Pentecost of the Nations 2016

ICCRS announces with great joy the continuing journey of the world-wide PENTECOST OF THE NATIONS project to be held during the Pentecost Novena, 06 – 14 May 2016 and on Pentecost Day, 15 May 2016. It is a two-part project – Operation Upper Room and Pentecost Day Celebration / Together We Pray and Together We Celebrate, which touches many countries in all continents, involving tens of thousands of individuals.

Pentecost for the Nations, phase II, is an integral component of Towards the CCR Golden Jubilee – A New Pentecost for a New Evangelization, Stage 2 for 2014-2015, Fanning the Flame, 2 Tim 1:6-7 (Click here). At the 2013, Solemnity of Pentecost Holy Mass with the Ecclesial Movements, Pope Francis stated …The Holy Spirit is the soul of mission. The events that took place in Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago are not something far removed from us; they are events which affect us and become a lived experience in each of us. The Pentecost of the Upper Room in Jerusalem is the beginning, a beginning which endures.

Looking Backward – Going Forward

Deep wells of grace – In 1895, on the promptings of Bl. Elena, Pope Leo XIII asked all the faithful to celebrate a solemn novena (9 days of prayer) perpetually between Ascension and Pentecost for the unity of Christianity. For this, Leo XIII suggested a special formula of prayer to be included: Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of Earth. Another strategic moment in our journey was the Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II in 2001, Novo Millennio Ineunte, ‘At the beginning of the new millennium”. This letter brings to us a key phrase, Duc in Altum – Cast your nets out into the deep. (Lk 5.4) Again to the CCR John Paul II declared, I pray most fervently that your communities and the entire Charismatic Renewal will “put out into the deep” of prayer in order to “put out into the deep of mission”.

Phase I of Pentecost of the Nations was a three-year journey. The first and second steps were taken at Pentecost 2008 and 2009. The third step culminated on Pentecost Day, May 2010 in Assisi at the ICCRS International Intercession Event, The Road to Pentecost. However that was not the end of our journey, it was only a beginning. Phase II of Pentecost of the Nations began a seven year journey that will end with the 50th anniversary celebration of the CCR in 2017, only to start another beginning which endures. Pentecost of the Nations is built on solid ground at the heart of the Church.

Pentecost of the Nations – Together We Pray and Together We Celebrate:

It is a project for All Nations – In Your Nation. It is one answer that the worldwide CCR offers since 2008 in response to the desire expressed by Popes’ John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis that the spirituality of Pentecost will spread for a new Culture of Pentecost in the Church for New Evangelization (JPII, May 2004 – Benedict XVI, Sept 2005, Francis, May 2013).

Together we pray! Part 1: 06 – 14 May  2016 – Operation Upper Room

• You can be part of this vision for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) in every nation to unite in prayer. Let us weave a dense global “net” of prayer which will be continuous, night and day, during the nine days before Pentecost forming a great Pentecost Novena. It’s an invitation of return to the “Upper Room of Jerusalem”, waiting in one heart and in constant prayer (Acts 1: 12-14), becoming “burning bushes” in adoration and intercession. (Leo XIII, E. Guerra 1895-1897).
• Participate these 9 days with a Pentecost Novena: city-wide, regional, community, NSCs events, a prayer group or individual, i.e. a Pentecost Night and Day Novena in an Upper Room Cenacle, a Novena Prayer Net or an individual Pentecost Novena, etc.

Together we celebrate! Part 2: 15 May 2016 – Pentecost Day Celebrations

• You can participate in events that are being planned to celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost in your nation, city, community or group.
• It’s an invitation to respond to the call for New Evangelization so the “spirituality of Pentecost” will spread in the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit and His gifts.
• Organize Pentecost Celebration events, which can consist of charismatic prayer, short teachings, testimonies, and a solemn invocation of the Holy Spirit and possibly a concert to glorify God!

Imagine

• Imagine – Oh, if only…unanimous and fervent prayers could be raised to Heaven in every part of Christendom, as they were one in the Cenacle (upper room) of Jerusalem for a rekindling of the Divine Spirit! (Bl. Elena Guerra)
• Imagine what would happen if “unanimous and fervent prayers” were raised in every time zone in the world for nine days!
• Imagine what would happen if we witnessed to the power of the Holy Spirit in every part of the world throughout Pentecost!
• Imagine what God could do if we united in prayer and celebration for fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our world!

Helpful resources for prayer events and celebrations

1. ICCRS presentation video of Pentecost of the Nations… for a new Culture of Pentecost. Watch here: English – Italian French – German Spanish – Portuguese
2. The Road to Pentecost Booklet, a prayer guide from Easter to Pentecost by the English NSC (available in English only). Please contact CCR UK for more information.
3. The Burning Bush Prayer-Pentecost Novena and various helpful articles by Kim Catherine-Marie Kollins in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish, are all downloadable from her website.
4. A Burning Bush flyer is downloadable in English, along with information on setting up a “9/24 Prayer Net” in your nation, group, or community.
5. Celebrando Pentecostes (Novena), Reinaldo B. dos Reis, 2004, Distribuidora Loyola (Brasil) Clique aqui
6. Per un Roveto Ardente di Preghiera, suggerimenti per un’animazione spirituale, Salvatore Martinez, 2002, Edizioni Rinnovamento nello Spirito Cliccate qui

Plan to join the Pentecost for the Nations Experience:

All can join in a united ICCRS CCR Pentecost for the Nations effort – Consider yourselves bridge-builders in conveying and promoting Pentecost of the Nations – 06 – 15 May 2016, to the various CCR realities in your areas/regions encouraging them to link together, in an atmosphere of communion, thereby forging stronger links into global Pentecost of the Nations prayer and celebration experiences.