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MERRILLVILLE, Ind. — Two parishes in Northwest Indiana have dedicated their Lenten journey to praying for those who have left the Catholic Church and for their return to the fullness of the faith through the intercession of the Mother of God, Searcher for the Lost.
Father Andrew Summerson, administrator of St. Michael Parish in Merrillville and of St. Mary Parish in Whiting, initiated this Lenten campaign, which involves praying a moleben for this intention at both parishes under his pastoral care.
“We pray for people who have left because they have been hurt by the church, for those who, at some point in their lives, made bad choices that have kept them away, and for those who have walked away because they were drawn by other things,” he said. “We love them and so does God.”
Parishioners also submit the names of people who have left the church and Father Summerson prays for them by name during the Sunday Divine Liturgies “because we want to put those who are far from the church in the heart of the Eucharist,” he said.
The moleben is based on an office composed by Father Maximos Davies of Holy Resurrection Monastery in St. Nazianz, Wisconsin, where a large icon the Mother of God, Searcher for the Lost is reserved. The monastery has adopted the Mother of God, Searcher for the Lost as its patron.
“The moleben weaves together Scripture in a beautiful way to show us how God’s power has prevailed in the lives of the lost and destitute in the Bible,” said Father Summerson.
The moleben is prayed at St. Michael Parish hall, 557 W 57th Ave., every Friday at 1 p.m. during Lent. St. Mary Parish, 2011 Clark St., prays the moleben every Wednesday and Sunday at 9:30 a.m.; the troparion of the Mother of God, Searcher for the Lost, as well as a prayer for this intention are prayed after every service during Lent.
To purchase an icon, go to https://hrmonline.org/store. To purchase a moleben prayer booklet, click here.
Read the short prayer for this intention below.
Caption: The Lenten prayer campaign that includes the icon of the Mother of God, Searcher for the Lost, pictured above, was launched at St. Michael Parish in Merrillville, Indiana, March 3. (Photo: Laura Ieraci)
Prayer to the Mother of God, Searcher for the Lost
O Mother of God, through your virginal conception and birth giving, your Son Jesus Christ, Our God, took flesh to redeem the likeness that had fallen. We now beg of your compassion, seek those who bear the likeness of your Son through the grace of baptism, and unite them once more to your holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Render those who bear your Son’s image not unto the prince of this world, but unto their Heavenly Father for whom they were created. Make them to know the beauty of our Father’s house, that they may recognize that better is one day in his courts than a thousand elsewhere. Quicken their repentance that they, like David, fashion praise with their lips and offer their contrite spirit upon the altar of mercy. For you, who sought your Son tenderly in the temple and who made ministers his servants of the miracle at Cana, seek the lost. Stay with them in their temporal sufferings, as you did with your Son at his crucifixion, that they may know that death is certain, life short, and merely a prelude to the inexhaustible joy of eternal life with your Son, prepared for those who seek him in this life. In this, may your Son be glorified, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.
