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]
“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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