all Catholics, that by the goodness of our life, words, and works, we may attract others to the “bonus odor Christi,” the “sweet fragrance of Christ” that exists within the holy Catholic Church united to the See of Peter.

The following Collect, taken from the 1962 Roman Missal’s “Votive Mass for the Unity of the Church,” is then said by the leader.

Let us pray. O God, who settest straight what has gone astray, and gatherest together what is scattered, and keepest what Thou hast gathered together: we beseech Thee in Thy mercy to pour down on Christian people the grace of union with Thee, that, putting disunion aside and joining themselves to the true Shepherd of Thy Church, they may be able to render Thee worthy service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, forever and ever. Amen.

In the 1962 Roman Missal, there is a Votive Mass for the Unity of the Church. The readings from that Mass are the following, and deserve careful consideration and prayerful meditation during this Novena.

Introit: Psalm 105(106):47

Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-7; 13-21

Gradual: Psalm 122(123):6-7

Tract: Psalm 75(76): 2-4

Alleluia: Psalm 72(73): 12, 14

Gospel: St. John 17:1, 11-23

Offertory: Romans 15:5-6

Communion: 1 Corinthians 10:17