Prayers Unite the World (https://prayersunitetheworld.org) is a website that accepts prayer requests from people all over the world. In turn, more than 100 Catholic religious communities and organizations agree to pray for people who submit the prayer requests. Those who submit prayer requests are later informed of the communities that are praying for their intention, so that they can learn more about the community and its mission. No donation or purchase is required.
The nonprofit site was founded by Edward Lawrence, a retired Archbishop Ryan High School religion teacher who lives in Bustleton, and Thomas Wambold, an Information Technology executive. They developed the site as a way to share God’s love with others.
Three separate incidents led to the establishment of the site:
• Lawrence played a video for his students that contained an interview with a nun who said that she and the other sisters in her community receive great satisfaction from praying for others they do not know and probably will never meet. Lawrence saw how moved they were by the nun’s words.
• Lawrence posted a picture in his classroom of the seven martyred Trappist monks from Notre-Dame de l’Atlas Monastery in Tibhirine, Algeria. One night, he found the monastery’s website. He emailed the monks to let them know that their martyred brothers’ picture was posted in his classroom. He also asked for prayers for his students. The monks replied that they would do that and upon informing his students about this, Lawrence could see how touched his students were by the monks’ gesture.
• A cafeteria aide at Ryan asked for prayers for her daughter-in-law. Lawrence forwarded the prayer intention to a Trappist monk, Brother Anthony Weber, at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Genesee, in upstate New York. Lawrence printed out the Abbey’s homepage for her and informed her that the monks were praying for her family. It was evident to Lawrence that she was very grateful for the religious community’s prayers on her daughter-in-law’s behalf.
These incidents demonstrated to Lawrence not only the power of prayer, but how meaningful it is when others pray for you. After consulting with various Catholic religious communities and with the technical assistance of Wambold, the Prayers Unite the World website was established in 2016.
While the website partners with Catholic religious communities and organizations, those who aren’t Catholic are welcome to submit prayer requests. Prayers Unite the World and organizations involved with the website do not differentiate between those who are Catholic and those who aren’t. Prayers are said on behalf of those who submit prayer requests with a desire to spread God’s love throughout the world.
“While everyone complains about the internet being filled with hate and misinformation, Prayers Unite the World is one website that brings people together through prayer,” Lawrence said.To learn more, go to https://prayersunitetheworld.org ••
