Prayer cycle (13 -19 January 2013): Cyprus, Greece, Turkey

Intercessions

Give thanks for:

• The Christian church and its continued presence in these lands associated with the early churches of the apostles.
• Christians who have remained strong in their faith and continue to be a witness to the gospel.
• The wonders of the Church of St Sophia, the chants on Mount Athos, the frescoes of early churches in Cyprus.
• The blue sea and the mountains.
• Baklava, stuffed vine leaves, moussaka, feta cheese.

Pray for:

• Peace and the healing of entrenched hatred between Greeks and Turks.
• Comfort for those who grieve and strength for those who work for justice.
• Survivors of earthquakes and those who assist in bringing long-term relief.
• Refugees who seek shelter and the possibility of new life.
• Kurdish people, and all who face discrimination as minorities.
• An end to the division of Cyprus.

Prayer

O you, beyond all
(is this not the only permissible praise with which to address you?),
how can the word sing praise to you,
since no word can express you?
How can the mind perceive you,
since no mind can perceive you?
You are the only unutterable,
For all that is uttered comes from you.
You are the only unknowable,
for all that is conceived comes from you.
All beings – those who are endowed with speech
       and those who are deprived of word –
proclaim you.
To you is raised a silent hymn
by all those who perceive your complexity.
For you alone everything exists,
to you all tend in a single block.
You are the end of all things.
You are one, you are all, and you are none.
You are not one, and you are not all.
you who have all the names, how shall I name you?
You the only unnameable.
What celestial mind can penetrate your veil
       which is far beyond even the clouds?

Source: www.oikoumene.org