By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-18 17:26:07 | Updated at 2024-11-23 08:09:45
4 days ago
CV NEWS FEED // Pope Francis has invited churches to commemorate their local saints, blesseds, venerables, and servants of God each year on November 9, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.
Vatican News reports that Pope Francis released a letter November 16, stating that starting in the Jubilee Year of 2025, the faithful “are invited to remember and honour the examples of holiness that have characterised the Christian life of faith and local spirituality.”
Vatican News adds that the Pope explained that the new custom is not a memorial. Instead, he encouraged priests to commemorate local saints through initiatives outside of the liturgy, or by mentioning these holy men and women in the homilies. He said that local bishops’ conferences can establish guidelines and directives for celebrating these saints.
Pope Francis wrote that the new initiative will help dioceses “to rediscover or perpetuate the memory of extraordinary disciples of Christ who have left a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord and are still today sure guides on the common journey towards God, protecting and sustaining us.”
The Pope also drew attention to the different vocations highlighted by saints, blesseds, and venerables. He said that they include “spouses who have faithfully lived their love by opening themselves up to life; men and women who in their various work occupations have supported their families and cooperated in spreading the Kingdom of God; teenagers and young people who have followed Jesus with enthusiasm.”
He said examples also include “pastors who through their ministry have poured out the gifts of grace on God’s holy people; men and women religious who by living the evangelical counsels have been living images of Christ the Bridegroom … the poor, the sick, the suffering who in their weakness have found support in the divine Master.”
