Popular Piety

Blessed Pope John XXIII - in another example of his clear view that traditional practices should be done away with!

Speaking to participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America the Holy Father has stressed that popular piety and devotions still hold a strong position in the Church - helping us to pray and to evengelise. Of Devotions he says:

All of them, well channeled and duly supported, propitiate a fruitful encounter with God, an intense veneration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a profound devotion to the Virgin Mary, a cultivation of affection for the Successor of Peter and an awareness of belonging to the Church.

Read further here and view more here.

Looking ahead to the next few months after Easter is a fruitful time to prepare and take part in some of these devotions, following the pattern that the Holy Father outlines above. These often have the added advantage of a public witness to the Faith.

May - the month of Our Lady - with a May Procession and Crowning.

Corpus Christi - with a Blessed Sacrament Procession, preferably though the streets but at least outdoors.

29th June - the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul by praying for the Holy Father and renewing our filial love and devotion towards the successor of St Peter, perhaps by the Dedication of England to St Peter.

Simple devotions still have the ability to move the heart and to enable everyone, of any age and background to take part. For those who might be tempted to think themselves too sophisticated for such things, a reminder of simple faith expressed by loving acts and an opportunity to behave as God's children - which is what every one of us is in His eyes, mere babes when it comes to the road to holiness.