Cardinale Zuppi prays at a cemetery in San Girolamo della Certosa. / Archdiocese of Bologna
Vatican City, Oct 28, 2021 / 07:12 am (CNA).
This year, the Vatican has decided once again to grant a plenary indulgence to Catholics who visit a cemetery to pray for the dead on any day in the month of November.
In a typical year, the Church only grants this plenary indulgence for the souls in Purgatory to those who pray in a cemetery on Nov. 1-8, the week of the Solemnity of All Souls’ Day.
But last year the Apostolic Penitentiary issued a decree that extended the availability of certain plenary indulgences amid concerns about avoiding large gatherings of people in churches or cemeteries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vatican announced on Oct. 28 that this same decree would also apply in November 2021.
This includes the particular Nov. 2 plenary indulgence one can receive for one’s own soul by visiting a church or an oratory and reciting an Our Father and the Creed, which can now also be done on any day in November.
A plenary indulgence remits all temporal punishment due to sin. It must always be accompanied by a full detachment from sin.
A Catholic who wishes to obtain a plenary indulgence must also fulfill the ordinary conditions of an indulgence, which are sacramental confession, reception of the Eucharist, and prayer for the pope’s intentions.
Sacramental confession and reception of the Eucharist can occur up to about 20 days before or after the indulgenced act.
With the decree for pandemic conditions, those who cannot leave home, such as the sick and the elderly, can still obtain an indulgence by reciting prayers for the deceased before an image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.
They must also spiritually unite themselves to other Catholics, be completely detached from sin, and have the intention of fulfilling the ordinary conditions as soon as possible.
The Vatican’s decree offered examples of prayers that homebound Catholics can pray for the dead, including lauds or vespers of the Office for the Dead, the rosary, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, other prayers for deceased among their family or friends, or performing a work of mercy by offering their pain and discomfort to God.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, believers have honored and prayed for the dead from the earliest days of Christianity.
“From the beginning, the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God,” the catechism states in paragraph 1032.
“The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.”
“Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them,” it says.
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National Congress of Brazil / Credit: Shutterstock
CNA Newsroom, Jan 9, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
The Catholic bishops of Brazil condemned the violent seizure on Jan. 8 of Congress, the president’s office, and the Supreme Court in Brasilia, the co… […]
Pope Francis prayed before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux at the beginning of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square, and shortly before going to the hospital for an abdominal surgery, on June 7, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 7, 2023 / 04:37 am (CNA).
One of Pope Francis’ last gestures before undergoing abdominal surgery on Wednesday was to pray before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux.
A relic of the French Carmelite nun, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, was present on the platform in front of St. Peter’s Basilica during the pope’s weekly general audience June 7.
Before beginning the audience, Francis venerated the relics of St. Therese in a moment of silent prayer. He also placed a single, white rose on the table in front of the reliquary.
Pope Francis was taken to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia at the end of the morning audience, shortly after 11:00 a.m. Rome time, the Vatican said.
Relics of St. Therese’s parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Guérin Martin, were also present at the meeting with the public June 7. The relics of all three saints will visit different churches in Rome through June 16.
Relics of St. Therese of Lisieux and her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Guerin Martin, were on the platform in front of St. Peter’s Basilica during Pope Francis’ general audience June 7, 2023. The relics made a pilgrimage to Rome June 6-16, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis said Wednesday he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Therese of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
“She was a Carmelite nun who lived her life according to the way of littleness and weakness: she defined herself as ‘a small grain of sand,’” he said in St. Peter’s Square.
“Having poor health, she died at the age of only 24,” he added. “But though her body was sickly, her heart was vibrant, missionary.”
“Here before us are the relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, universal patroness of missions,” he said. “It is good that this happens while we are reflecting on the passion for evangelization, on apostolic zeal. Today, then, let us allow the witness of St. Therese to help us. She was born 150 years ago, and I plan to dedicate an apostolic letter to her on this anniversary.”
🎥HIGHLIGHTS | Before commencing the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis shared a beautiful moment of prayer before the sacred relics of St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church and Patroness of the Missions. As a symbol of his devotion, the Holy Father… pic.twitter.com/lRJeWuSx8n
St. Therese of Lisieux was born on Jan. 2, 1873, in Alençon, France. Her mother died when she was four, leaving her father and older sisters to raise her. She received papal permission to enter the Carmelite Monastery at the young age of 15, where she lived until her death from Tuberculosis at the age of 24.
She was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by St. Pope John Paul II in 1997 and is the patron saint of missions.
Pope Francis reflected on the saint’s life as part of a series of lessons on evangelical zeal.
“She is patroness of the missions, but she was never sent on mission,” Francis explained in his catechesis. “She recounts in her ‘diary’ that her desire was that of being a missionary, and that she wanted to be one not just for a few years, but for the rest of her life, even until the end of the world.”
St. Therese did this, he said, by becoming a spiritual sister to several missionaries, whom she accompanied through her prayers, letters, and sacrifices from within the monastery walls.
“Without being visible, she interceded for the missions, like an engine that, although hidden, gives a vehicle the power to move forward,” the pope said.
“Missionaries, in fact — of whom Therese is patroness — are not only those who travel long distances, learn new languages, do good works, and are good at proclamation,” he added. “No, a missionary is anyone who lives as an instrument of God’s love where they are.”
Pope Francis spoke about St. Therese of Lisieux, the patroness of missions, during his general audience June 7, 2023. Relics of St. Therese and her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Guerin Martin, were present on the platform beside the pope for the audience. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis recounted two episodes from St. Therese’s life that help to explain the source of her zeal and missionary strength.
The first happened during Christmas 1886, when Therese was almost 14 years old.
St. Therese was pampered as the youngest child of the family, he explained. But her father was tired after midnight Mass for Christmas and did not feel like being present when his daughter opened her gifts, so he said he was glad it was the last year she would receive gifts.
“Therese, who was very sensitive and easily moved to tears, was hurt, and went up to her room and cried,” the pope said.
“But she quickly suppressed her tears, went downstairs and, full of joy, she was the one who cheered her father,” he said. “What had happened? On that night, when Jesus had made himself weak out of love, her soul became strong: in just a few moments, she had come out of the prison of her selfishness and self-pity; she began to feel that ‘charity entered her heart’ — so she said — ‘with the need to forget herself’ (cf. Manuscript A, 133-134).”
“From then on, she directed her zeal toward others, that they might find God…”
The second event happened after St. Therese became a Carmelite. Pope Francis said the nun became aware of a hardened criminal, Enrico Pranzini, who was sentenced to death by guillotine for having murdered three people.
Therese had a special zeal for saving sinners, and so “she took him into her heart and did all she could: she prayed in every way for his conversion, so that he, whom, with brotherly compassion she called ‘poor wretched Pranzini,’ might demonstrate a small sign of repentance and make room for God’s mercy,” Francis said.
The day after his execution, she read in the newspaper that before laying his head on the chopping block, Pranzini had, “‘all of a sudden, seized by a sudden inspiration, turned around, grabbed a Crucifix that the priest handed to him and kissed three times the sacred wounds’ of Jesus,” he continued.
“Then his soul,” St. Therese wrote, “went to receive the merciful sentence of the One who declared that in Heaven there will be more joy for a single sinner who repents than for the ninety-nine righteous who have no need of repentance!”
Pope Francis said: “With so many means, methods, and structures available, which sometimes distract from what is essential, the Church needs hearts like Therese’s, hearts that draw people to love and bring people closer to God.”
“Let us today ask this saint, whose relics we have here,” he added, “let us ask this saint for the grace to overcome our selfishness and for the passion to intercede that Jesus might be known and loved.”
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