Detroit — Gathered to pray for a common purpose, lay and religious Catholics of both Eastern and Western rites filled the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament the evening of Nov. 21.

The occasion was a prayer service for those suffering in the Middle East.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron offered a few words of welcome prior to the service, “so that we can together pray to Our Lady the Help of Christians and Queen of Peace, to ask her to protect our brothers and sisters, (the) Christians in the Middle East, to extend of course her protecting mantle to all of her children in that troubled region.”

The Eastern Catholic bishops who attended the prayer service were Bishop Francis Kalabat of the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, (Chaldean); Bishop Barnaba Yousif Benham Habash of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark (Syrian); and Bishop Abdullah Elias Zaidan, M.L., of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles (Maronite).

The prayer service was also attended by Detroit Auxiliary Bishops Francis R. Reiss, Michael J. Byrnes and Donald F. Hanchon, as well as a number of Eastern and Western priests.

Referencing “all of us united in our Catholic union,” the archbishop began the prayers to “intercede and protect those we love.”

The prayer service consisted in the recitation of the rosary, with traditional Eastern and Western hymns sung between decades. The opening prayer itself, read by Archbishop Vigneron, was adapted from Pope Benedict XVI’s 2012 post-synodal apostolic exhortation, “Ecclesia in Medio Oriente.”

After the rosary, the Litany of Loretto was chanted, followed by Pachelbel’s “Magnificat in D.”

The gathered bishops then gave a solemn blessing with an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which was followed by an opportunity for the faithful to venerate the icon individually afterward, as the choir sang the “Salve Regina” and “Hail Holy Queen.”

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Editor’s note: Visit www.helpiraq.org to learn how to assist those suffering in the Middle East.