Wednesday, January 4, 2017

A litany of Eastern and Western Saints

The Catholic Church has a long history of extending olive branches to those who go into schism, heresy, or apostasy from the See of St. Peter.  From Popes Pius XII and Paul VI authorizing veneration of Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians such as St. Leontius of Rostov, St. Nicetas the Wonderworker of Pereaslavl, St. German of Valaam,  St. Sergius of Valaam, St. Anthony of the Kiev Caves, St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves, St. Theodore the Black of Yaroslavl, and countless others, and even more so in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches who are in full communion with Rome.  The Church extended a gigantic olive branch with the Vatican II documents Lumen Gentium, Nostra Aetate, Unitatis Redintegratio, and Orientalium Ecclesiarum, and She has continued to with Holy Pontiffs working tireleslly in their vocation of the Supreme Fisherman such as St. Pope John XXIII, Bl. Pope Paul VI, S.D. Pope John Paul I, and especially St. Pope John Paul the Great, who was absolutely integral to propagating the new Code of Canon Law and Catechism of the Catholic Church, both of which were written by using the Vatican II documents (and of course Sacred Scripture and other Sacred Tradition) as a constant reference point.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, have continued the work of evangelizing the world and seeking to heal division and hatred and replace them with unity and peace.  This is partly why Pope Francis went so far as to name St. Gregory of Narek a Catholic Doctor of the Church - although technically he was in schism from Rome for 1,500 years - he was an Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Christian having become independent in the 6th century, a part of Oriental Orthodox Catholic Christianity (Orthodox Catholic Christians who only accept the first three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea, Constantinople, and Ephesus - they do not recognize the Council of Chalcedon as legit and it's a big story I don't have time to delve into now, if you ever hear of a "robber council", this is part of this situation.), who had been in "schism" since the 5th century.

So the Catholic Church, in Her maternal care to watch over her flock of 1,300,000,000+ souls and counting, with St. Peter and his Successors the Roman Pontiffs as the visible head of the Body, the Vicar of Christ on Earth and the Servant of the Servants of God, always makes the first move toward reconciliation.  There have been past transgressions by all sides, but by the grace of God we will be One again!

May God bless the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Church - the Catholic Church with consistent Orthodoxy, Fraternal love, and being a shining star on Mt. Zion for all the world to see and bring into fullness of the Life of Christ within Her who is the very Body of Christ Jesus

May God bless the Eastern Orthodox, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Churches with Oneness, Unity, and Charity in Christ Jesus.

May God bless the Oriental Orthodox, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Churches with Oneness, Unity, and Charity in Christ Jesus.

May God bless the Assyrian, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Churches with Oneness, Unity, and Charity in Christ Jesus.

May God bless all who call themselves Christians and who believe in Christ the Lord, may he grant knowledge, understanding, charity, unity, and love in Christ Jesus to the hundreds of millions of Protestant Christians, the majority of whom share a common and valid baptism, receive grace by feeding on the Word of God, and commit many good acts of Christian Charity!

May God bless all the Sons of Abraham, all the Jews and Muslims, may HaShem our Adonai be blessed forever, and may we all submit to the will of Allah, the Merciful, the Magnificent, the Creator, the One and Only God, the True and Living Allah.

May God bless all the sons of Adam, any who seek peace and love and may God bless the worlds Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Shintoists, Taoists, Confucianists, Animists, shamanists, pagans, folk religious, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, deists, and may he reveal Himself to them and may he bring them into Heaven through the shed blood of Jesus Christ if it is at all possible.

St. Photius the Great Patriarch of Constantinople, pray for us
St. Ignatius the holy Patriarch of Constantinople, pray for us
St. Gregory Palamas, pray for us
Blessed Pope Benedict XI, pray for us
St. Mark of Ephesus, pray for us
St. Frances of Rome, pray for us
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us
St. Seraphim of Sarov, pray for us
St. Theophan the Recluse, pray for us
Blessed Pope Pius IX, pray for us
St. John of Kronstadt, pray for us
St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us


St. Pope Peter the Apostle, martyr and Patron of the Holy See of Rome, pray for us
St. Pope Mark the Evangelist, martyr, and Patron of Alexandria and all Copts, pray for us
Sts. Peter, Evodius, and Ignatius, holy martyrs and Patriarchs of Antioch, pray for us
St. Patriarch James the Apostle, brother of God, and Patriarch of Jerusalem, pray for us
St. Patriarch Andrew, brother of the proto-Pope and first Bishop of Constantinople, pray for us



Sts. Peter and Paul, please pray for Unity between Eastern and Western Catholic Christians
Sts. Andrew and Thomas, please pray for Unity between the East and West
Sts. Cyril and Methodius, please pray for Moscow and Rome to grow closer in love
St. Peter of Moscow and St. Mar Addai, please pray for Assyrians and Eastern Orthodox to have greater unity
St. Frumentius please pray for Ethiopian and all Oriental Orthodox Catholic Christians to have greater love and unity
St. Thaddeus and Bartholomew, holy Apostles, please pray for the entire Christian world

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