Unity Prayer provides protection, hope in a divided world

By Charla Spalluto Misse
NOLA Catholic Parenting

As a parent, I have often found myself in prayerful discernment regarding the actions and choices that affect my child. I want, so deeply, to have the best possible influence on him, to create an environment conducive to following God’s will and to allow him to flourish in all God’s plans for him. I feel certain most faithful parents’ heartfelt prayers are the same.

Today, perhaps because I have grown enough spiritually or perhaps because things are indeed becoming more blurred in the world, I feel I am constantly, more urgently, discerning God’s will in my choices and actions.

Almost everywhere, I see the marks of the devil: confusion, seemingly innocuous provocations, lowered inhibitions and tolerance of immorality. While I remain peaceful and compassionate, my heart still finds so many things “questionable,” and I am challenged to find the truth.

When the world seems so upside-down, how can I keep my mind – and my child – right-side up?

Recognizing some of my concerns, a friend and mother of three teenagers from my weekly prayer group shared a prayer with me called “The Unity Prayer,” which was given on May 4, 1962 by our Lord Jesus to Elizabeth Kindelmann, a lay Carmelite and mother of six.

This is taken from the original Hungarian Spiritual Journal of Elizabeth Kindelmann, who started the Flame of Love movement, and has received the imprimatur of the primate of Hungary.

“My adorable Jesus,

May our feet journey together,

May our hands gather in unity,

May our hearts beat in unison,

May our souls be in harmony,

May our thoughts be as one,

May our ears listen to the silence together,

May our glances profoundly penetrate each other,

May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father. Amen.”

According to her diary, the savior said, “This prayer is an instrument in your hands. By collaborating with me, Satan will be blinded by it; and because of his blindness, souls will not be led into sin.”

When I first started saying this prayer, I thought it was intended to beseech Our Father to bring the whole world into unity with Christ and to help us all see more clearly and harmoniously.

After a few days of prayer, I realized The Unity Prayer was more personal, intended for my own protection and clarity, that I might be aligned with Christ. In time, I came to understand that this was much more than asking Christ to be with me; rather than asking him to simply accompany me, it is a cry to be brought up to him, uniting myself to his will and to his suffering, surrendering myself completely so that I might merit mercy for myself and for the whole world.

And, now, I find I am back to my first inclination, that The Unity Prayer implores Our Father to unify all mankind, but starting with me. It has the potential to save the whole world, one person at a time, as the flame is passed from heart to heart.

In this way, we are allowing Jesus himself to complete the divine will in each of us, which will lead to the triumph of his Sacred Heart.

I thank my friend for igniting my heart with this prayer so that I could pass it on to others like you.

You can find more information on The Unity Prayer and Elizabeth Kindelmann at https://www.theflameoflove.org.

A native of New Orleans, Charla Misse feels blessed to worship, work and play in her hometown. She supports various charitable organizations, sits on the finance committee for St. Dominic Church and is a Boy Scouts of America den leader and religious emblems coordinator. Things that make her happy are laughing with her family, baking for her loved ones, exercising outdoors, visiting the adoration chapel and picking her son up from school.