Confirmations à Van Kleek Hill - The Dedication of the Roman Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles - The Penitential Act

LE SACREMENT DE LA CONFIRMATION

 

Hier soir, j’ai résumé la célébration du sacrement de la Confirmation à l’Église Saint- Grégoire de Nazianze à Van Kleek Hill (le cure : l’abbé Gilles Marcil; le diacre : M. Michel Miner).

Il y avait un jeune adulte de la paroisse Saint-Eugene, quatre jeunes de la paroisse Saint-Bernardin et une vingtaine de jeunes de la paroisse hôte.

Voici quelques photos :

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THE BASILICAS OF

 STS. PETER & PAUL, APOSTLES

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Defend your Church, O Lord, by the protection of the holy Apostles, that as she received from them the beginnings of her knowledge of things divine, so through them she may receive, even to the end of the ages, an increase in heavenly grace. Through our Lord.

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THE NEW ROMAN MISSAL (continued)

Why the Changes to the Penitential Act?

There are several different options for this part of the Mass: today we will look at the Confiteor (I Confess).

When we admit in public together that we have sinned, it emphasizes that we gather as a community where each person has need of God’s mercy. This version is closer to the Latin original text and has strong connections to scripture: King David admitted to the Lord that he had greatly sinned (1 Chronicles 21:8); and the repetition that we have sinned through “my fault” three times and the striking of our breast with our fist recalls the tax collector who stood at the back of the temple who humbled himself before God (Luke 18:13). By striking our breast with a closed hand we show we want to crush the sin that lies in our heart and humble ourselves before God to receive His mercy.

In the Prayer of Absolution the priest asks or petitions God to be merciful to us: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life”. But this is not the absolution we receive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The emphasis in the whole Penitential Act is something very positive and hope-filled because it highlights our need and desire for God’s loving, abundant, mercy. --Father Geoffrey Kerslake