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Pope + Lourdes + grotto = plenary indulgence
Since my home parish of St Bernadette Catholic Church has a grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, visiting and praying at the grotto between Feb 2-11, 2008 qualifies for a special Papal plenary indulgence to encourage renewed holiness, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the appearance of Mary to St Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes, France.
An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment (in this world and in purgatory) due for sins committed. A plenary indulgence is the remission of all punishment. This is a tremendous gift from the Pope. To receive the indulgence, one should say the Our Father, Apostle’s Creed and the Hail Mary at the grotto along with a prayer for our Pope’s intentions and go to confession before Easter Sunday.
For more info & details, see article at Catholic News Service (CNS).
Thank you Jesus for your mercy and the Holy Catholic Church you have left us … with the treasury of your merits. May Our Lady continue to lead us to her Son, Jesus! Amen.
Confirmation Retreat revisited
Back at my home parish, the 8th grade Confirmation kids (some were my CCD kids from last year) had an evening of reflection as a follow-up to their 2-day Confirmation Retreat last month [my previous blog post about it]. The schedule was pretty simple. After 6pm Mass (which I served at), pizza on the deck, a great skit (see pictures) about Jesus bridging the gap in the face of temptations, a personal witness talk by a teen, small group debrief (“What’s happened since the Retreat?”), and some large group reflections (that I couldn’t stay for) to close. The kids definitely wanted to be there. A great sign of their Confirmation journey.
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