Unity of the Church Octave

Canon Avis announced this morning at 8:00 a.m. Mass the beginning today of the "Chair of Unity - Octave Devotions". We understand that that the prayers of the first day of the Octave were begun at the 10:15 a.m. Mass.

We must admit our ignorance, but this is a devotion that is only faintly familiar to us...and probably not prayed very often. So after a little research, here is some background for our readers' edification and information. 

The objective of the prayers of the Octave is to make reparation for the sins of modernism, particularly for those which have defiled our churches and holy liturgy, and to pray for the return of our brethren separated by modernism, liturgical experimentation, other errors and schisms to full communion with the Catholic Church.

In the Octave, the faithful recite the devotions for the Chair of Unity Octave, which extends from the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome (today) until the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25). (The photograph above is of the Chair of St. Peter in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome). 

Prayers are prescribed for each separate day of the Octave. Courtesy of Breviary.net the prayers are:

• January 18th - The union of all Christians in the one true faith and in the Church.
  
• January 19th - The return of separated Eastern Christians to communion with the Holy See.
  
• January 20th - The reconciliation of Anglicans with the Holy See.
  
• January 21st - The reconciliation of European Protestants with the Holy See.
  
• January 22nd - That American Christians become one in union with the Chair of Peter.
  
• January 23rd - The restoration of lapsed Catholics to the sacramental life of the Church.
  
• January 24th - That the Jewish people come into their inheritance in Jesus Christ.
  
• January 25th - The missionary extension of Christ's kingdom throughout the world