Following the painful events taking place in Gaza, especially following the bombing of Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital and one of the buildings affiliated with the Church of Saint Porphyrios, and located next to the church, the General Secretariat of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) called to a Prayer for Gaza, on Friday 20 October 2023.
Participants from the MECC headquarters in Beirut, the MECC General Secretariat’s team alongside the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs. As well as, colleagues working in the MECC Offices in the countries of the region also joined the Prayer online with also participants from different Ecclesial Families.
The attendees raised their Prayers, with a humble heart and a contrite spirit, for all the martyrs who fell in Gaza and for peace, truth and justice. During the Prayer, a text was read from the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Colossians (3: 8-17), after which Mrs. Suhaila Tarazi, Director of Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital, and Chair of the Local Committee of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees at MECC, read, live from Gaza, a text from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke (19: 48:41).
The Prayer also included a minute of silence for the souls of the martyrs, a spiritual sermon and condolences from Father Antoine Al Ahmar, Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department, in addition to invocations and readings, as well as the recitation of an hymn for the dead.
In this context, you can click here to check the text of the Prayer Service that was held for Gaza. You can also participate in the Prayer via the following video.
By Mecc
