So you know that UGLY statue of John Paul II they have outside Rome's main train termnal?
You know, the one that looks like this . . . ?
The artist who designed it is now blaming the foundry that executed his design and saying that they're going to fix it.
I'm not holding my breath.
Today is Friday of the 1st week in Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is green.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Epiphany, and the liturgical color for today is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 13, in the Ordinary Form, we celebrate St. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, confessor, and doctor of the Church, who died in A.D. 368. It is a Class III day and an optional memorial.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. It is a Class II day.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Hilary, you can click here.
If you'd like to learn more about the Baptism of Our Lord, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
24. In the fourth century, given the new politico-social situation of the Church, the question of the relationship between liturgy and popular piety begins to be raised consciously in terms of adaptation and inculturation rather than solely in terms of spontaneous convergence.
The local Churches, guided by clear pastoral and evangelizing principles, did not hesitate to absorb into the Liturgy certain purified solemn and festive [ritual] elements deriving from the pagan world. These were regarded as capable of moving the minds and imaginations of the people who felt drawn towards them. Such forms, now placed at the service of the mystery of worship, were seen as neither contrary to the Gospel nor to the purity of true Christian worship. Rather, there was a realization that only in the worship of Christ, true God and true Savior, could many [ritual] expressions, previously attributed to false gods and false saviours, become true [ritual] expressions, even though these had derived from man's deepest religious sense.
Jimmy Akin answers:
Why are there differences in the genealogies in Matthew and Luke?
How do you address the Protestant claim that even with unified teachings, Catholics aren’t unified?
What are your thoughts on the idea that Catholics believe that it is not ok to kill one to save hundreds?
What are thoughts on the fishes and loaves story? Was it a miracle or were the people generous with what they had?
Why does the term “Jehovah” appear in some bibles and not in others?
In Luke, is Heli Mary’s father?
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This is the video Patrick Coffin and I were laughing about on today's Catholic Answers Live.
Credit for conceiving and making it goes to our engineer, Matthew Tuszynski.
Today is Thursday of the 1st week in Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is green.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Epiphany, and the liturgical color for today is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 12, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
22. The relationship between Liturgy and popular piety is ancient. It is therefore necessary to begin by surveying, even rapidly, how this relationship has been experienced down through the centuries, since it will often help to resolve contemporary difficulties.
Christian antiquity
23. The Apostolic and post-apostolic periods are marked by a profound fusion of the [ritual] realities which are now called Liturgy and popular piety. For the earliest Christian communities, Christ alone (cf. Col 2,16) was the most important [ritual] reality, together with his life-giving word (cf. John 6,63), his commandment of reciprocal charity (cf. John, 13,34), and the ritual actions which he commanded in his memory (cf. 1 Cor 11,24-26). Everything else - days and months, seasons and years, feasts, new moons, food and drink... (cf. Gal 4,10; Col 2,16-19) - was of secondary importance.
Nevertheless, the signs of personal piety are already to be found among the first generation of Christians. Inspired by the Jewish tradition, they recommended following the example of incessant prayer of Jesus and St. Paul (cf. Luke 18,1; Rm 12,12; 1 Thes 5,17), and of beginning and ending all things with an act of thanksgiving (cf. 1 Cor 10,31; 1 Thes 2,13;Col 3,17). The pious Israelite began the day praising and giving thanks to God. In the same spirit, he gave thanks for all his actions during the day. Hence, every joyful or sorrowful occasion gave rise to an expression of praise, entreaty, or repentance. The Gospels and the writings of the New Testament contain invocations of Jesus, signs of christological devotion, which were repeated spontaneously by the faithful outside of the context of Liturgy. It must be recalled that it was a common usage of the faithful to use biblical phrases such as : "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me" ( ); "Lord if you wish, you can heal me" (...); "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (...); "My Lord and my God" ( ...); "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (..). Innumerable prayers to Christ have been developed by the faithful of every generation on the basis this piety.
Until the second century, expressions of popular piety, whether deriving from Jewish, Greco-Roman or other cultures, spontaneously came together in the Liturgy. It has already been noted, for example, that the Traditio Apostolica contains elements deriving from popular sources.
The cult of martyrs, which was of great importance for the local Churches, preserves traces of popular usages connected with the memory of the dead. Some of the earliest forms of veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary also reflect popular piety, among them the Sub tuum praesidium and the Marian iconography of the catacombs of St. Priscilla in Rome.
While always most vigilant with regard to interior conditions and the prerequisites for a dignified celebration of the sacred mysteries (cf. 1 Cor 11, 17-32), the Church has never hesitated in incorporating into the liturgical rites forms drawn from individual, domestic and community piety.
In this period Liturgy and popular piety, either conceptually or pastorally, did not oppose each other. Both concurred harmoniously in celebrating the one mystery of Christ, considered as a whole, and in sustaining the supernatural and moral life of the disciples of the Lord.
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Catholic Weekend welcomes Jimmy Akin to talk about the newest affiliate of SQPN, The Jimmy Akin Podcast. We learn a little bit about Catholicism, a little bit about Jimmy, and a whole lot about Square Dancing. That’s right. Listen and find out what that has to do with anything.
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The Catholic Weekend Crew this week:
Jimmy Akin with Maria Johnson, Steve Nelson, and Capt. Jeff.
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Today is Wednesday of the 1st week in Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is green.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Epiphany, and the liturgical color for today is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 11, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Hyginus, pope and martyr, who died in A.D. 142. It is a commemoration.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Hyginus, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
Responsibilities and Competencies
21. Manifestations of popular piety are subject to the jurisdiction of the local Ordinary. It is for him to regulate such manifestations, to encourage them as a means of assisting the faithful in living the Christian life, and to purify and evangelize them where necessary. He is also to ensure that they do not substitute for the Liturgy nor become part of the liturgical celebrations. The local ordinary also approves the prayers and formulae associated with acts of public piety and devotional practices. The dispositions given by a particular local Ordinary for the territory of his jurisdiction are for the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral care.
Hence, the faithful - both clerics and laity, either as groups or individuals, may not publically promote prayers, formulae or private initiatives without the permission of the ordinary.
In accordance with the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, n.70, it is the competence of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to assist the Bishops in matters relating to prayers and devotional practices of the Christian people, as well as to issue dispositions in those cases surpassing the bounds of a particular Church, and in imposing subsidiary provisions.
Today is Tuesday of the 1st week in Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is green.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Epiphany, and the liturgical color for today is white.
In the Ordinary Form, this is the beginning of Ordinary Time after Christmas.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 10, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information: According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
20. The rhythm associated with the change from day to night, from one month to another, or of the seasons is often associated with various forms of popular piety. Such can also be true of particular days recalling joyous or tragic personal or community events. Above all, the "the feast days", withe their preparations for various religious manifestations, have contributed much in forging the traditions peculiar to a given community.
This year, January 9 is a Monday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
In the Ordinary Form, this is the Baptism of the Lord.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 9, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
119. Closely connected with the salvific events of the Epiphany are the mysteries of the Baptism of the Lord and the manifestation of his glory at the marriage feast of Cana.
Christmastide closes with the Baptism of the Lord. Only in recent times has the feast been rehabilitated, and hence has not given rise to any particular displays of popular piety. However, the feast presents an excellent opportunity for the faithful to be reminded of their rebirth as children of God in Baptism. The rite of asperges could be opportunely used at all Masses on this day, and homilies could well concentrate on the symbols associated with Baptism.
Today is a Sunday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
In the Ordinary Form, in the United States, today is Epiphany.
In the Extraordinary Form, it is Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 8, there is no special liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
Solemnity of the Lord's Epiphany
118. Many traditions and genuine manifestations of popular piety have been developed in relation to the Solemnity of the Lord's Epiphany, which is of ancient origin and rich in spiritual content. Among such forms of popular piety, mention may be made of:
A reader writes:
I usually attend the extraordinary form of the mass. But I couldn't make mass this Friday, when the epiphany was celebrated in the extraordinary form. Now if I go to the extraordinary form on Sunday, I will, in some way, be going to mass according to the requirements of the holydays in the u.s. as per the epiphany, but I won't actually attend an epiphany mass since the extraordinary mass will not be the epiphany mass. Is there any definitive say from the church on how to handle this? It seems to me that the spirit of the law would be that I should try to get to an epiphany mass, but that by the letter of the law I am really only obliged to attend mass on the day appointed -- just like if I went to an eastern rite mass on the holy day. Am I correct?
You are certainly correct regarding the fact that you are not obligated to attend the Ordinary Form of Mass this Sunday in order to hear an Epiphany-themed Mass.
The way the law is written, the obligation is to go to Mass on a particular day (or the evening before), not to hear a particular set of readings or liturgical prayers. The law expressly guarantees the faithful's right to fulfill this obligation by attending Mass in any Catholic rite, even if that rite is not celebrating the same saint or event.
Now, on certain days like Christmas, every Catholic rite lines up with a common celebration, but when it comes to other holydays of obligation, they may differ dramatically in what they are celebrating.
In the United States (1) January 6th was abolished as a holyday of obligation and (2) the liturgical celebration of Epiphany transferred to the Sunday between January 2 and January 8 in the Ordinary Rite. (See here.)
The first part of that applies to all Latin Rite Catholics in the United States, whether they normally attend the Ordinary or the Extraordinary Form.
No legal obligation has been created for Extraordinary Form attendees to do anything special on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8, whether they attended the Extraordinary Form on January 6th or not.
This is equally true of other holydays of obligation that have been abolished or transferred in the United States. There are no special "Extraordinary Form holydays of obligation." There is one set of holydays obligation that bind all Latin Rite Catholics in the United States.
They could change that in the future, but that's the way the law is written now.
So you do need to go to Mass this Sunday, but because it's a Sunday. You are not obligated to go to an Ordinary Form Mass in order to hear an Epiphany-themed service. You are free to go to an Extraordinary Form Mass or a Mass in a non-Latin Catholic rite.
As to whether the spirit of the law suggests going to an Epiphany-themed Mass since you missed the Extraordinary Form celebration on January 6th, I think it depends on what you mean by "the spirit of the law."
Sometimes this phrase is meant to imply that you would be doing some thing wrong (even if allowed according to the wording of the law) by violating the law's intent.
If this is what is meant then I don't think you are violating the spirit of the law. If the Church wanted to impose such a requirement it would not allow you to fulfill your obligation to attend on holydays by going to other Catholic rites that may not be celebrating the same thing.
John Paul II knew full well when he approved the relevant canon--canon 1248 §1--(as did Benedict XV when he approved the parallel canon in the 1917 Code) that other rites aren't always celebrating the same thing on Latin holydays, and he (they) deemed it sufficient that you go to Mass on those days, even if something different is being celebrated. You are celebrating the day enough (enough to meet your legal obligations and enough not to be sinning) just by going to Mass on the day. Hearing themed readings, prayers, and homilies is a bonus, but not a requirement.
On the other hand, if you mean something less than that by "the spirit of the law" then I think you'd be on safer ground.
For example, it seems clear that the law envisions that as a matter of course, most Latin Rite Catholics will attend a Latin Rite Mass on holydays of obligation, and thus be exposed to the celebration of particular things in the liturgy. That's why the Church themes the Masses of holydays with particular celebrations in the first place. If those days had other themes (except for Sunday) then they wouldn't be holydays of obligation.
So there's a general (but nonbinding) expectation that Latin Rite Catholics will attend Masses themed with these celebrations.
I thus think you could say that it would be in keeping with the spirit of the law (i.e., a good but not required thing to do based on the principles embodied in the law) to go to a particularly themed Mass, but it is not required by the spirit of the law that one do so.
If one chooses to go to the Extraordinary Form rather than the Ordinary Form this Sunday and thus misses out on hearing an Epiphany-themed Mass this year, one is not sinning.
If one were then a person who attends the Ordinary Form would not be able to fulfill his Sunday obligation by going to the Extraordinary Form or an Eastern rite Mass--and his right to do so is expressly protected by the law.
Bottom line: The Church wanted you to have this freedom, so you have it.
Incidentally, Fr. Z concurrs (at least with the basic legal point; he doesn't go into the letter/spirit aspect of the question).
What happens if you forgot to repent of a sin before baptism? Will you still be forgiven? How can you fix the situation?
Is it okay to pay taxes knowing that the government will use some of the money to support Planned Parenthood and abortion?
Did the Virgin Mary ever receive Communion? If not, why not? If yes, why did she need to?
Is it okay to play Dungeons & Dragons? How about other role-playing games (RPGs)? What are we to make of them?
These are among the questions we explore in this week's episode of the Jimmy Akin Podcast!
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SHOW NOTES:
JIMMY AKIN PODCAST EPISODE 027 (01/07/12)
* ANNOUNCEMENTS
New affiliate with SQPN
New Android podcast app (Jimmy Akin Cast)
The Liturgical Year
* GABRIELA FROM JAPAN ASKS ABOUT SINS COMMITTED BEFORE BAPTISM
* WILL ASKS ABOUT TAXES THAT PAY FOR ABORTIONS
* ANONYMOUS ASKS ABOUT MARY RECEIVING COMMUNION
* RAUL ASKS ABOUT ROLE PLAYING GAMES AND DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
WHAT'S YOUR QUESTION? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO ASK?
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Today’s Music: Joy to the World (JewelBeat.Com)
Copyright © 2011 by Jimmy Akin
Today is a Saturday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 7, in the Ordinary Form, we celebrate St. Raymond of Penyafort, priest. It is an optional memorial.
There is no special liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Raymond of Penyafort, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
Sacred Images
18. The use of sacred images is of major importance in the whole area of popular piety, since culturally and artistically they assist the faithful in encountering the mysteries of the Christian faith. Indeed, the veneration of sacred images belongs to the very nature of Catholic piety. Such is clear from its artistic patrimony, which can be seen in many churches and sanctuaries, and to which popular devotion has often contributed.
Here, the principles apply which govern the liturgical use of images of Christ, Our Lady, the Saints. These have been traditionally asserted and defended by the Church in the knowledge that "the honour rendered to the image is directed to the person represented." The necessary rigour which has to be applied in drawing up the iconographic scheme of churches - in matters relating to the truths of the faith and their hierarchy, beauty an quality- must also be applied to images and objects destined for private and personal devotion.
So as to ensure that the iconography used in sacred places is not left to private initiatives, those with responsibility for churches and oratories should safeguard the dignity, beauty and quality of those sacred images exposed for public veneration. Likewise, they should avoid the de facto imposition on the community of pictures or statues inspired by the private devotion of individuals.
The Bishops, therefore, and the rectors of sanctuaries are to ensure that the sacred images produced for the use of the faithful, either in their homes or on their persons, or those borne aloft on their shoulders, are not reduced to banalities, nor risk giving rise to error.
Sacred Places
19. Apart from the church, sanctuaries -which are sometimes not churches- afford important opportunities for the expression of popular piety, which are often marked by particular devotional forms and practices, among which the most significant is that of pilgrimage. Together with these sacred places, which are clearly reserved for public and private prayer, others exist which are often not less important: e.g. homes, places of life and work. On certain occasions even the streets and squares can become places facilitating the manifestation of the faith.
Today is a Friday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
In some parts of the world (but not the United States), this is a holyday of obligation (Epiphany). If it is a holyday of obligation in your area, be sure to go to Mass if you didn't go yesterday evening. (In the U.S. we celebrate Epiphany this Sunday.)
In the Extraordinary Form, it is Epiphany.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 6, in the Ordinary Form in the United States, we celebrate St. Andre Bessette, religious. It is an optional memorial.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord. It is a Class I day.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Andre Bessette, you can click here.
If you'd like to learn more about the Epiphany of Our Lord, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
Song and Music
17. Song, a natural expression of the soul of any nation, plays an important role in popular piety. The conservation of the received corpus of traditional songs must be linked with a biblical and ecclesial spirit which is open to the possibility, where necessary, of their revision or to the composition of new songs.
Among some peoples, song is instinctively linked with hand-clapping, rhythmic corporeal movements and even dance. Such are external forms of interior sentiment and are part of popular traditions, especially on occasions such as patronal feasts. Clearly, such should be genuine expressions of communal prayer and not merely theatrical spectacles. The fact of their prevalence in one area, however, should not be regarded as a reason for their promotion in other areas, especially where they would not be spontaneous.
Today is a Thursday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
Note: Tomorrow, in some parts of the world (but not the United States), is a holyday of obligation (Epiphany). If it is a holyday of obligation in your area, be sure to go to Mass either this evening or tomorrow. (In the U.S. we celebrate Epiphany this Sunday.)
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 5, in the Ordinary Form in the United States, we celebrate St. John Neumann, bishop. It is a memorial.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Telesphorus, pope and martyr, who died in A.D. 137. It is a commemoration.
If you'd like to learn more about St. John Neumann, you can click here.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Telesphorus, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
14. While conserving its simplicity and spontaneity, the verbal and gestural language of popular piety should be careful to ensure the transmission of the truth of the faith together with the greatness of the Christian mysteries.
Gestures
15. Popular piety is characterized by a great variety and richness of bodily, gestural and symbolic expressions: kissing or touching images, places, relics and sacred objects; pilgrimages, processions; going bare-footed or on one's knees; kneeling and prostrating; wearing medals and badges... . These and similar expressions, handed down from father to son, are direct and simple ways of giving external expression to the heart and to one's commitment to live the Christian life. Without this interior aspect, symbolic gesture runs the risk of degenerating into empty customs or mere superstitions, in the worst cases.
Texts and Formulae
16. While drawn up in terms less exacting than those employed for the prayers of the Liturgy, devotional prayers and formulae should be inspired, nonetheless, by Sacred Scripture, the Liturgy, the Fathers of the Church and the Magisterium, and concord with the Church's faith. The established public prayers attached to pious devotions and the various acts associated with pious exercises must always be approved by the local Ordinary.
Today is a Wednesday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 4, in the Ordinary Form in the United States, we celebrate St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious. It is a memorial.
There is no special liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
13. The objective difference between pious exercises and devotional practices should always be clear in expressions of worship. Hence, the formulae proper to pious exercises should not be commingled with the liturgical actions. Acts of devotion and piety are external to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and of the other sacraments.
On the one hand, a superimposing of pious and devotional practices on the Liturgy so as to differentiate their language, rhythm, course, and theological emphasis from those of the corresponding liturgical action, must be avoided, while any form of competition with or opposition to the liturgical actions, where such exists, must also be resolved. Thus, precedence must always be given to Sunday, Solemnities, and to the liturgical seasons and days.
Since, on the other, pious practices must conserve their proper style, simplicity and language, attempts to impose forms of "liturgical celebration" on them are always to be avoided.
Today is a Tuesday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 3, in the Ordinary Form, we celebrate the Most Holy Name of Jesus. It is an optional memorial.
There is no special liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
If you'd like to learn more about the Most Holy Name of Jesus, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
12. The optional nature of pious exercises should in no way be taken to imply an under estimation or even disrespect for such practices. The way forward in this area requires a correct and wise appreciation of the many riches of popular piety, of the potentiality of these same riches and of the commitment to the Christian life which they inspire.
The Gospel is the measure against which all expressions of Christian piety - both old and new - must be measured. The task of evaluating devotional exercises and practices, and of purifying them when necessary, must be conducted against this criterion so as to ensure their proper relationship with the Christian mystery. What is said of the Christian Liturgy is also true of popular piety: "it may never incorporate rites permeated by magic, superstition, animism, vendettas or sexual connotations."
Hence, the liturgical renewal willed by the Second Vatican Council must also inspire a correct evaluation and renewal of pious exercises and devotional practices. Popular piety should be permeated by: a biblical spirit, since it is impossible to imagine a Christian prayer without direct or indirect reference to Sacred Scripture; a liturgical spirit if it is to dispose properly for or echo the mysteries celebrated in the liturgical actions; an ecumenical spirit, in consideration of the sensibilities and traditions of other Christians without, however, being restricted by inappropriate inhibitions; an anthropological spirit which both conserves symbols and expressions of importance or significance for a given nation while eschewing senseless archaicisms, and which strives to dialogue in terms redolent with contemporary sensibility. To be successful, such a renewal must be imbued with a pedagogical awareness and realized gradually, always taking into consideration time and particular circumstances.
Due to the holidays, I didn't do The Weekly Benedict last week, so here's another double-dose of our awesome pope! (In fact, it's an unusually large double-dose, because the pope is especially active this time of year--so pray for his health and rest--and because the Vatican web site guys got their hinders in gear and delivered a whole month's worth of speeches in English at once.)
Here are this week's items for The Weekly Benedict (subscribe here):
ANGELUS: Angelus, 18 December 2011
ANGELUS: Angelus, 26 December 2011, Feast of Saint Stephen
AUDIENCE: 14 December 2011
AUDIENCE: 21 December 2011
MESSAGE: "Urbi et Orbi" - Christmas Day 2011
HOMILY: 11 December 2011: Pastoral Visit to the Roman parish of "Santa Maria delle Grazie" at Casal Boccone
HOMILY: 12 December 2011: Holy Mass for Latin AmericaHOMILY:
HOMILY: 15 December 2011: Vespers with the University students of the Rome
HOMILY: 24 December 2011: Midnight Mass
HOMILY:31 December 2011: Vespers and Te Deum
SPEECH: To participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family (December 1, 2011)
SPEECH: To members of the International Theological Commission (December 2, 2011)
SPEECH: Lighting via video link of the Christmas Tree, decorated with hundreds of lights, in the Italian town of Gubbio (Perugia) (December 7, 2011) SPEECH:
SPEECH: Pastoral Visit to Rebibbia Prison - Rome (December 18, 2011)
SPEECH: Responses to the questions posed by the inmates (New Prison of Rebibbia - Rome, 18 December 2011)
SPEECH: Christmas greetings to Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Directors of the Governorate of Vatican City State (December 22, 2011)
Today is a Monday in Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 2, in the Ordinary Form, we celebrate St.s Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors of the Church. It is a memorial.
In the Extraordinary Form, it is Most Holy Name of Jesus.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Basil, you can click here.
If you'd like to learn more about St. Gregory Nazianzen, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
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Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
11. History shows that, in certain epochs, the life of faith is sustained by the forms and practices of piety, which the faithful have often felt more deeply and actively than the liturgical celebrations. Indeed, "every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the Priest and of his Body, which is the Church, it is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title or to the same degree." Hence, the ambivalence that the Liturgy is not "popular" must be overcame. The liturgical renewal of the Council set out to promote the participation of the people in the celebration of the Liturgy, at certain times and places (through hymns, active participation, and lay ministries), which had previously given rise to forms of prayer alternative to, or substitutive of, the liturgical action itself.
The faithful should be made conscious of the preeminence of the Liturgy over any other possible form of legitimate Christian prayer. While sacramental actions are necessary to life in Christ, the various forms of popular piety are properly optional. Such is clearly proven by the Church's precept which obliges attendance at Sunday Mass. No such obligation, however, has obtained with regard to pious exercises, notwithstanding their worthiness or their widespread diffusion. Such, however, may be assumed as obligations by a community or by individual members of the faithful.
The foregoing requires that the formation of priests and of the faithful give preeminence to liturgical prayer and to the liturgical year over any other form of devotion. However, this necessary preeminence is not to be interpreted in exclusive terms, nor in terms of opposition or marginalization.
Today is the 8th day in the octave of Christmas. The liturgical color is white.
This is a holyday of obligation (Holy Mary, Mother of God). Be sure to go to Mass if you didn't go yesterday evening.
Saints & Celebrations:
Today, January 1, in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord. In the Ordinary Form, it is a solemnity, and in the Extraordinary Form, it is a Class I day.
In addition, in the Ordinary Form, this day is also styled Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
If you'd like to learn more about this celebration, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today's readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety:
115. On New Year's Day, the octave day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God. The divine and virginal motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular salvific event: for Our Lady it was the foretaste and cause of her extraordinary glory; for us it is a source of grace and salvation because "through her we have received the Author of life."
The solemnity of the 1 January, an eminently Marian feast, presents an excellent opportunity for liturgical piety to encounter popular piety: the first celebrates this event in a manner proper to it; the second, when duly catechised, lends joy and happiness to the various expressions of praise offered to Our Lady on the birth of her divine Son, to deepen our understanding of many prayers, beginning with that which says: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners."
116. In the West, 1 January is an inaugural day marking the beginning of the civil year. The faithful are also involved in the celebrations for the beginning of the new year and exchange "new year" greetings. However, they should try to lend a Christian understanding to this custom making of these greetings an expression of popular piety. The faithful, naturally, realise that the "new year" is placed under the patronage of the Lord, and in exchanging new year greetings they implicitly and explicitly place the New Year under the Lord's dominion, since to him belongs all time (cf. Ap 1, 8; 22,13).
A connection between this consciousness and the popular custom of singing the Veni, Creator Spiritus can easily be made so that on 1 January the faithful can pray that the Spirit may direct their thoughts and actions, and those of the community during the course of the year.
117. New year greetings also include an expression of hope for a peaceful New Year. This has profound biblical, Christological and incarnational origins. The "quality of peace" has always been invoked throughout history by all men, and especially during violent and destructive times of war.
The Holy See shares the profound aspirations of man for peace. Since 1967, 1 January has been designated "world day for peace."
Popular piety has not been oblivious to this initiative of the Holy See. In the light of the new born Prince of Peace, it reserves this day for intense prayer for peace, education towards peace and those value inextricably linked with it, such as liberty, fraternal solidarity, the dignity of the human person, respect for nature, the right to work, the sacredness of human life, and the denunciation of injustices which trouble the conscience of man and threaten peace.
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