cheap prednisone On this night, in Rome, all the churches throw open their doors and stay open through most of the night, as places to pray. It is quite an event in the city – many churches whose closed doors you passed many a time are open, inviting you to step in. Usually only the altars are illuminated, often with candles, and the bright altars in the dark churches make you want to look inside. People walk around in little groups, visiting twenty or thirty in an evening. And everywhere you find people absorbed in intense prayer at the altar of repose.
can you buy prednisone in canada I have long thought that American Christianity could have a night like this. It is a kind of religious “take back the night.” There are not enough Catholic churches in any American city to create the kind of density you have in Rome, but when you factor in other Christian denominations, there might even be more churches per square mile in American cities than anywhere else. And the churches would offer far more variety than in Rome, and the night have more significance in terms of unity across denominations. As far as getting participation, the Catholics have their altars which justify the practice, the Episcopalians are up for anything beautiful and ecumenical, and other Protestant denominations have ample Biblical encouragement to do this: “Tarry ye here, and watch with me.” “Couldst not thou watch one hour?” “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” This was, after all, the night he was betrayed. I think all Christians can agree that especially honoring this night is appropriate.
It’s a different type of “witnessing,” and would attract a different group of people than the folks who like ten AM on Sundays. Churches would have to find a few people to commit to being at the church in the evening – not a difficult task – and could stay open until, say, midnight (the intrepid can stay open all night, of course, if they want to). The easiest thing would be to start in a neighborhood with a dense enough grouping of churches (in Manhattan somewhere, for instance), get them all signed up, and print out little leaflets with a map. Then build from there.
It’s nearly 1 A.M. here. But I’m going out now, to a chapel that stays open tonight here in New Orleans. It’s beautiful – and a completely different way of experiencing a church and a city.
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