A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your Holy Spirit. (Psalm 51)
This is a prayer of a repentant heart, and God, who is loving and merciful never fails to forgive us. However, every time we sin, we separate ourselves from Him and thus suffer the consequence of our own actions.
WHAT IS THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH?
We must understand that sin has a double consequence:
1. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and making us incapable of eternal life. (Permanent Punishment)
2. Every sin entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures which must be purified (Temporal Punishment)
a) here on earth as we patiently bear our suffering and trials or
b) after death in the state called Purgatory.
Thus purification is important in order to free us from the temporal punishment.
HOW CAN WE DO THIS?
By striving to put off the old man and putting on the new man in us, through works of mercy and charity, prayers and various practices of Penance and by obtaining a plenary indulgence.
WHAT IS PLENARY INDULGENCE?
1. An indulgence is a gift from God through the Church as a maternal embrace to its weak and frail children.
2. It is an assistance for the individual Christian to obtain from our merciful Father the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. (Remission is a way to repay our sins and relieving us from temporal punishment)
3. It is a support of the Church to all the faithful to be fully aware in humility of our sins. It opens our hearts to understand how bitter it is to forsake God.
4. It makes us aware that we cannot atone for the long term and the ill-effects of sinning on our own and thus we need a Savior.
5. It leads us to closeness with Christ that binds us together as we pray for the salvation of our brethren.
6. It enkindles charity in all of us and builds up hope for the full reconciliation wit God.
7. Indulgence can free the person either A) Plenary (plenum or whole); B) Partial.
WHAT IT IS NOT?
1. It is not an easy way out whereby we may avoid the repentance required for sins.
2. It is not simply an aid for Christians but it is to spur us to works of Devotion, Penance and Charity.
3. It is not only for the good of the living but also for the faithful departed since they are being purified as members of the Communion of Saints.
SPECIAL PERIOD OF INDULGENCE
Like an open faucet, indulgences stream continuously and consistently everywhere in the world at any given time. For this year, this privelege of gaining Plenary Indulgence is brought closer to home.
The National Shrine of the Sacred Heart and the Saint John Mary Vianney Parish, both in Makati City, Philippines, have been declared Jubilee Churches to grant plenary indulgences to pilgrims who visit these Churches at any time, any day until June 19, 2010.
There the pilgrims shall pray The Creed, Our Father, Invocation to the Most Sacred Heart. This is a once in a lifetime privelege of receiving such great gift from God through the Church, as well as exercising our intrinsic ability to participate in the Communion of Saints, to intercede for our brothers and sisters in Purgatory, and be missionaries for their souls: to bring them back home to God's Kingdom through the prayers and good deeds offered for them.
The greatest fulfillment in receiving indulgences is not found in that which benefits our souls alone; it is that we too are responsible in saving souls in Purgatory through this Grace given by God. And if we step up and go beyond ourselves and others, we become Movers of the Church: we move and act in ways that bring God's Family - those who are faithful (on earth and in heaven) and even those who have been lost (souls in Purgatory) - back together in His Kingdom for eternity.
St. John Mary Vianney
Narra St, Cembo, Makati City, Philippines
Tel. No. 881-5078
National Shrine of the Sacred Heart
4 Sacred Heart St., San Antonio Village,
Makati City, Philippines
Tel Nos. 895-6331 / 890-5357
E-Mail Address: nsshparish@ymail.com
WHAT IS THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH?
We must understand that sin has a double consequence:
1. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and making us incapable of eternal life. (Permanent Punishment)
2. Every sin entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures which must be purified (Temporal Punishment)
a) here on earth as we patiently bear our suffering and trials or
b) after death in the state called Purgatory.
Thus purification is important in order to free us from the temporal punishment.
HOW CAN WE DO THIS?
By striving to put off the old man and putting on the new man in us, through works of mercy and charity, prayers and various practices of Penance and by obtaining a plenary indulgence.
WHAT IS PLENARY INDULGENCE?
1. An indulgence is a gift from God through the Church as a maternal embrace to its weak and frail children.
2. It is an assistance for the individual Christian to obtain from our merciful Father the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. (Remission is a way to repay our sins and relieving us from temporal punishment)
3. It is a support of the Church to all the faithful to be fully aware in humility of our sins. It opens our hearts to understand how bitter it is to forsake God.
4. It makes us aware that we cannot atone for the long term and the ill-effects of sinning on our own and thus we need a Savior.
5. It leads us to closeness with Christ that binds us together as we pray for the salvation of our brethren.
6. It enkindles charity in all of us and builds up hope for the full reconciliation wit God.
7. Indulgence can free the person either A) Plenary (plenum or whole); B) Partial.
WHAT IT IS NOT?
1. It is not an easy way out whereby we may avoid the repentance required for sins.
2. It is not simply an aid for Christians but it is to spur us to works of Devotion, Penance and Charity.
3. It is not only for the good of the living but also for the faithful departed since they are being purified as members of the Communion of Saints.
SPECIAL PERIOD OF INDULGENCE
Like an open faucet, indulgences stream continuously and consistently everywhere in the world at any given time. For this year, this privelege of gaining Plenary Indulgence is brought closer to home.
The National Shrine of the Sacred Heart and the Saint John Mary Vianney Parish, both in Makati City, Philippines, have been declared Jubilee Churches to grant plenary indulgences to pilgrims who visit these Churches at any time, any day until June 19, 2010.
There the pilgrims shall pray The Creed, Our Father, Invocation to the Most Sacred Heart. This is a once in a lifetime privelege of receiving such great gift from God through the Church, as well as exercising our intrinsic ability to participate in the Communion of Saints, to intercede for our brothers and sisters in Purgatory, and be missionaries for their souls: to bring them back home to God's Kingdom through the prayers and good deeds offered for them.
The greatest fulfillment in receiving indulgences is not found in that which benefits our souls alone; it is that we too are responsible in saving souls in Purgatory through this Grace given by God. And if we step up and go beyond ourselves and others, we become Movers of the Church: we move and act in ways that bring God's Family - those who are faithful (on earth and in heaven) and even those who have been lost (souls in Purgatory) - back together in His Kingdom for eternity.
St. John Mary Vianney
Narra St, Cembo, Makati City, Philippines
Tel. No. 881-5078
National Shrine of the Sacred Heart
4 Sacred Heart St., San Antonio Village,
Makati City, Philippines
Tel Nos. 895-6331 / 890-5357
E-Mail Address: nsshparish@ymail.com
