All Christians in the Embrace of the Apostles Peter and Paul

Maria Milvia Morciano, Vatican City Every year, from January 18 to January 25, the northern hemisphere of the world observes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a global initiative of Christian ecumenical prayer. In reality, it lasts eight days rather than seven, so we should use the term "octave" more appropriately.

These dates were selected with very specific symbolic meaning in mind. For example, the 18th is the liturgical memory of the Chair of St. St. Peter's conversion is remembered on December 25.

Paul. [Read Also] The Pope's invitation to be artisans of communion "Let us ask for the grace to be clothed in the light of Christ, bearers of a joyful proclamation to all those in need of liberation and healing on this day in which we celebrate the Conversion of Saint Paul, closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on the theme: "Learn to do good, seek the righteousness" (Is 1:17)," pope francis recalled during today's General Audience, in greetings in French.

Additionally, the week of prayer for Christian unity comes to an end today as we commemorate the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Let's ask Jesus Master to teach us how to be artisans of communion on this special day so that we can proclaim him with joy and simplicity of heart.

Thus, the Pope made sure to draw a connection between the Week of Prayer and Saint Paul's conversion, emphasizing how important this connection was—especially when he asked each of us to be the messenger of the good news. The American Paul Wattson, first an Episcopalian or American Anglican, then a Catholic priest, founded the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1908 in Graymoor, New York. Peter and Paul are inseparable brothers in faith. Paul Wattson is credited with initiating this movement.

Wattson had a very clear understanding of the significance of the relationship between the two apostles, which, since the early Christian era, symbolized the concord between the Churches, Western and Eastern, and was encapsulated in the iconography of the Concordia Apostolorum, Concordia of the Apostles. Wattson identified these two anniversaries as the beginning and end of prayer. As benedict xvi stated in his homily at the Holy Mass and imposition of the pallium on new metropolitans on June 29, 2012, "Christian tradition has always considered Saint Peter and Saint Paul to be inseparable: in effect, together, they represent the whole Gospel of Christ.".

The first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in particular, falls on a very old occurrence, dedicated to the chair of Saint Peter. This memory dates back to the 9th century and developed in the wake of an even older doctrine, the cathedra Petri, which was based on the primacy of Saint Peter as the first Apostle and as the bishop of Rome, and which dates back to the third century. According to the recommendations of the Faith and Constitution movement of 1926, the concomitance with Pentecost was chosen for the southern hemisphere of the world in order to meet specific needs - January is vacation time in the southern hemisphere - and because it also has profound ecumenical significance. In fact, the Church of Christ's founding is commemorated on this day.

Even further back in history, there have been prayers for unity that date back to their earliest forms. An anniversary was considered that would be devoted to ecumenical prayer for the unity of the Christian Churches at the end of the 18th century in a Protestant environment.

On the occasion of the feast of Pentecost in the second half of the 19th century, a Union of prayer for unity was encouraged. Both Pope Leo XIII and the Anglican bishops supported this initiative. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople Joachim III invited Christians from all over the world to pray for the unity of Christ-followers in his patriarchal and synodal encyclical Irenic Letter, which was published in 1902.

[Read Also] Letter exchange between continents The first Ottavario, in a form akin to the present one, was born out of the correspondence between two ministers—the American Episcopalian Paul James Francis Wattson and the Anglican Englishman Spencer Jones—who spoke to one another from opposite sides of the globe. The concept first occurred to Reverend Jones, who proposed the establishment of a day of prayer for the reunion of Anglicans and all other Christians with the See Roman on June 29 of each year in 1907.

Paul Wattson expanded on this plan the year after, putting it forth as an octave and pleading with God for "the return of all the other sheep to the fold of Peter, the only Shepherd.". And according to conventional wisdom, the official beginning of the current Week can be found in 1908.

In accordance with Wattson's directive, the octave officially started on the day of the Protestant holiday known as the Confession of Peter. The feast of Saint Paul's Conversion was held to wrap up the celebration of Peter, which was held on January 18.

Since that time, the Octave's start and finish points in the northern hemisphere have been January 18 and January 25. The creator, Paul Wattson Lewis Thomas Wattson, who was born in 1863 into an Episcopal family in Millington, Maryland, and who was given the religious name Paul James, grew up during a crucial period in American society.

President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the year of his birth, putting an end to slavery and freeing more than 3 million slaves. Those were the bloody civil wars known as the secession (1861–1865), and as a result, those were the years of those bloody wars. He undoubtedly contributed to the development of the future reverend, who was especially sensitive to respect for the human person and his dignity, in this violent and upheaval-filled environment that was also permeated with hope and rebirth.

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association, which promoted aid to Christians in the Eastern Churches, was founded by Wattson and other individuals. He also founded the Union-that-nothing-be-lost, which was committed to aiding missionaries, the underprivileged, and Christians working for unity in Christ.

In 1898, he founded the "Society of the Atonement," a Protestant religious community dedicated to ecumenical activity and inspired by the Franciscan third order, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Marian title of Our Lady of the Atonement, along with mother Lurana White. He was ordained as a pastor in 1886. He established the custom of the prayer octave for Christian unity in Graymoor, New York, in 1908; this practice eventually developed into the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Together with his community, he converted to Catholicism in 1909; they were recognized as a religious congregation by the Holy See, and the following year he received his priestly ordination. On February 8, 1940, in Garrison, New York, this influential figure from the ecumenical community passed away.

[Read Also] The Pope's invitation to be artisans of communion "Let us ask for the grace to be clothed in the light of Christ, bearers of a joyful proclamation to all those in need of liberation and healing on this day in which we celebrate the Conversion of Saint Paul, closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on the theme: "Learn to do good, seek the righteousness" (Is 1:17)," Pope Francis recalled during today's General Audience, in greetings in French.