Go here and play the audio file, and listen to Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I recite the Nicene Creed together, in Greek. I'm coming out of my chair. If you read Greek you can read it along with them (because Fr. Z has the Greek text there), but grab a box of tissues, because this is emotionally powerful.
Friends, this is amazing. Perhaps it is imprudent to post while ecumenically ecstatic, but this is 954 years of schism since 1054, and you can't listen to this audio and not hear the unitive work of the Holy Spirit, when you understand the significance of what is taking place. Pope Benedict XVI is the episcopal successor of Pope Leo IX (1002-1054), and Patriarch Bartholomew I is the episcopal successor of Patriarch Michael I (1000-1059). Here they are, standing together, reciting the Creed in unison, from the Greek of 381.
Because we love You Jesus, zeal for Your House consumes us, and we burn with desire for the unity and peace of Your Mystical Body, the Church, and the reconciliation and visible union of all those who seek to follow You. Lord Jesus, please reunite and reconcile the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church. Heal this schism and bring reconciliation to East and West after all these years of schism, that the whole world will know that the Father sent You and loves You and us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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3 comments:
It's breathtaking, I admit.
Amen.
That is pretty incredible. All those years, decades and centuries! It was even interesting for me a mere Protestant :)
There is something happening in the world today. Perhaps a unique time is ahead!
God bless you Brian, I hear your heart in what you wrote above! Many blessings to you and your family... may the peace of Christ dwell richly in your heart!
-g-
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