are totally unaware of the connection!
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What are the Twelve Days of Christmas |
| |
| Traditionally, Christmas was celebrated with special festivity for twelve days, culminating on the |
| feast of the Epiphany, January 6. The Twelve Days of Christmas do not lead up to Christmas Day, |
| they begin on Christmas Day. We can lose sight of the twelve days because now the fest of the |
| Epiphany is usually transferred to the nearest Sunday. Nonetheless, it's proper and official date |
| is and always has been January 6. This is why January 6 is sometimes referred to as "little |
| Christmas" (hence the song, Have yourself a Merry little Christmas). The last or twelfth night of |
| Christmas was marked by great revelry; in fact, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night derives its title from |
| the fact that it was written as part of "twelfth night" celebrations. For much of the world, Christmas |
| is all over the day after; as Christians though, we know that on December 25 the Christmas |
season has really just begun.
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How many times a day may I receive Holy Communion? |
| |
| Canon Law states that, “A person who has received the Most Holy Eucharist may receive it again (iterum) on the |
| same day only during the celebration of the Eucharist in which the person participates...” (Canon 917). The first |
| point to note is that if someone has already received Communion, he may receive again only if it is in the context |
| of a Mass that he attends. So, for example, someone can receive communion at morning Mass, and then attend a |
| wedding Mass later that same day and receive again. But, how many times a day may this happen? After the |
| current Code of Canon Law was promulgated in 1983, there was confusion on this topic, and the bishops of the |
| world asked the Holy See for a clarification. In 1984, the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic interpretation of |
| the Code of Canon Law definitively answered that the word again (iterum) in Canon 917 means "once more", not |
| "repeatedly." A Catholic, then, may receive communion no more than twice in a single day. This applies to lay |
| people as well as deacons. There are two exceptions: A priest saying Mass must always receive communion, |
| however many Masses he has already said that day. Also, a Catholic may always receive in danger of death, |
even if that would exceed the two-time limit.
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What are indulgences? Part 1 |
| |
| When we sin, we have to make reparation for that sin. Even when the sin has been absolved in |
| confession, we still have to atone for it. This is why we receive a penance in confession. That penance |
| helps to repair the wounds of sin and make satisfaction to God. But we need to supplement that: |
| every prayer we say, Mass we attend, communion we worthily receive, good work we perform, |
| mortificaton we endure, all attain grace to help heal the wounds and pay the debt we owe to |
| God for our transgression against his infinite goodness. W have a fixed time on earth to make that |
| satisfaction. If we die in the state of grace, but still have not fully healed the wounds of sin, we |
| complete that satisfaction in Purgatory. This process is known as temporal punishment-it's a punishment |
| that lasts for a fixed time, as opposed to the eternal punishment of hell. An indulgence is a |
| lessening of the temporal punishment that we owe for sins that have already been forgiven. It is |
| granted by the Church as part of the authority that she received from Christ, her head: " Whatever |
| you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19). This would be the spiritual equivalent of a pardon |
| that someone may receive from a civil ruler. We must be clear: an indulgence does not remove sin, it |
| does not take away the eternal punishment due to mortal sins, and it is not permission to sin. It |
| simply helps "speed up" the process of our recovery from sin by supplying extra grace (spiritual medicine) |
| to our soul. Mother Church draws out graces from the infinite stroehouse of merit accrued by Our Lord's |
| saving Passion, and applies them directly to our soul. Next week, we will begin to examine examples of |
indulgences, how we can gain them, and how they have, at times, been misused.
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| What are indulgences? Part 2 |
| |
| Indulgences are classified as either partial or plenary (full). A partial indulgence reduces some of our |
| temporal punishment due to sin. A plenary indulgence removes all of our temporal punishment |
| So, if we should die right after receiving a plenary indulgence, we would go straight to Heaven |
| (no time in Purgatory). Partial indulgences can be gained through many different prayers, good |
| works, and mortifications. All that is required to receive them is that one be in the state of grace |
| (free from mortal sin), intend to receive the indulgence, and perform the indulgenced act ( the prayer |
| or good work). Plenary indulgences are more difficult to obtain. Some examples of plenary indulgences |
| are: adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least an hour, public recitation of the Rosary; participating |
| in the Stations of the Cross; a visit to a cemetery during the first eight days of November with a prayer for |
| the souls. In addition to the indulgenced act, however, other conditions must be filled. These are going |
| to confession and receiving communion in the days before or after the act is performed; praying for the |
| intentions of the Holy Father; being free from all attachment to venial sin. If these conditions are not met, |
a partial indulgence can still be obtained.
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| What are indulgences? Part 3 of 3 |
| |
| Two final points about indulgences. First, about obtaining them. We should try to obtain as many |
| indulgences as possible, so as to heal the wounds o sin while we're still on earth and thereby hasten our |
| entrance, please God, into heaven. Partial indulgences can be obtained as often as possible. Plenary |
| indulgences can be obtained only once per day. Indulgences may be gained either for oneself or for the |
| souls in Purgatory, but not for any other living person. (For an definition of partial and plenary indulgences, |
| see last week's bulletin.) The second point is to clarify some of the history about indulgences. Like any good |
| thing, indulgences can be and have been terribly abused. One of the most infamous abuses concerns |
| the so-called "selling" of indulgences. To be clear, the Church never "sold" indulgences in the explicit |
| sense of the term. At times, indulgences were attached to charitable giving, including donations to the |
| project of building churches. Such a donation is a good thing in itself, and indulgences can of course be |
| attached to the good work of charitable giving. Sadly, this good act easily lent itself to abuse and |
| misunderstanding. It looked like money was buying indulgences, rather the indulgence being the |
| spiritual reward for one's almsgiving. To reform this abuse, Pope St. Pius V in 1567 for bade any |
| indulgences from being attached to any good work involving money. Sadly, many Catholics are under |
| the mistaken impression that indulgences are a thing of the past, or are somehow inherently corrupt. How |
| many graces they lose out on! With a proper understanding of indulgences, Catholics can avail themselves |
of the tremendous favors that God continues to offer us through this gift.
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| Why do we pray to saints? |
| |
| Let's clarify what we mean by "praying to the saints" In an ultimate sense, of course all prayer is directed |
| to God alone. Only he can answer our prayers; only he may receive our worship and adoration. |
| So what do we mean by "praying to the saints"? We mean that we're asking them to join us in praying |
| to God. What could be more natural! How often we ask our friends to pray for a special intention; |
| “Please pray for me,” we say over and over again—and no one thinks there’s anything wrong with that. |
| And yet, when we ask the same thing of our friends in heaven, people start reacting in very strange |
| ways. Why wouldn't we want the prayers of these heavenly friends, who are also the special friends |
| of God? After all, they actually see God directly! Besides, when we honor the saints by having them |
| join in our prayers, we actually give greater honor to God who is the cause of their holiness. In other |
| words, we're acknowledging God's wonderful work in the holiness of his saints. We certainly honor |
| plenty of people who achieve good things here on earth; how much more should we honor those who |
| have won the ultimate prize of heaven! There's no better way to honor them than to trust in the powerful |
| prayers of these holy men and women. And to pray (ask) them to join us in pleading for our needs before |
our heavenly Father.
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| Why do we honor relics? |
| |
| Let’s first clarify what relics are. The most privileged relics are those items connected with Our Lord’s |
| Passion, such as a piece of the True Cross. In more common usage, relics are objects connected to the |
| saints. We specify three different categories of relics: A first class relic is an actual body part of a saint (e.g. |
| a bone fragment); a second class relic is an article of clothing or some other object used by a saint |
| (e.g. a prayer book); a third class relic is any object touched to a first class relic. Relics have been venerated |
| since the early Church; the first altars were the tombs of the martyrs. We place first class relics in our altars |
| to this day in honor of this tradition. Catholics have always venerated relics, and we are right to do so |
| These bodies are holy, and they will join their souls in heaven at the end of the world. Even now, God |
| continues to work great blessings and even cures through these relics, just as he did during that saint’s |
| life on earth. We do not pray to relics, but to the persons they represent. They are holy reminders that we |
| want to get to heaven as well, body and soul. The distaste with which some people react to relics stems |
| perhaps from a misunder-standing of the role that the body, and the whole physical world—water and |
| wine, bread and bones, plays in the work of redemption. Perhaps we can learn from our forebears and |
grow in appreciation of these holy items, and the salvation that they represent.
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| What is Eucharistic adoration? What do I do there? |
| |
| In Eucharistic adoration, the priest places a consecrated Host in a monstrance (basically, a large display case |
| for the Host) upon the altar so that people can pray for an extended time period before the Blessed |
| Sacrament. Some Parishes have perpetual adoration, where people takes turns, usually for an hour each, |
| praying before Our Lord day and night. Other popu-lar times for adoration are First Fridays and the feast of |
| Corpus Christi. Often, adoration will conclude with Benediction, which is when the priest takes the |
| monstrance and blesses the people with the Body of Christ itself. The tradition of spending an hour in |
| prayer with Our Lord comes from Holy Thursday, during the agony in the garden, when Jesus asked the |
| apostles, “Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Mt 26:40). Of course, any amount of time in adoration, |
| however brief, is meritorious. There is no pre-scribed activity for adoration-one can read a devotional book, |
| pray certain litanies or novenas, pray the rosary, or simply talk to Our Lord in our own words. The best |
| thing of all is to do nothing, but simply to be with Jesus in this atmosphere of holy silence. The saints |
| compare this devotion to soaking in the rays of the sun, absorbing the graces that Our Lord offers in this |
| privileged encoun-ter. It is one of the most powerful means of prayer available to us, and a wonderful |
practice to incorporate into your spiritual life.
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