DOCSLIB.ORG

Download from the Web

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Download from the Web DECEMBER 2016 46/4 and dead. The spiritual union between have here a beautiful rationale for informed Christian sensibility. It need Christian people and those who have parishes to establish a columbarium in not be pantheistic. In the lives of many TRIUMPH OF LOVE IN DEATH passed through the veil of death offers or near their church. This laudable Catholics, Paradise places are deeply the bereaved comfort for themselves and practice is increasing and is an excellent significant. These are places where an opportunity to assist the deceased way to express the communion of saints they have experienced a deep sense of through prayer. We intercede for one and our interdependence in prayer. It God’s presence or calling and which, another in this life and beyond this life. captures the spirit of the churchyard of when remembered, lead them easily The liturgy encourages this in the twin old. On the other hand, it does not into prayer. In wishing to have their WRONG-FOOTED feasts of All Saints and All Souls. represent the reality of many of our large ashes sprinkled there they may express urban cemeteries and the endless walls thanksgiving for the gift of God’s Reflections such as this are theologically RULES sound and pastorally helpful in of niches at our public crematoriums. creation and also their hope for the accompanying the bereaved and in These are frequently vast, soulless and transformation, not only of their own anonymous places which hardly recognise strengthening the faithful as they bodily existence, but also that of the he people of our time stand confront death. the dignity of the children of God. natural world in the final resurrection. uneasily before the mystery of While loaded with personal All these things are outlined in an The Instruction then forbids the T death. They want to remember conservation of ashes in a domestic significance, this gesture need not Instruction To Rise with Christ issued by and venerate the person they love who situation and the practice of dividing simply express an individual whim, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the has died. They can tell stories and them among family members. Next, it Faith on 15 August 2016. still less withdraw the dead person eulogise. But what else can they do? forbids the scattering of a person’s ashes Notwithstanding this inspiring teaching, from their community and its memory. in the air, on land or at sea, citing the Christian funeral rites can support the the Congregation has managed to The significance of the person and of bereaved; the faith enshrined in the appearance of pantheism, naturalism the place where the ashes are scattered produce a statement which will offend liturgy can articulate for them the many for, half way through this short or nihilism. The presumption of bad will be held in the stories and mysterious shape of life after death. As document, its tone changes. The bee in faith in these practices is offensive to memories of those present at their the dead person leaves our arms – arms those who have carried them out with their bonnet is the issue of burial versus funerals. And the place associated that may have nursed them in age or cremation and the ‘correct’ way to treat the greatest love and respect for the with them may trigger memory in the illness – we commend him or her into the ashes after cremation. deceased. same way as would a graveyard. the arms of God’s love and mercy. God, The Congregation would have done well who cares for us in life, receives us and We cannot condone erroneous ideas This final remark presumes that the to concentrate on the principles of dispersal of the ashes is an integral part holds us in death. about death, the Instruction states, considering death as the definitive Christian hope and honouring the dead, of the Order of Christian Funerals. without descending to the practicalities The resurrection of Jesus is one of the annihilation of the person, or the Sometimes, when there is to be a of burial and cremation. These are fundamental planks of Christian belief. moment of fusion with Mother Nature cremation, the funeral liturgy in the Because of this, we know that Christ is shaped by local tradition and culturally or the universe, or as a stage in the church is followed by a Rite of Committal alive and present in the Church, in word determined. Alternative practice need cycle of regeneration, or as the at the hearse or at the crematorium. and sacrament. Our baptism makes it not compromise in any way the definitive liberation from the ‘prison’ When the ashes are ready, they are given personal. Each person is thus joined to principles which Christian burial is said of the body. This is the prelude to the to the family and, unless there is a parish the Body of Christ and follows Christ in to safeguard. treatment of cremation. Of course the columbarium, the Church has no further life and in death. Because of Christ, Instruction acknowledges that the In addition the Instruction shows an involvement. This is a mistake. Christian death has a positive meaning. Church has no doctrinal objections to alarming lack of historical perspective. We ought to forget about the As the liturgy says, Indeed for your cremation, but claims that burial shows In the Middle Ages most ordinary folk intermediate step of the crematorium faithful, Lord, life is changed not a greater esteem towards the deceased. were interred in mass graves. The and celebrate the Rite of Committal at a ended, and, when this earthly dwelling It envisages cremation may be chosen for bodies of royalty were frequently time prearranged with the family for the turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is sanitary, economic or social dismembered so that their head, heart disposition of the ashes – at a gravesite, made ready for them in heaven. considerations. Cold language! It and body could be interred in different in a columbarium or wherever. This places. The bodies of the saints were These graves in the old cemetery at Roermond (Netherlands) are a The Rite of Committal of a person’s wounds Catholics who have chosen rite, adapted to the circumstances, will powerful witness to the triumph of faith and love over ecclesiastical rules. likewise split apart, for to multiply the th earthly remains affirms that the place cremation for themselves or their loved honour the faith of the bereaved, offer In the 19 Century, it was forbidden to bury a non-Catholic spouse in a which claims our mortal bodies becomes one. locations of the saint’s remains was to respect for the deceased person and help Catholic cemetery. This couple found a way to circumvent the rules and a sign of hope that also promises multiply the devotion. The Congregation states that ashes must to create a sacred place of memorial by affirm their love. resurrection. The way we treat a body in the very act of placing or dispersing the be laid to rest in a sacred place. This is Andrew Hamilton SJ, always a wise and Colonel J.W.C. van Gorcum married a noblewoman J.C.P.H. van Aefferden death affirms the dignity of the human defined as a cemetery or an area set balanced commentator, writes in Eureka ashes in the context of the liturgy. in 1842. He was Protestant and she was Catholic. After 38 years of happy person, and that is why care of the dead aside for this purpose and dedicated by Street (1 November 2016): Certainly, marriage, the colonel died and was buried against the wall in the is listed among the corporal works of Church authority. This will ensure that cremation is open to possibilities that Protestant cemetery. When his wife died in 1888, she asked that she not mercy. the dead are not excluded from the the Instruction does not envisage. be buried in the family tomb, but near her husband on the Catholic side of the wall. In death, they join hands as they did on their wedding day. Christian faith in the doctrine of the prayers of the Christian community and Sprinkling the ashes over the sea or a communion of saints further affirms a will prevent them from being forgotten place significant to the dead person, The monument is a prophetic witness to Christian unity by an inter- profound solidarity between the living after a generation. On the one hand, we for example, can be consistent with an Church family a century ahead of its time. 2 LITURGY NEWS December 2016 December 2016 LITURGY NEWS 3 and dead. The spiritual union between have here a beautiful rationale for informed Christian sensibility. It need Christian people and those who have parishes to establish a columbarium in not be pantheistic. In the lives of many TRIUMPH OF LOVE IN DEATH passed through the veil of death offers or near their church. This laudable Catholics, Paradise places are deeply the bereaved comfort for themselves and practice is increasing and is an excellent significant. These are places where an opportunity to assist the deceased way to express the communion of saints they have experienced a deep sense of through prayer. We intercede for one and our interdependence in prayer. It God’s presence or calling and which, another in this life and beyond this life. captures the spirit of the churchyard of when remembered, lead them easily The liturgy encourages this in the twin old. On the other hand, it does not into prayer. In wishing to have their WRONG-FOOTED feasts of All Saints and All Souls.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Parish with a Mission by Geoff Pryor
    Parish with a Mission By Geoff Pryor Foreword - The Parish Today The train escaping Wellington darts first into one tunnel and then into another long, dark tunnel. Leaving behind the bustle of the city, it bursts into a verdant valley and slithers alongside a steep banked but quiet stream all the way to Porirua. It hurtles through the Tawa and Porirua parishes before pulling into Paremata to empty its passengers on the southern outskirts of the Plimmerton parish. The train crosses the bridge at Paremata with Pauatahanui in the background. There is no sign that the train has arrived anywhere particularly significant. There is no outstanding example of engineering feat or architecture, no harbour for ocean going ships or airport. No university campus holds its youth in place. No football stadium echoes to the roar of the crowd. The whaling days have gone and the totara is all felled. Perhaps once Plimmerton was envisaged as the port for the Wellington region, and at one time there was a proposal to build a coal fired generator on the point of the headland. Nothing came of these ideas. All that passed us by and what we are left with is largely what nature intended. Beaches, rocky outcrops, cliffs, rolling hills and wooded valleys, magnificent sunsets and misted coastline. Inland, just beyond Pauatahanui, the little church of St. Joseph, like a broody white hen nestles on its hill top. Just north of Plimmerton, St. Theresa's church hides behind its hedge from the urgency of the main road north. The present day parish stretches in an L shape starting at Pukerua Bay through to Pauatahanui.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holy See
    The Holy See ORDINARY PUBLIC CONSISTORY FOR THE CREATION OF NEW CARDINALS ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO THE NEW CARDINALS, THEIR FAMILIES AND PILGRIMS WHO CAME FOR THE CONSISTORY Paul VI Hall Monday, 22 November 2010 Your Eminences, Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood, Dear Friends, The feelings and emotions we experienced yesterday and the day before, on the occasion of the creation of 24 new Cardinals are still alive in our minds and hearts. They were moments of fervent prayer and profound communion, that we wish to extend today with our hearts filled with gratitude to the Lord who has granted us the joy to live a new page of the history of the Church. Therefore I am pleased to welcome you all today to this simple and family meeting and to address a cordial greeting to the new Cardinals, as well as to their relatives, friends and all those who have accompanied them on this solemn and momentous occasion In Italian: I first greet you dear Italian Cardinals! I greet you, Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; I greet you, Cardinal Francesco Monterisi, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls; I greet you, Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, Major Penitentiary; I greet you, Cardinal Paolo Sardi, Vice-Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church; I greet you, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy; I greet you, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, President of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See; I greet you, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture; I greet you, Cardinal Paolo Romeo, Archbishop of Palermo; I greet you, Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, formerly President of 2 the Pontifical Academy for Life; I greet you Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci, formerly Choir Master of the Sistine Chapel Choir.
    [Show full text]
  • Holy Ground: Space for Worship 5IFSF­TOFWFSCFFOBCFUUFSUJNF UPIBWF0$1NJTTBMTJOZPVSQFXT
    NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of PASTORAL MUSICIANS PASTORAL August 2009 Music Holy Ground: Space for Worship 5IFSF­TOFWFSCFFOBCFUUFSUJNF UPIBWF0$1NJTTBMTJOZPVSQFXT Stay current in changing times. Bt!zpv!qsfqbsf!up!jnqmfnfou!uif!ofx!usbotmbujpo!pg!uif!nbtt!jo!zpvs! qbsjti-!dbnqvt!ps!sfmjhjpvt!dfoufs-!zpv!dbo!usvtu!PDQ!up!qspwjef!zpv!xjui! qsbdujdbm!sftpvsdft!uibu!dpogpsn!up!uif!nptu!dvssfou!mjuvshjdbm!qsbdujdft/! !!!!!!!!!!!!2.911.MJUVSHZ!)659.985:*!!}!!PDQ/PSH Travel with the leader, as more than 1,000 choirs have done. Peter’s Way Choir Tours The programs you’ve been dreaming about! You’re invited to a preview! (plus tax/ SALZBURG, MELK,VIENNA- European Masters NOV 06-12, 2009 $ 1,295 fuel surcharge ) * (plus tax/ IRELAND - Land of Saints and Scholars NOV 19-26, 2009 $995/550 fuelsurcharge) (plus tax/ ENGLAND - Wesley Heritage/English Cathedrals NOV 19-25, 2009 $ 1,295 fuel surcharge ) (plus tax/ ITALY - Gregorian Chant Study Week in Italy JAN 04-11, 2010 $ 1,495 fuel surcharge ) (plus tax/ ROME, FLORENCE, ASSISI,VATICAN CITY JAN 04-11, 2010 $ 795 fuel surcharge ) - Roman Polyphony ** (plus tax/ MEXICO - Our Lady of Guadalupe JAN 08-14, 2010 $ 1,095 fuel surcharge ) (plus tax/ GREECE - Footstepsof St.Paul JAN 13-20, 2010 $ 1,195 fuel surcharge ) (plus tax/ SPAIN - Barcelona, Segovia,Toledo, Madrid JAN 25-FEB1, ‘10 $ 1,295 fuel surcharge ) (plus tax/ HOLY LAND - Songsof the Scriptures FEB 04-13, 2010 $ 1,095 fuel surcharge ) (plus tax/ FRANCE - Best in French LiturgicalMusic FEB 08-15, 2010 $ 1,495 fuel surcharge ) Continuing Education Programs for Music Directors Enjoy these specially designed programs at substantially reduced rates – dates subject to change.
    [Show full text]
  • Law Review Articles
    Law Review Articles 1. Church and State in the United States: Competing Conceptions and Historic Changes Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 13 Ind. J. Global Legal Stud. 503 This article explains the separation of church and state in the United States. 2. Crowns and Crosses: The problems of Politico-Religious Visits as they Relate to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 3 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 227 This article examines whether the Pope or any similar leader should be treated as a head of state or as the representative of a religious group. 3. Damages and Damocles: The Propriety of Recoupment Orders as Remedies for Violations of the Establishment Clause Notre Dame Law Review 83 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1385 In Americans United for Separation of Church & State v. Prison Fellowship Ministries, the court required “a private party, at the behest of another private party, to reimburse the public treasury when the government itself ha[d] not sought reimbursement” for a violation of the Establishment Clause. This Note offers background about taxpayer standing, restitution lawsuits, and background on the Establishment Clause. 4. Accommodation of Religion in Public Institutions Harvard Law Review 100 Harv. L. Rev. 1639 This artcile examines establishment clause problems attaching to government efforts to recognize religion in public institutions under an ‘accommodation’ rationale. Section A introduces the justification for allowing government recognition of religion in public institutions and discusses the difficulty of applying traditional establishment clause analysis to actions taken under this justification. It then proposes that the ambiguities in establishment clause analysis should be explicitly resolved so as to prevent majoritarian infringements of the religious autonomy of minorities.
    [Show full text]
  • Catholic Contribution to SL Freedom Struggle Unique
    SINCE FEB 11,1869 THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY O F SRI LANKA Year of Word of God Heavenly Father you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and OUR LADY revealed them to simple people. OF LANKA “REGISTERED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POSTS OF SRI LANKA UNDER NO. QD / 11 / NEWS / 2012” 4TH FEB 2012 Colossians 3:12-21 Sunday 29th Jan 2012 Vol 143 No 05 16 Pages Rs: 20.00 Registered as a newspaper WORLD Catholic contribution to SL freedom struggle unique LEPROSY DAY the Archbishop of all Sri Lankans and the The time is opportune to the freedom struggle is Colombo, His Eminence, Catholic Church to join act with wisdom and unique. Our united Malcolm Cardinal hands with all patriotic Sri courage for a united Sri struggle overcoming petty Ranjith, has stressed the Lankans to share the glory Lanka. It is the need of the mindedness of certain importance of justice of the occasion. hour to launch a plan of sectors of the society gave and truth leading to We thank God for action based on justice and us victory. It is with great peace and trust among giving us a beautiful land truth leading to peace and pride and joy that we the various communities. full of natural resources trust among the various mention the Catholic Below we give communities. contribution to our excerpts of the Message: The challenge It is crystal clear national freedom struggle. Sri Lanka will withbefore its us, fauna the peopleand flora. of from an objective study of The time is n a message released celebrate its 64th this God-given beautiful Sri Lanka and the history appropriate to move from Ito mark the 64th Independence Day on the land is to build a united Sri of the Catholic Church in a culture of violence to a independence 4th of February, 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • After the Aftermath As Oriens Went to Press, Reports As of Writing, We Do Not Know When from Rome Indicated That the the New Directive Will Be Published
    Oriens Journal of the Oriens Foundation January-March 2008 Volume 13, Number 1 $4.00 After the aftermath As Oriens went to press, reports As of writing, we do not know when from Rome indicated that the the new directive will be published. Vatican will issue a new document clarifying the terms of Summorum The jugglers This Issue Pontificum in which Pope Benedict A few weeks before Christmas, XVI liberated the traditional Latin a close observer of current Church Page 1 Mass. affairs, and one well informed about Editorial The Vatican Secretary of State, the quality of ecclesiastical manpower, Page 2 Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, told Italian suggested to Oriens that, when it Here and there magazine Famiglia Cristiana that the came to implementing a liturgical By Oriens staff Ecclesia Dei Commission will issue “reform of the reform,” bishops had to instructions to “clarify the criteria for confront the fact that many, perhaps Page 6 Some Catholics just don’t get it the application of the motu proprio.” the majority, of their clergy were By David Kehoe The reason for the new document, “ecclesiologically challenged.” Page 9 Cardinal Bertone said, was “confused This was a kindly way of saying that The Old Mass: news from France reactions” by the bishops to the much of present generation of clergy, for the most part trained in the period Page 10 1965 to 1995, is so compromised by The return of the tonsure, contemporary styles of manhood and wimple and soutane Catholic priesthood, that it lacks the cultural By Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis aptitude for a sympathetic response Page 13 cultural to Pope Benedict XVI and his call for In search of a merciful God teaching and worship to be anchored By Fr Paul Stenhouse MSC literacy in in the whole tradition of the Church.
    [Show full text]
  • A Red Hat Day for New Zealand: Pope Francis Appoints Archbishop John Dew of Wellington to the College of Cardinals
    CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF DUNEDIN ABLEISSUE 205 | FEBR U ARTY 2015 cdd.org.nz A Red Hat Day for New Zealand: Pope Francis appoints Archbishop John Dew of Wellington to the College of Cardinals CONTINUED OVER PAGE 2 the tablet CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE After learning of Archbishop John Dew’s appointment to the College of Cardinals, Bishop Wearing red is no Colin Campbell spoke feelingly new experience for of the suitability of Archbishop Archbishop John John to the role of Cardinal. The accompanying photo that “As a new Cardinal nominated by Pope Archbishop John placed on his Francis, Archbishop John is eminently Facebook page shows him standing suited to the role. He is a man with a at the South Pole in 2007 when he wonderful pastoral heart for the needs of ministered in Antarctica. On hearing people, and his concern for the Church the news of the announcement, and common good is testified to by Archbishop John said: the many meetings and committees he “This news is recognition of the attends at local and national level. Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Our new Cardinal has had a wide Zealand, and the contribution it breadth of pastoral experience as a priest makes to the global Catholic family. of the Wellington archdiocese; he has I’m delighted to hear that Bishop served in parishes, he has undertaken Soane Mafi of Tonga has also been mission work in the Pacific and has been named in the list. It is not only great involved in Seminary formation. In that news for New Zealand and Tonga but latter role he is well known in the south for the Oceania region.
    [Show full text]
  • Rearticulations of Enmity and Belonging in Postwar Sri Lanka
    BUDDHIST NATIONALISM AND CHRISTIAN EVANGELISM: REARTICULATIONS OF ENMITY AND BELONGING IN POSTWAR SRI LANKA by Neena Mahadev A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland October, 2013 © 2013 Neena Mahadev All Rights Reserved Abstract: Based on two years of fieldwork in Sri Lanka, this dissertation systematically examines the mutual skepticism that Buddhist nationalists and Christian evangelists express towards one another in the context of disputes over religious conversion. Focusing on the period from the mid-1990s until present, this ethnography elucidates the shifting politics of nationalist perception in Sri Lanka, and illustrates how Sinhala Buddhist populists have increasingly come to view conversion to Christianity as generating anti-national and anti-Buddhist subjects within the Sri Lankan citizenry. The author shows how the shift in the politics of identitarian perception has been contingent upon several critical events over the last decade: First, the death of a Buddhist monk, which Sinhala Buddhist populists have widely attributed to a broader Christian conspiracy to destroy Buddhism. Second, following the 2004 tsunami, massive influxes of humanitarian aid—most of which was secular, but some of which was connected to opportunistic efforts to evangelize—unsettled the lines between the interested religious charity and the disinterested secular giving. Third, the closure of 25 years of a brutal war between the Sri Lankan government forces and the ethnic minority insurgent group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has opened up a slew of humanitarian criticism from the international community, which Sinhala Buddhist populist activists surmise to be a product of Western, Christian, neo-colonial influences.
    [Show full text]
  • (LOL) July 2021
    When he had finished eating, he said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep water LAUNCH OUT LETTERS (LOL) and let down your nets for a catch”. Luke 5: 4 July 2021 Welcome to the July 2021 issue. In this month’s issue we have Vicky Raw leading the reflection for the last Sunday Gospel on the feeding of the 5000. I am moved by her emphasis on the power of ‘littleness’. Jesus underpins this in the other parables (i.e. mustard seed, salt, yeast, children, etc.). We are a Church built on little acts of love. For a change,Bridget Taumoepeau on her regular section, succinctly unpacked the Eucharist. This came as a response to the controversial stand of some American bishops to ban Joe Biden from receiving the Holy Communion. Another issue that is in the news is the production of the movie about the Christchurch massacre. This points to the need to foster greater interfaith understanding. Timely enough we have Nick Polasheck, the Catholic representative of the Abrahamic Council share what he has learned from the Jews and the Muslims. Kevin Crighton shares his journey after graduating from Launch Out. It was not a bed of roses; a meandering path of finding his calling within the church. In the end, as in most cases, it found him. July LOL is a tapestry of the different changes and challenges that we are facing as people of God. The theme that weaves the articles together is service—as the heart of our calling, service great or small, service as Pope Francis puts it, “the only authority we have”.
    [Show full text]
  • FOCUS E-News
    FOCUS E-News November 26 - December 3, 2017 Edition Please support this work! Donate $125 or more and received a copy of Sr. Chris Schenk's groundbreaking book, Crispina and Her Sisters! More than 105,000 views in the first year! Please support Catholic Women Preach! From the Executive Director's Desk Several decades ago, I served as Executive Director of a domestic violence prevention agency and shelter offering women services intended to support them as they worked to end the abuse they suffered in their relationships. Women came into the shelter with one, two, three, or more children in tow. Women came into the shelter with bruises, both physical and emotional. Women came into the shelter crippled by a deep sense of shame. They had internalized messages from their abuser, family, friends, pastors, and society and they blamed themselves for their abuse and neglect. When they entered the doorway of the shelter, they became part of our lives and we became a part of theirs, if only for a short while. We sought to support them, shield them, defend them, offer them choices that would empower them, but most of all, we sought to honor them by letting them know in practical ways how deeply they were cherished, respected, and admired. In turn, their courage inspired us and taught us what it means to live and love with purpose in the midst of a war zone. Today, many women are braving the patronizing, demeaning, and destructive taunts of others as they declare their resistance to abuses they have experienced at the hands of too many men in power.
    [Show full text]
  • Virginal Chastity in the Consecrated Virgin
    VIRGINAL CHASTITY IN THE CONSECRATED VIRGIN Thesis by Judith M. Stegman In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Theology Catholic Distance University 2014 Submitted July 14, 2014 Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Copyright © 2014 Judith M. Stegman All rights reserved ii to: The Most Holy Virgin Mary of Nazareth, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Queen of Virgins, whose tender maternal and virginal love is the font of virginal chastity for all generations iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 1 The question of virginal chastity …………………………………………... 1 The fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary ……………………………………….. 2 The fiat of the consecrated virgin ………………………………………….. 4 Preparation of the Human Race for the Gift of Virginity ………………………….. 6 Virginity of the Most Holy Trinity ………………………………………… 6 Pre-Christian concept of virginity …………………………………………. 7 Christian understanding of virginal chastity ………………………………. 9 Christian Virginity as a Way of Life ………………………………………………. 16 Virgins of the early Church ………………………………………………... 16 Development of a rite of consecration to a life of virginity ……………….. 18 Renewal of the rite of consecration to a life of virginity for women living in the world ……………………………………….………… 22 A most excellent gift – the meaning of consecrated virginity in today’s Church ………………………………………………………….. 23 Virginal Chastity as the Essential Prerequisite for the Consecration of a Virgin …. 29 Prerequisites stated in the Praenotanda to the Rite of Consecration ……… 29 Virginal chastity: an essential prerequisite for consecration ………..……... 33 The gift of virginity ………………………………………………………… 36 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my thesis advisor Dr. Robert Royal and to the dedicated professors at Catholic Distance University who have guided my studies in theology.
    [Show full text]
  • God, Give Us Saints a Time Like This Demands
    Special Issue on Papal Visit Messenger January 11, 2015 1 THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY OF SRI LANKA "REGISTERED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POSTS OF SRI LANKA” UNDER NO. QD / 19 / NEWS / 2015 Sunday, January 11, 2015 Vol 146 No 02 24 Pages Rs: 25.00 Registered as a newspaper God, give us Saints a time like this demands We need saints in veil and cassock. We need saints who wear jeans and sneakers, saree and sarong. We need saints with bone and marrow. We need saints, who put God in fi rst place and communicate with God every day. We need saints in the here and now, with a spirituality visible to all, somehow. We need saints committed to the poor and the marginalized We need saints who can read the signs of the times. We need saints who live in the world, who sanctify and are sanctifi ed by the world. We need saints who walk in the highways and byways of society We need saints who have table-fellowship with the high and the low We need saints who passionately love the Eucharist We need saints who allow themselves to be broken so that others could be made. We need saints, strong in their beliefs, yet humble to manifest. We need saints who are social, open, normal, friendly, happy and who are good companions. In other words; We need saints who are in the world, in touch with the world but not of the world. Sanctity is beautiful! It is a beautiful way: Pope Francis Special Issue on Papal Visit Messenger January 11, 2015 2 Transport Arrangements - Pope's Visit Contact details of SLTB Of�icers for transport arrangements for the faithful attending the celebration at Galle Face Green for the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Sri Lanka No.
    [Show full text]