December 4, 2005

One of the customs in the beautiful Advent season is the Asperges me, which actually is indicated for solemn liturgies on any Sunday of the year. This sprinkling of the faithful with holy water as part of the opening penitential rite is a thankful reminder of our baptisms. The classical Latin words translate part of Psalm 51: "Thou shalt purge me with hyssop…" It is gratifying that the liturgical forms as we have been developing them in our parish have been affirmed by the most recent indications of the Holy See. The common liturgical language of the Latin rite brings together the many nationalities represented in our parish. In an audience he granted to the Latinitas Foundation last Monday, Pope Benedict XVI said that Latin should not mere­ly be conserved; it should be encouraged and spread, particularly among the young. He explained that "the great treasures" of the language must not be lost, nor should Catholics lose the habit of using Latin as the offi­cial language of the Church. In his apostolic constitution Veterum Sapientia of 1962, and contrary to some "disinformation" from people who sought radical changes in worship, Pope John XXIII confirmed the role of Latin as the international language of the Catholic Church. Latin is also the official language of the Vatican city-state.

Also in Advent we have the grace of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8. Pope Benedict XVI has declared a plenary indulgence for Catholics who honor the Virgin Mary on that day. The Pope has declared the indulgence to mark the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The announcement indicates that the Pope "when he renders public homage of praise to Mary Immaculate, has the heartfelt desire that the entire Church should join with him, so that all the faithful, united in the name of the common Mother, become ever stronger in the faith, adhere with greater devotion to Christ, and love their brothers with more fervent charity."

A plenary indulgence, as Pope Paul VI explained in Indulgentiarum Doctrina in 1967, is "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven." Indulgences can be decreed by the Pope or, under certain restrictions, bishops. The faithful can obtain indulgences for themselves or for the souls in Purgatory.

The indulgence declared by Pope Benedict may be obtained by those who "participate in a sacred function in honor of the Virgin, or at least offer open testimony of Marian devotion before an image of Mary Immaculate exposed for public veneration, adding the recitation of the Our Father and of the Creed, and some invocation to the Virgin." Those who are ill or shut-in may receive the indulgence by offering prayers in union with the Church. Leading up to December 8, we are making special novena prayers as a suitable preparation.

Fr. George W. Rutler