Year of Mercy

Year of Mercy

Archbishop Leo Cushley has designated the parish of Ss John Cantius and Nicholas, Broxburn as one of 8 parishes in the Archdiocese that will make extended provision for Confessions. The main door of the Church will be dedicated on Sunday 3rd January 2016, the Solemnity of the Epiphany as the ‘Holy Door’ for the Holy Year of Mercy. Anyone coming through that door will gain additional grace expressed by the Church as a ‘Plenary Indulgence’. The conditions for a Plenary Indulgence being granted are: (i) that you enter through the ‘Door of Mercy’: (ii) that you celebrate the Sacrament of Confession and Reconciliation; (iii) that you pray an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for the Pope’s intentions. The Broxburn parish will be promoted as a place for the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation throughout the Archdiocese and will have extended times for Confessions. Tuesday evening 6.30 pm-7 pm. Saturday 4.45 - 5.15 pm. Parents please be reminded of your baptismal responsibilities to get your children into the practice of regular Confession - you owe it to them. We will also invite the schools for Confession

What is a ‘Plenary Indulgence’ anyway?

Last week in his letter, the Archbishop mentioned the ‘Plenary Indulgence.’ A plenary indulgence is, we might say, ‘time’ off purgatory. Because Christ gave the Church the power to ‘bind and loose’ (Matt. 18:18), she sometimes attaches this special grace to various actions and prayers. However, there are conditions: you must go to Confession at the time or around the time of performing the action, you must be completely detached from sin and you must pray for the intentions of the Pope (an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be). You can apply the Indulgence to yourself or to a dead person.

PRAYER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY JUBILEE OF MERCY*

Lord Jesus Christ,

you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,

and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.

Show us your face and we will be saved.

Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;

the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;

made Peter weep after his betrayal,

and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.

Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:

“If you knew the gift of God!”

You are the visible face of the invisible Father,

of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:

let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.

You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness

in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:

let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.

Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,

so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,

and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,

proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,

and restore sight to the blind.

We ask this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of

Mercy; you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen.