A Selection Of Prayers And Speeches For The New Year 2023

Father! We had a very complex year in 1963. At this historical moment, when Your pain has not yet been alleviated, we cannot help but think that it was a year in which Your sorrowful course intensified, and today, at this very moment, we are receiving the new morning of 1964. Let us not forget that if we have life, it is thanks to Your work and that if we are proud of anything, it is also due to the price of Your blood. We come before You with all our devotion and solemn attitude, renewed, to listen to the voice that arises from your heart, crying out to these sons and daughters so unworthy of You. Guide us, that we may be children who appeal to You with tears, ready to go the way of death, however difficult the road may be, to fulfill Your desire. (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 1964, Former Headquarters, Seoul)

Defense of the Unified Front

Father! In the face of your will to restore a country, the Unificationist community scattered throughout the world must unite. Let us understand, once again, that regardless of personal desires, there is a path of Heaven which the spiritual world cannot fulfill, even if thousands of years pass. Let us reflect today on the past, let us solemnly kneel before You and let the position of the members of the Unification Church take the solemn position of pledging to possess a heart of loyalty and filial piety. Knowing that this is the way of those of us who carry your mission, we pray that you will guide us to unite before your longed-for will. We know that in the course of the restoration you have gone through it all and we know very well with what heart You console those who suffer immense loneliness and pain. I pray fervently with the desire that You will joyfully guide them in the paths ahead of them and that they will be a congregation gathered together to be forerunners of the ideal foundation in which You may find rest. (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 1972, Washington, D.C.)

Be victorious

You may well know that three years have passed in the course of 7, and we have four years ahead of us; when we think about it, we have to feel how pressing our mission is now and how distressing our situation is. What should we do, then, during this period? We will have to restore the homeland for God. You should know what your responsibility will be in the next four years to create a safe and secure foundation where you can be free and welcome wherever you go, from the individual level to the family, tribal, and even national level. You may not quite understand why I repeatedly ask you to do certain things, but I do it because everything has a purpose. If I put you through suffering, it is to establish you in a victorious subjective position. Knowing this, the more difficult it is, the more you must be strong and

courageous, for all the paths ahead will be difficult. You should proudly assume your responsibility, overcome it, and be determined to take control of all those difficulties and sorrows. From now on, you will receive orders from God and undergo great trials. If God does not command them, I will have to do it. If I do not do it, Mother will have to do it. The vertical (providential) work has to go through 3 generations. Just as Joshua and Caleb fought for God and overcame, there will be times when they will be tested, to see if they can overcome or not. I hope you will understand how important our responsibility is and that you will do everything in your power in this journey that I am on. (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 1965, Former Headquarters, Seoul)

Let Us Make a Full Advance

All of us gathered here already know the will (of God). We are people who are determined to give our lives for the will and who have gone through a course of struggle. Therefore, you will have to be even more aware that you have committed yourselves before God to assume the responsibility of this era, in a flesh and blood relationship with God. Now, from this year 1968, there is much to do, but I cannot tell you all of it here today. We must not only fulfill our mission for Korea, but also our mission for the rest of the world. I have been much resisted and persecuted, for having grown the church to what it is today; but seen according to God’s providence, I did not feel any pangs of conscience. If I had not done what I did, there was no way to prepare a victorious foundation like the one we have today. (Sun Myung Moon,January 1, 1968)

Creation and Building of the Fatherland — A Stony, Graveled Path

Our path is a pioneering one. The pioneering path is not easy; it is stony and graveled. It is difficult and tough. Sometimes the pathway can only be opened by a dynamite explosion. That is the way we have to go. Nobody has understood history, especially the history of restoration. I have been pioneering the path of restoration. We have come this far, and I say to you that we have won great victory up to this moment.

So many people in history have come to this earth and have undertaken the pioneering path. The path of the spiritual pioneer is always difficult, but the pioneering course of the Unification Church today is the most difficult; it is the path of supreme difficulty. The Unification Church path, which is also my path, has a universal meaning. It started from the bottom of hell and ascended to Heaven’s highest part. Thus it contains the highest possible theological dimension.

I want you to understand that God would not give you a precious gift without asking you to fulfill a certain responsibility. We are about to receive the most cosmic, eternal gift from God; thus, our responsibility is equal to that. We cannot expect such a blessing to come to us easily. Those who deserve the highest place here and in the spirit world only earn it by pursuing the most challenging and thorny path. That is the way we come to deserve God’s blessing. (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 1985, Midnight Speech – World Mission Center, Grand Ballroom)

Let Us Make a Full Advance

From now on, 1968, the members of the Unification Church find themselves in the situation of having to make a breakthrough on all fronts. They will have to move forward with clear objectives. The present objective to be pursued by the Unification Church is the Republic of Korea; we must restore all the Korean people. You must know clearly that we have been entrusted with this mission. We can only expect results if you are clearly aware that you eat, sleep and work to achieve this goal. You can expect results depending on how clear the goal is and how hard you pray and strive. We must make 1968 a victorious year in which God can rejoice. So I hope that you will be able to offer to God completely this first year of the second 7-year course and I ask you to please strive to make it so. (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 1968)

Let us make this the most successful year of our life

This year you will have to achieve what you have never achieved before. What I want to ask you to do is to make this year the year one in which you can offer the most remarkable achievements to God in the course of your life. We must avoid having to repent for not taking the Word seriously. By making your maximum efforts in every way and every one, having contributed to God’s will during your lives, you will save face. Still, especially this year, you should obtain maximum results in your areas of mission. In that way, God will never forget you. I hope you will dedicate yourselves with diligence and sincerity, striving for maximum achievements in your lives this year. (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 1960, Former Headquarters, Seoul)

Oeg Mansei to the sacred reign of cosmic peace

Cosmic Peace! Cheon Il Guk! A sacred reign! Eog Mansei! Cheonju Pyeongwa [Universal Peace] refers to the land and house in which God can live. Is the term “cosmic peace” an adjective? Which part is the subject? We can say, “the sacred reign of peace in Cheon Il Guk, the realm of cosmic peace.” What sacred, glorious reign are we talking about? [That of Cheon Il Guk!] Even if we have Cheon Il Guk, if we do not have the ideal God originally had in mind for the creation, an environment where we can live together with God. Cheon Il Guk doesn’t help us at all, Because we don’t have what we need in the environment. What is TaePyung [Literally: Great Peace]? The source and beginning of the reign of peace, of a great unifying, is what we call TaePyung. TaePyung means that if you want to become one, for all of you to become one, first, you have to make peace. You have to create harmony. In this sense, what we mean by TaePyung Seongdae [the glorious reign of peace] is a truly wonderful age, a truly wonderful world in which happiness can continue forever and ever without end. And that’s not all. What’s next? Eog mansei! Because we love that sacred, glorious reign of cosmic peace, we say, “Eog mansei!” [May it last forever!] Over and over again. We can live together for a hundred million years, proud in the authority of joyful liberation! Eog mansei! (Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 2007 –Cheon Jeong Palace)

National Prayer to Open the Era for a Heavenly Unified Korea, True Mother’s New Year Speech

Beloved blessed families and members here and watching through the live broadcast around the world: I love you! I proclaim that we are proud blessed families standing at the forefront who will absolutely fulfill our Heavenly Parent’s dream and what humanity has longed for. The original owner of the universe is the Creator, God. The Creator, God is the owner; unless God recognizes a nation, that nation cannot claim anything for itself. We need to help people understand God. Our Creator God made all things in Heaven and on earth and then created a man and a woman capable of becoming humankind’s good ancestors. He gave them special privileges. During their growth period, they were to grow in absolute unity with God; after receiving God’s blessing, they would have been in the position of humankind’s true ancestors, the True Parents, in whom God would have dwelt substantially. God is an omnipotent and omniscient being. His beginning and end are the same. So, God must absolutely be victorious. However, giving humans special privileges became problematic, so God waited six thousand years for the True Parents to arise from fallen humanity to bring victory back to God. While waiting, God blessed this peninsula, the Republic of Korea. In that case, shouldn’t the citizens of the Republic of Korea receive True Parents’ blessing? You have to fulfill your responsibilities. Please push for the citizens of the Republic of Korea to qualify as citizens of Cheon Il Guk. (Hak Ja Han, January 1, 2019 – Cheongshim Peace World Center)

We shouldn’t forget Heavenly Parent in our daily life

We should not forget about our Heavenly Parent in our daily life. We should be able to preserve the earth, which God created, the Creator, during our earthly lives. Our mission is to witness to and educate people. Fallen people must go through restoration. What we have to do is to witness. Next, we must enlarge our influence on our surroundings and be able to preserve the beautiful creation that our Heavenly Parent made with all his strength. Please think of the many damages inflicted on the entire world today due to man’s ignorance. Human beings must be awakened from ignorance and preserve the environment well.

We must save the dying land and oceans. We must do it. We cannot deny responsibility for this. We are all part of the Unification family. We are one family. With this objective in mind, we must strive to achieve this purpose with one heart and one Will wherever we are. Do you understand? Let us become true devoted sons and daughters who can achieve higher results with every passing month and year through which our Creator, the Heavenly Parent, can delight in and trust us. We must not become people who keep changing. I trust that you will act responsibly with a sense of ownership in all respects where responsibility is required. This is your message of blessings as this New Year starts. Just like the motto I gave you mentions, let us become true owners of Cheon Il Guk that practice true love resembling our Creator, the Heavenly Parent. This motto does not imply our becoming so later but becoming so now. It means we must be victorious. We should not think of it as something we will do in the future but as a motto we should achieve now. Even though the first anniversary of Foundation Day is around the corner, please make strong determinations and advance with this heart. (Hak Ja Han, January 1, 2014 –Hoon Dok Hae – Cheon Jeong Gung)

Witness with Confidence in this New Year

Truly I tell you, you must now teach about it openly. Why the need for hesitation? We have so much to be proud of. In this regard, I wish that all of you who are preparing to welcome this new year of the tiger, can become leaders who are preparing for a year in which you spread the life-giving blessings of Heaven widely. [applause] I’ve said this before: You are experiencing the golden age by living and breathing in the same era as I do.

You are in a blessed position in which you can boast to Heaven of the fruits of your efforts. It is truly a pity for a good shepherd who cannot harvest during the harvest season. You must harvest numerous fruits. That’s the way to ensure the future. Therefore, in this era of establishing Cheon Il Guk, I believe that you are not entitled to retirement. I wish you all — men, women, young and old — to bear great fruit in this golden age of your lives. ((Hak Ja Han, January 8, 2022 – HJ Heaven and Earth Training Center)