“For the union of all” – what does this petition in the Great Litany of Peace mean?

by Presbyter Marco Mannino-Giorgi

Whoever has ever attended an Orthodox service knows that at the Divine Liturgy, as also at Vespers and Matins, in the Great Opening Litany called “of peace,” at the third petition, we hear these words:

“For the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy Churches of God, and for the union of all, let us pray to the Lord.” (the Italian liturgical translation generally in use)

Contemporary ecumenists and the members of the so-called “Eastern Catholic rite” maintain that the Holy Orthodox Church purportedly prays here for the union of all Churches—that is, the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the various Protestant bodies. Such an interpretation is erroneous. This is evident because in Greek the word ekklesia (“church”) is feminine, while the word panton (“of all”) is masculine genitive; therefore the phrase cannot be interpreted in any way as “for the union of all the Churches.”

The expression “for the union of all” is taken from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians:

“Till we all come unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:13).

The Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria explains this passage thus:

“We all attain unto the unity of faith, that is, that we all appear to have one and the same faith, not differing from one another in questions of dogma, and having no differences among us in the manner of our life. For then there shall indeed be true unity of faith, when we possess right belief concerning doctrine and preserve the unity of love.” (Commentary on the New Testament)

Christ prayed for this unity of the faithful within the Church in His prayer to God the Father:

“Neither pray I for these alone (the Apostles), but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one.” (John 17:20–21)

Therefore, according to Saint Symeon of Thessalonica, when we pray “for the union of all,” we pray for the spiritual and mystical unity of all the members of the Church among themselves, “for unity in right faith, in love, and in a life well-pleasing unto God.” (cited in Skaballanovich, Typicon Explained, 2nd ed., p. 77)

Of which Churches, and of what kind of union, does this petition speak?

The term ekklesia (“church”) is not ordinarily used in patristic writings with reference to heretical communities, with few exceptions (see Lampe, Greek Lexicon). Saint Hippolytus of Rome, for example, does not call the community of Bishop Callistus a church, but rather a school, as heretical groups were then styled (see Bishop Hilarion (Troitsky), Studies on the History of the Church’s Dogma, p. 325). This, even though the differences between Saint Hippolytus and Bishop Callistus were not dogmatic but disciplinary—namely, a schism.

Furthermore, only the Orthodox Churches could be called “the holy Churches of God.” Therefore the ecumenists’ claim that the petition’s use of “churches” refers to heterodox bodies is entirely without foundation. (In Russia, the expressions “Catholic Church” and “Lutheran Church” entered usage only in the time of Peter the Great, evidently under Western influence.)

The “holy Churches of God” are the local Orthodox Churches. From apostolic times it has been customary to call the Christian community of each city a church. Thus Saint Paul addresses his epistles “to the Church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2) and “to the Churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2), and Saint John the Theologian writes to the Churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, etc. (Rev. 2:1,8).

In our own day, the Church of an entire nation is usually called a church—the Russian Church, the Georgian Church, and so forth. All these local Churches, remaining in the unity of the Spirit and in prayerful communion with one another, constitute the one Catholic (i.e., universal) Church. This is what the petition “for the union of all the holy Churches of God” affirms concerning unity of spirit and concord.

Saint Basil the Great uses an image to describe the condition of the Church in his time. In a letter to the clergy of Tarsus he writes:

“The condition of the Church already resembles old garments that tear easily in every place and can no longer return to their former strength.” (Works of Saint Basil, St. Petersburg, 1911, vol. 3, p. 138)

The time of Saint Basil was troubled for the Church. The Arian heresy had spread widely, supported by the Emperor Valens. Worse than the assault of the Arians, however, was the lack of unity among the Orthodox themselves. Many bishops were not in liturgical communion, suspecting one another of heresy. The principal task of Saint Basil the Great in his episcopal ministry was the restoration of peace and the re-unification of the Church. When establishing communion with any Church, Saint Basil required the confession of the Nicene Creed.

In our own days, heresies and temptations similarly tear at the Church of Christ: ecumenism, the new ecclesiastical calendar, modernism, and sergianism.

Therefore, a translation which I would venture to offer as a more theologically accurate rendering is:

“For the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy Churches of God, and for unanimity and concord, let us pray to the Lord.”

Let us entrust the purpose of Orthodox unity to the Mother of God, as the Church already sings:

“O pure and undefiled Virgin, who gavest birth unto our Life, cause the scandals of the Church to cease, and in thy love bestow upon her peace.”

(Matins of Great and Holy Saturday, Second Stasis of the Praises)