The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity continues in the Holy Land. Each day a different Christian Church hosts the prayer meeting held in different languages followed by a moment of conviviality to share in the fraternity.
On 24th January, it was the Armenian Church that hosted the event.
In a striking atmosphere lit only by the “ganteghes”, the traditional oil lamps which hang in their dozens fromt he vault of the Cathedral of St. James and the candles held by worshippers and the religious of the various Christian confessions, everybody prayed together accompanied by the pre-Byzantine and pre-Gregorian chants typical of the ancient Armenian tradition.
The archbishop Aris Shirvanian proposed a moment of reflection where he recalled how Jerusalem is the place where the first Christian community came into being and where the Holy Spirit made itself understood even by people of different languages and cultures. “Today too we are called to be a Pentecostal Reality,” the Archbishop insisted, “united in the symbol of the cross of the Resurrected One and in union with our brothers who testify our faith at the cost of their lives.”
On 25th January, the Prayer was hosted by the Lutheran Church. On this occasion too, the Church of the Redeemer was packed and a very warm welcome was given to Christians of all the different rites.
The choir’s accompaniment to the whole meeting was highly evocative. The appointment for Wednesday 26th January is at 5.00 p.m. at the Latin parish of St. Saviour and on Thursday 27th January at 4.00 p.m. where this year the Friars Minor will prepare the moment of prayer for the Latin Church.
Marco Gavasso
On 24th January, it was the Armenian Church that hosted the event.
In a striking atmosphere lit only by the “ganteghes”, the traditional oil lamps which hang in their dozens fromt he vault of the Cathedral of St. James and the candles held by worshippers and the religious of the various Christian confessions, everybody prayed together accompanied by the pre-Byzantine and pre-Gregorian chants typical of the ancient Armenian tradition.
The archbishop Aris Shirvanian proposed a moment of reflection where he recalled how Jerusalem is the place where the first Christian community came into being and where the Holy Spirit made itself understood even by people of different languages and cultures. “Today too we are called to be a Pentecostal Reality,” the Archbishop insisted, “united in the symbol of the cross of the Resurrected One and in union with our brothers who testify our faith at the cost of their lives.”
On 25th January, the Prayer was hosted by the Lutheran Church. On this occasion too, the Church of the Redeemer was packed and a very warm welcome was given to Christians of all the different rites.
The choir’s accompaniment to the whole meeting was highly evocative. The appointment for Wednesday 26th January is at 5.00 p.m. at the Latin parish of St. Saviour and on Thursday 27th January at 4.00 p.m. where this year the Friars Minor will prepare the moment of prayer for the Latin Church.
Marco Gavasso