Tomorrow is the Feast of the Epitaph. It restarts the Oxford Church Unity District. What make you so close about it? meditations of a contemplative life, just to turn to that question, which certainly is very much hard for all of us. Monks, monastery, the community has a special function in this great work of the unity of the churches. Unity is something which I think the ecumenical movement, various attempts that have been made during these last decades have shown that clearly even to those outside of the church.

[01:14]

I mean, to all these various sects and denominations that have tried to do so. Shown that the unity of the church is a fact which exists, which is inseparable from Christianity. It's not something that can be created by Christians and be brought about by any kind of human compromise. They can rightly distinguish various phases in what we call the ecumenical movement that started among the separated churches. Of course, the movement in which the various churches got together in order to join really in the field of charity.

[02:16]

Try it in setting aside or leaving aside for the moment at least the question of, as it was called at the time, of faith and order to join the various existing churches in the cooperation of charity. But the results and developments of these things have shown that there really can't be no cooperation and charity as long as one considers the fact of the divisions of churches as something that has to be accepted. So the mistake there was that the division was still taken as something as capable fact, and that the only thing to be desired was the cooperation of these various bodies, separated bodies.

[03:22]

But that, I say, that has been shown, that that is impossible. So the second step in the development of the ecumenical movement was the first, this first, which might be just mentioned, some dates, the first attempt of the uniting all the various church bodies in one common action of charity that was what we call the Stockholm World Conference after the First World War, sooner. And then more and more it became evident that there must be an understanding in the field of truth. And that has been the second phase of the ecumenical movement, which reached its climax in the World Conference in Amsterdam.

[04:26]

That was in 1948, that was after the Second World War. But even there one sees, one could see that still the point of departure was always the existing church. One got together always then with the last resort and everybody kind of felt again happy to be a member of the church he was a member of. That's of course a meager result, you know, for such a conference. I think only in these last years really, and that's another reason also for our intentions during this church octave this year in 1959 that we that we realize that a development there has taken place, that it is not enough, you know, just kind of smile at things, you know, which we are tempted, maybe the Lord himself does so, if he looks at various ways of man, let's say crooked ways of man,

[05:53]

But there is certainly another approach there, which sees in a much stronger way that unity is really the point of departure. That the unity of the church is a given fact. And that will start from there. Now, for all the various bodies outside, the Catholic Church it is this unity is Christ himself to be reached through the word of the Bible the word of scripture there is no other way so that therefore now the intention is really more and more reach Christ he is the center of unity through his word and then in him, in Christ, find the unity.

[06:58]

Now, to us there always remains, of course, the tremendous question of the, let us say, of the guilt of divisions and of heresies. to us the existing churches and bodies outside of the Roman Catholic Church or let's say outside of the Catholic Church have their origin in certain individual heretics who affected their point of view let's say their inspiration their idea as the thing that they consider as superior to the preserving of the unity of the church.

[08:01]

That is, of course, that is the sin, you know, in our eyes, to our judgment. We know certainly that these individuals did not come to this point, did even have, wouldn't have had the amount of success that they had, were it not for the abuses, for the evident sins that disfigured the Church in the eyes of so many people. and therefore prepare the reclimate for mass apostasy, especially in the 16th century. And there is, of course, our nostra culpa. That's where we have ourselves, you know, to strike our own breast, because that is a fact, and that's a fact which is also acknowledged, has been acknowledged in public.

[09:08]

been acknowledged in public, also by the Pope. But nevertheless, the abusers in the church do not give a right to set up a separate church. There can be no doubt about it. Nobody has spoken about that in a more profound more convincing way than St. Augustine who himself you know certainly with great humility carried and say the burden of the unity of the church that can be the burden the unity of the church but that is the yoke of Christ that's what we have to carry we cannot throw it away we cannot follow the demo with all his suggestions of tremendous evidence, you know, that would give us the right, but that this time, you know, I, this time I have to resist.

[10:19]

That's impossible. One does that, then one throws away the God-given unity. So, therefore, we should, in our intentions during this, uh, octave should also ourselves you know in our prayers we turn to Christ turn to him who really is the source of the unity of the church in that way we join also those also all those outside of the Catholic Church who turn to him we ourselves as it were we are Here, as being members of the Church, we are there to take up, as it were, these intentions and these cries and this curialism that rises up outside of the Church to Christ.

[11:21]

Let us receive, as it were, collect these intentions. because we have there the obligation, the duty of mediation as members of Christ's church, that these prayers may reach the ear of the heavenly Father. And we do that, for example, if, first of all, if we join, after all, the church unity octave, really originated within the Catholic Church. So we joined it, and I thought it would do one thing during these days, and that would be that we, that we replace the playas, aren't you? St. Joseph won't mind. To buy a, a disarmament prayer for the unity of the Church during this octave.

[12:25]

But that's only one thing that we do in public, as a body. Then, of course, also every individual is asked in all private prayers to join this Unity Octave and intentions, the intentions of the various days will be placed in public at the post there. Make the post to, so that everybody may see them from day to day, may join and make these intentions his own. But you also know that To a great extent, this question of the union of the churches, at least that seems to be, is a question of repentance. You see, in this attempt there, I just try to give a kind of superficial idea to you of turning to Christ as the center and the source and the giver of unity.

[13:39]

which certainly includes, if it is done, you know, in veritate, that means in truth, but can only be done with readiness on the part of those who turn to Christ, that their own guilt and their mistakes may be discovered, may become clear to their own eyes, and may be corrected, because what other Meaningless such a prayer in which one turns oneself as a member which realizes that it's in some way cut off from, let us say, the full unity of the church. What other meaning can it have but, O Lord, show us where we have sinned against unity. Correct us. Correct us. So I would say, while in the beginning of the ecumenical movement, all the various churches got together, let us say, on the basis of their diversity, and very often made that diversity also a virtue.

[14:53]

While this point of view has, thank God, been abandoned, at least in the minds of the leaders of the ecumenical movement. Now the other step has to be done, and that is the step where the Lord corrects us. The willingness to be corrected. And that, of course, is a tremendous thing. It seems to me that this question of the unity of the churches is a question of repentance. And it is a question, therefore, of real conversion. It is the devil of pride which feeds on the diversity of the various bodies and the hardening of their independence and so on. But that devil of pride can be conquered only by fasting, that prayer that our Lord says. And therefore let us not only

[15:57]

uh think of the unity of the church and say work for him through prayer but also through penances that we take upon ourselves voluntarily during this octave just in that intention that the lord may inspire all of us within the church and outside the church that in our repentance. We have to do penance for the abusers. We have to start all over again because we know how in many cases the abusers obscure the convincing power and light that should radiate from the Church of Christ into the hearts of other people. We know how difficult it is those who came into the unity of the church to put them into a milieu which is, let us say, encouraging, which is inspiring.

[17:05]

We know our poverty in that way. And that poverty is our guilt. It is our guilt. And therefore we should do penance for that. And we should pray that the church in a whole community spirit may be big enough, heroic enough, to be able to take into the church the mass of the people. If one reads and takes the lesson of the epiphany and the epistle of the epiphany, that is a lesson in unity. There we start out with the verse, you know, that the glory of the Lord has risen over Jerusalem. And that therefore the mass, the multitude of the nations of the Gentiles come to this church with their gifts.

[18:10]

But of course the glory doesn't rise over Jerusalem in a mechanical way, it just doesn't. The glory that rises over Jerusalem is a matter of each one also individual conscience and individual cooperation. We have to be transparent. We have to so that people as it were who touch us, through us, touch Christ. Who see us, through us and in us, see Christ. that is not the case, then we miss our mission. We are in that way more guilty before God than all those who outside of the church never had the opportunities which we have. So that is therefore our own conversion, our own repentance. But then also we have the obligation as members of Christ's mystical body to

[19:14]

cooperate in that burden that the Lamb of God carries and that the Lamb of God takes away. And that is also through our works of lens that we undertake for others and for those outside the church. And that may become also before Christ a real prayer of intercession. So let us enter into the spirit of this beautiful octave, unique occasion and so needed in our times and so close to us because we in the life of this little community, we see constantly how things are in concrete examples, souls that come here and so we have responsibility and so the big Events outside the church have their reflection right here.

[20:20]

And we have our God-wanted place in this whole movement, in this whole cry for unity that was up. from all these various millions of people to our Lord, the giver of unity, that his spirit may descend upon us and that his spirit may make us Christ bearers and those through whom the light of Christ reaches other people. Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Requi escond in pace.

[21:28]

Amen. De profundis pluma, beate, Domine. Domine, in saudi bacce Deo. Pion, hares tuem, Domine. In valsium nebrius, iuris plenae. Sene, in retae, subseglae, beate, Domine. Domine, Christus in ae. Mio ablis depravis, iuris, iuris. Thank you.

[21:54]

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