Today we begin what was called for decades the Church Unity Octave, 18-25 January inclusive.  The purpose of the octave is to pray for the unity of the whole Catholic Church.  This octave was originally approved by St. Pope Pius X in 1909.  Benedict XV extended it for use in the universal Church in 1916.  –Fr. Z

Over at What Does the Prayer Really Say I found this nice post about the Church Unity Octave.  Fr. Z blogs on the prayers for this Octave.  I recommend you go over there and join in by praying the prayers beginning today.

I like how Pope Benedict XVI is called the Pope of Unity.  I love how the Gospel of John puts an emphasis on unity.  It is important to pray for true unity and not the false kind where people give up parts of Church teaching in exchange for a nice fuzzy feeling in the group.

May we pray for true unity and resist the evil inclination to go for compromises of Truth to gain a short term false sense of unity.