Friday, April 7, 2017

274 POPULAR PIETY

YOUCAT Lesson 274
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

274  How important is so-called “popular piety”?

Popular piety, which is expressed in veneration for relics, processions, pilgrimages, and devotions, is an important way in which the faith becomes inculturated.  It is good as long as it is in and of the Church, leads to Christ, and does not try to “earn” heaven by works, apart from God’s grace.  [1674-1676]



 …….Photo above: …..Our Lady of Good Help Shrine where Mary appeared to Adele Brise in 1859 and identified herself as the Queen of Heaven.  I have visited this shrine many times to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and attend the Mass of the day.  It was in the Shrine bookstore that I purchased “YOUCAT” and “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” that I am combining into this catechism series. …..274



“Popular piety is one of our strengths because it consists of prayers deeply rooted in people’s hearts.  These prayers even move the hearts of people who are somewhat cut off from the life of the Church and who have no special understanding of faith.  All that is required is to “illuminate” these actions and to “purify” this tradition so that it may become part of the life of the Church today.”  Pope Benedict XVI, February 22, 2007

RELICS:  Relics (from Latin relictum=remains) are remnants of the bodies of saints or else objects that the saints used during their lifetime.

 
Popular piety


…….1674    Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals,(Compare Council of Nicaea II: Denzinger-Schönmetzer 601; 603; Council of Trent: DS 1822.)180 etc. –CCC


…….1675   These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it. They "should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them."(Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 § 3.)181—CCC



……..1676   Pastoral discernment is needed to sustain and support popular piety and, if necessary, to purify and correct the religious sense which underlies these devotions so that the faithful may advance in knowledge of the mystery of Christ.(Compare Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae 54.)182   Their exercise is subject to the care and judgment of the bishops and to the general norms of the Church. At its core the piety of the people is a storehouse of values that offers answers of Christian wisdom to the great questions of life. The Catholic wisdom of the people is capable of fashioning a vital synthesis. . . . It creatively combines the divine and the human, Christ and Mary, spirit and body, communion and institution, person and community, faith and homeland, intelligence and emotion. This wisdom is a Christian humanism that radically affirms the dignity of every person as a child of God, establishes a basic fraternity, teaches people to encounter nature and understand work, provides reasons for joy and humor even in the midst of a very hard life. For the people this wisdom is also a principle of discernment and an evangelical instinct through which they spontaneously sense when the Gospel is served in the Church and when it is emptied of its content and stifled by other interests. (Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano, Third General Conference (Puebla, 1979), Final Document § 448 (tr. NCCB, 1979); compare Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi 48.)183--CCC

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