Eight Ecumenical Prayer Services Planned at Graymoor & Vicinity

Each year, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement organize and help promote the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity around the world. Together, Christian communities around the world use the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to share ideas for ecumenical education and celebration.

From January 18-25, 1908, Servant of God Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, and Mother Lurana White, SA, co-founders of the Society of the Atonement at Graymoor, celebrated the first Church Unity Octave, an eight-day period of prayers and seminars focusing on the cause of Christian unity. They wrote letters and articles encouraging others to pray with them “that all may be one … that the world may believe” (John 17:21). In keeping with the Founders’ goals, each year the Friars organize a week of prayer services for Christian unity, lead by Friars and Sisters of the Atonement and other Christian congregations at Graymoor and in nearby towns.

In the late 1960s, the Octave was joined with other prayer movements to form what is now observed worldwide as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme for 2016 is “Called to Proclaim the Mighty Acts of the Lord (cf. 1 Peter 2:9)”. In the shared sacred texts of the Bible, we hear of God’s saving acts in salvation history: leading his people out of slavery in Egypt, and the great mighty act of God: the raising of Jesus from the dead, which opened new life to all of us. As Christians seeking the unity of the Body of Christ, we are all called to recognize the mighty acts of God in our own lives and the life of the Church.

These events are planned for Graymoor and the Vicinity of Garrison, NY:

· Monday, January 18, 7:00 pm at the Sisters of the Atonement St. Francis Convent, the Rev. Cynthia Major, Pastor of the Peekskill United Methodist Church speaking.

· Tuesday, January 19, 7:00 pm at St. Christopher’s Inn, Graymoor, the Rev. Robert Johnson of the American Baptist Church, Director of Pastoral Ministries at the Veterans Hospital in Montrose speaking.

· Wednesday, January 20, 7:00 pm in the St. Pius X Building 5th Floor Library at Graymoor, the Rev. Jan Nunley, Pastor of St. Peter Episcopal Church in Peekskill speaking.

· Thursday, January 21, 7:00 pm in the St. Pius X Building 5th Floor Library at Graymoor, the Rev. Gary Battle of the Refugee Church of Christ in Peekskill speaking.

· Friday, January 22, 11:00 am in the St. Pius X Building 5th Floor Library, the V. Rev. Brian F. Terry, Minister General of the Friars of the Atonement, speaking.

· Saturday, January 23, 7:00 pm in the St. Pius X Building 5th Floor Library at Graymoor with Rev. Agnes Campbell Saffoury from Highland Falls speaking.

· Sunday, January 24, 3:00 pm at Peekskill Presbyterian Church the V. Rev. Bishop Andrew Dietsche of the Episcopal Diocese of New York speaking.

· Monday, January 25, 7:00 pm at the St. Pius X Building 5th Floor Library at Graymoor the Rev. Alexi Vinogradov of the Wappingers Falls Orthodox Church speaking.

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement are a Roman Catholic order of brothers and priests founded in 1898 by Fr. Paul Wattson, SA at Graymoor in Garrison. Since that time, the Friars have worked for reconciliation and healing through “at-one-ment” — the unity of men and women with God and with one another — so that the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” might be fulfilled. Through their mission and ministries they serve people of every race, religion, and walk of life. Their social ministries help the poor, the needy, and the homeless; people living with HIV; frail and elderly in hospitals and hospices; those in prison; and people seeking recovery from alcoholism and chemical addictions. They are active in the international movement to heal the divisions within Christianity and among all faiths. Through their prayers and pastoral ministries, they bring spiritual renewal, unity, harmony, and reconciliation throughout the world and carry the Gospel message to three continents. For more information about the Friars, visit atonementfriars.org