The Catholic League: Spiritual Ecumenism

Spiritual Ecumenism

For more on our work on spiritual ecumenism, visit our sister websites:

See also, A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, Cardinal Walter Kasper, New City Press, 2007.

Daily Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
who said to your Apostles,
'Peace I leave you; my peace I give you',
Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church;
and graciously grant her peace and unity
in accordance with your will;
who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
From the Roman Missal

By your power Lord,
gather together your scattered flock
under the one authority of your Son:
that the design of your love may be accomplished
and that the world may know, the one true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Amen.
Prayer by Fr Paul Couturier

We pray for...

The visible unity of all Christians with the Apostolic See of Peter at Rome
Pope Benedict XVI
Religious communities and their future growth
The Catholic League's Director, the Executive and their work
All linked by our community of prayer for unity, especially isolated members and their witness and intercession
The work for unity through pilgrimage at the shrines and places of worship at Walsingham
The Catholic League as a community of prayer and action
The work of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
The apostolate of lay people, both in service and in prayer, towards the building of the Kingdom of God through the unity of Christ's Church
All clergy members of the Catholic League: that their ministry in furtherance of the Catholic faith and the visible Unity of all Christians may be fruitful
For a greater desire for unity in our Church and in our land
For all who feel hurt and abandoned within the Church because of the lack of fullness of communion
All the parish clergy and those who guide our faith

Prayer for the Work of the Catholic League

Almighty God,

your gave us your only Son, Jesus Christ

to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life;

we ask you to send your blessing

upon all members of the Catholic League.

Inflame us with the love of the Sacred Heart

and deepen in us faith and penitence

and zeal for your service.

By the prayers of the holy Virgin Mary, our patron,

grant peace and unity to your Church.

Convert the hearts of all your people to your truth

and guide and prosper all we do in the League

to the glory of your Name

and the extension of your Kingdom.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Morning Offering for Unitas

My God and heavenly Father

I offer you the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ

and all that I shall do or suffer this day

in union with him. And I pray

Sunday - for the Holy Father Pope Benedict and the needs of the Universal Church
Monday - for the sick, housebound and people with disabilities
Tuesday - for the Catholic League and its work for the Unity of Christians
Wednesday - for the Church's witness to peace and justice
Thursday - for my bishop, my Church community and our greater growth into Christian unity; and for the unity of all Christians with the Apostolic See of Peter at Rome
Friday - for forgiveness for the sins of separation and the conversion and unity of all humanity in the truth and love of Christ
Saturday - for a deeper love of our Lady, Mother of the Church, among Christians and for the ecumenical work of the Shrines at Walsingham, Egmanton and Ipswich. For the souls of the departed.

Prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church

Father of mercies,

your only Son, hanging on the Cross,

gave us his Virgin Mother Mary to be our Mother also.

Under her loving care

may her children grow daily in holiness,

so that all humanity may see in your Church

the mother of all nations.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

An Act of Spiritual Communion

When attending the Eucharist of another Christian Church, where Church discipline does not allow for you to receive Holy Communion sacramentally.

My Jesus,

I believe that you are in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love you above all things,

and I long for you in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally,

come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though you have already come,

I embrace you and unite mysefl entirely to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Lord Jesus, may we all be one

as you and Father are one,

so that the world may believe the Father has sent you.

Lord Jesus Christ,
who said to your Apostles,
'Peace I leave you; my peace I give you',
Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church;
and graciously grant her peace and unity
in accordance with your will;
who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

Ut Unum Sint

The Catholic League is an ecumenical society based in England, founded in 1913 to promote the unity of Christians. It supports the Catholic ecumenical movement and encourages the journey of all towards the visible unity of the whole Church in communion with the Bishop of Rome, and his ministry of reconciliation as successor to St Peter the apostle to 'strengthen his brothers'.

It was founded by Anglicans who believed passionately that the future of their Church lay in the reunion of all Christians in a common Catholic and Apostolic faith in restored full communion with the Successor of Peter in the see of Rome. Nowadays, our members include Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, Free Church Christians and any who support the Catholic ecumenical movement and the League's four objects:

- The promotion of fellowship among those who profess the Catholic faith
- The union of all Christians with the Apostolic See of Rome
- The spread of the Catholic faith, and
- The deepening of the spiritual life.

Our Publications

The Messenger and the Newsletter

The Catholic League's review is normally published three times a year and is available to members and other ecumenical centres and organisations free of charge. Others may request a copy from the Membership Secretary, subject to availability.

A free newsletter is also sent to members of the League three times a year, between issues of the Messenger.

Books

The Sorrow of Nature: The Way of the Cross with George Congreve SSJE and St Therese of Lisieux, Luke Miller, £6

Anglican & Catholics in Communion, Mark Woodruff, Editor. Published October 2010, £5

The Unity of Christians : the Vision of Paul Couturier, Mark Woodruff, Editor. £3

Foxes have Holes: A personal memoir of St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, from 1984 to 1995, Michael Woodgate. £1

Experiencing the Lord, James Leachman OSB. £1-50

The History of the Catholic League, Robert Farmer. £1

Living Tradition : a Collection of Ceremonies for the Church's Year, Geoffrey Wright. £2-50

Re-uniting Anglicans and Rome, Brooke Lunn, Editor. £1

Charlotte Boyd : Some Notes on her Life, Ethel M. Hostler. £1

Developments in the Petrine Ministry, M J L Perrot. £1

One Step More, Michael Rear. This is now out of print.

Christian Unity Handbook. £0-75

Liturgy and Unity, Brooke Lunn. £0-75

Unity Prayer Resources

Christian Unity Handbook, £0-75

Week of Prayer : Intercessions Leaflet for Mass and the Divine Office. Download PDF here.

Act of Spiritual Communion. Free

Nicholas Mileham Prayer Card. Free

Unitas Prayer Card. Free

All titles are available from the Members' Secretary, 27 Moor Lane, Newby, Scarborough YO12 5SL members@unitas.org.uk

Blessed John Henry Newman Fund: Donate to the Ordinariate

In 2010, The Catholic League established the Blessed John Henry Newman Fund to received funds and donations for the new Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and its membership groups before it was able to establish itself as a charity with its own bank account. We have now wound down the Fund refer donors to the Ordinariate itself. Existing regular donations to the Fund are forward to the Ordinariate.

Since the Fund's inception, the Catholic League has raised nearly £70,000 for the Ordinariate, including Gift Aid that would otherwise not have been recoverable. This is on top of our own grants to support the work of the Ordinary direct.

Thank you for your generosity!

Special Edition of the Messenger

Anglicans & Catholics in Communion, the special edition of The Messenger, 300 pages of comment and analysis of Patrimony, Unity and Mission in the wake of Anglicanorum Coetibus, and Pope Benedict's visit to Britain, is available free of charge to all bona fide enquirers. Here is the list of contents and contributors.

The second printing is available by kindness of the Manager, St Paul's Bookshop, Morpeth Terrace, London SW1P 1EP, beside Westminster Cathedral. A donation to the Blessed John Henry Newman Fund (below left) is requested to cover postal charges where applicable.

The contents are also available online - follow the page above - Anglicans & Catholics in Commmunion.

A follow up edition, collecting more international analysis and documentation, will appear later in 2012.

Prayer of Blessed John Henry Newman for Christian Unity

O Lord Jesus Christ, who, when You were about to suffer, prayed for Your discipes to the end of time that they might all be one, as You are in the Father and the Father in You:

Look down in pity on the manifold divisions among those who profess Your faith, and heal the many wounds which the pride of man and the craft of Satan have inflicted upon Your people.

Break down the walls of separation which divide one part and denomination of Christians from another.

Teach all that the See of St Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, centre and instrument of unity.

Open their hearts to the long-forgotten truth that our Holy Father, the Pope, is Your vicar and representative; and that in obeying him in matters of religion they are obeying You, so that, as there is but one holy company in heaven above, so likewise there may be but one communion, confessing and glorifying Your holy Name here below.

From Newman's Meditations & Devotions