OCTAVE PRAYER: FOURTH DAY (January 21)

JANUARY 21

Prayer for the Conversion of European Protestants

GOSPEL                                 John 17:1, 11-23

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth. "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Let us pray.

O most beloved Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed the world at the price of Your most Precious Blood, look down in Your mercy upon the Christian peoples of Europe, who are still outside Your fold, and let the full light of Your truth shine upon them. Multiply, O God, the true messengers of Your Gospel, inspire them with fervor, make them fruitful in good works, and bless with Your grace their zeal and their labors, so that the separated Christians of Europe may be fully converted unto You, their Creator and Redeemer. Recall the strayed sheep to Your fold, and the wanderers to the bosom of Your one true Church. Hasten, O dearest Saviour, the happy advent of Your Kingdom on earth, draw all men to the treasures of Your Sacred Heart, so that all may share in the priceless benefits of Your Redemption and in the eternal happiness of Heaven. Amen.