Pope celebrates Vespers at end of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Photo credit: Vatican News

Source: Vatican News

Pope Francis presided at Vespers for the Solemnity of the Conversion of St Paul, celebrated in the Basilica of St Paul's Outside-the-Walls at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 25 January.

Representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Christian churches and ecclesial communities joined Pope Francis.

The Holy Father reflected on the gifts the Magi presented to Baby Jesus, which symbolise the gifts the Lord desires to receive from us: Gold, showing that God must be in first place; frankincense, symbolising the importance of prayer; and myrrh, calling us to "honour the body of Jesus taken down from the Cross," which "speaks to us of care for the suffering flesh of the Lord, reflected in the wounds of the poor."

The Pope invited Christians to follow the example of the Magi, who returned to their homes by another road. "Like Saul before his encounter with Christ," he said, "we need to change course, to invert the route of our habits and our ways, in order to find the path that the Lord points out to us: the path of humility, fraternity and adoration."

Pope Francis prayed, "O Lord, grant us the courage to change course, to be converted, to follow your will and not our own; to go forward together, towards you, who by your Spirit wish to make us one."

Video: 25 January 2022 Celebration of Second Vespers - Pope Francis:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCNAbrGvaGU