It cannot be emphasized too strongly that this is an octave of prayer for unity. A time, therefore, not so much for talking and listening to each other about our divisions and how we might heal them, but rather for talking and listening to God— trying to see our divisions with his eyes, and asking for his unity.

This octave—or eight days—of prayer for unity all began about fifty years ago at a place called Graymoor in the State of New York. A small community of very Catholic-minded clergymen of the American Episcopalian Church lived there, trying to follow the rule and way of life of St Francis. They called themselves— they are still called—Friars of the Atonement. They were not, so far as I know, very distinguished theologians or what we should regard as abnormally saintly men; just sincere, hard-headed and hard-working American pastors living a community life.

The week of prayer for Christian unity culminates with the feast of the conversion of St Paul on January 25th. St Paul is probably the most energetic and tireless worker for unity whom the Church has ever known. Many passages in St Paul's epistles are devoted to the theme of unity and the epistles themselves bear witness to his work for it.

But when we read these epistles we are struck immediately by St Paul's tremendous sense of the power of intercession and its importance in the life of Christians. Thus he writes to the Romans:

'For God is my witness … that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers’ (Rom. i, 9).

May I begin by welcoming you to the Haus der Begegnung (meeting house) and to the Abbey of Niedcraltaich. We have come together for a singular enterprise, and as far as I know nothing of the sort has taken place before since Christendom became divided. We, Protestant and Catholic Christians, are to spend these days of spiritual retreat together … .

Regarding reunion, nothing could be further from the spirit of Niederaltaich than any expectation of patent solutions. We do not much care for over-simplified and smooth formulae. But we do Know this; it is certainly not contentious thought, nor is it even only strenuous intellectual effort that will heal the wounded Body of Christ. The forces conducive to reunion lie deeper, and must be sought on the level of a spiritual growing towards one another. And this coming nearer together in spirit should surely be well served by these coming days of shared retreat.

Is ‘Catholic Ecumenism’ a contraction in terms? Many Catholics inside and outside the Roman Church do in fact appear to consider that the ecumenical movement is a wholly Protestant phenomenon. References to the dangers of ‘panprotestantism’ have been made in the Church Assembly itself! It is therefore interesting to note that a writer in Istina, the French Roman Catholic quarterly, considers that the use of the term ‘oecuménisme catholique’ is fully justified, because the word ‘ecumenism’ is properly used to designate ‘the totality of the attempts made by the Christian world for the restoration of Christian unity'.

There is in fact a considerable ‘ecumenical movement’ in the Roman Catholic Church, especially in France and Germany but not by any means without its reflection in Rome. Roman Catholic ecumenists are more numerous on the continent than many Anglicans realize. Among those writing in French we may specially recall the names of Fathers Boyer, Lialine, Dumont, Couturier and Congar, while the Germans include Metzger (martyred by the Nazis), Pribilla and Sartory.

Beloved friend in the heart of Jesus Christ. The left hand of the Bridegroom be under your head and his right hand embrace you! I am compelled, dearly beloved, by the urgency of your love for me to write something about charity for you, and to presume beyond my powers and far beyond my low station; indeed I seem to be pouring out from my emptiness and to be giving what I do not possess. It is only with difficulty I tell you that my mind consents to say something about it, for I feel that neither my heart nor my tongue can speak of this subject worthily. How can a man speak of love who does not love or feel the power of love? There is abundant matter on other subjects in books, but this is altogether an inward thing or it is nowhere, for it does not translate the secrets of its delights from outside to Within, but transmits them from within outwards.

Beloved friend in the heart of Jesus Christ. The left hand of the Bridegroom be under your head and his right hand embrace you! I am compelled, dearly beloved, by the urgency of your love for me to write something about charity for you, and to presume beyond my powers and far beyond my low station; indeed I seem to be pouring out from my emptiness and to be giving what I do not possess. It is only with difficulty I tell you that my mind consents to say something about it, for I feel that neither my heart nor my tongue can speak of this subject worthily. How can a man speak of love who does not love or feel the power of love? There is abundant matter on other subjects in books, but this is altogether an inward thing or it is nowhere, for it does not translate the secrets of its delights from outside to Within, but transmits them from within outwards.

Parallel with the liturgical movement, though less widespread and effective, there has been obvious among Catholics during the last decades a growing concern for the unity of Christians, an anguish that the divisions among Christians present a stumbling block to many who are seeking the truth, a longing that Christ's fervent prayer that ‘all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee’ be realized so that the world may believe in Christ's mission. In France and in Germany this anguish has taken hold of the faithful in a for greater measure than in this country; here there are but a few self-effacing individuals, encouraged by the memory of such men as the Abbé Paul Couturier and Dr Max Josef Metzger, working quietly that Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, become more conscious of the tragic divisions. This annual number off The Life of the Spirit is one fruit of that work.