Fourth Day of Christian Unity Octave 2005

The Blog from the Core ^ | January 21, 2005 | E. L. Core

[ELCore]

See Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity 2005 / January 18 through January 25, inclusive. / "Christ, the one Foundation of the Church" (1 Cor 3:1-23).

[topcat54]

The Church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is his new creation,
by water and the word:
from heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,
yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed;
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, "How long?"
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blessed,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
with God, the Three in one,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.

[sojourner]

One of my favorite hymns. :)

By the way, can anyone tell me what an octave is in this context? Thanks.

[ELCore]

Generally, an octave is any group or series of eight. The term has specific use in music and poetry, of course. In church usage, it's a period of eight days, usually beginning with an important feastday. In the current Roman calendar, only Christmas and Easter have octaves: the celebration of the feastday extends through the next seven days (eight, counting the feastday itself). January 18 through January 25 was originally chosen as the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity because the Catholic Church and the Church of England both celebrated the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter on January 18 and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25. After Vatican II, St. Peter's feast in the Roman calendar was restored to February 22, where it had been originally, though Anglicans still celebrate it on Jan. 18.