"We ask of you holy fathers, brothers and respectful sirs, as we have asked you before in the name of the compassionate Christ, who has loved us, even though we are vile, sinful and desperate, to return to the agreement we had with the holy fathers.  Let us return to the time when we spoke as one voice and there existed no schism between us.  Let us get to know one another deeply and brotherly let us respect the holy fathers who we both share, and the holy tradition that was passed down to us by them.  In this manner  as one voice and heart we will glorify the honorable and magnificent name of the father, son, and the holy spirit, now and for ever and for the ages of ages. Amen."

This was a speech made by St. Mark at the Florence conference in 1438. The Florence conference was an attempt  to unite the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the only two Christian churches in existence six centuries ago.

It should be noted that there were 17 Orthodox bishops at the conference, and the only bishop who voted against a union was St. Mark.  Even though St. Mark supported a union he felt it could not be at the expense of the Orthodox religion.  For the background to this speech look at: Attempt to Unite the East and West.

 

Directly Related:

This writing deals with an attempt to unite the Orthodox and Catholic church.  Take a look at the article  Attempt to Unite the East and West.