In a letter to the local Churches in memory of their saints, blesseds, venerables and servants of God, Pope Francis urges the Churches, starting with the Jubilee Year 2025, to remember and honor them every year on November 9, the solemnity of the Lateran Dedication. Honor of the Cathedral.
Vatican News
Vatican City, Saturday, November 16, 2024 (Rei): In a letter sent on November 9, the Holy Father wrote: “Apostolic Exhortation Gaudata and Asultate With this I wish to once again propose a universal call to holiness for the faithful disciples of Christ in the contemporary world. This is the core of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, which recalled that “all who believe in Christ, whatever their position, are called to live the fullness and charity of the Christian life.” (Lumen Gensium, 40)
“Therefore, we are all called to welcome the love of God that is “poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), the Pope said. In fact, holiness, far from being the fruit of human effort, is about leaving room for the work of God.
witnesses of Christian virtues
Each one can recognize the people they meet on their path, who are witnesses of Christian virtues, in particular faith, trust and love. Husband and wife who have honestly lived their love by opening themselves to life; Men and women who have helped their families and contributed to the spread of the Kingdom of God through various works; teenagers and young people who enthusiastically followed Jesus; Priests who, through apostolate, have poured out the gifts of grace on God’s holy people; Religious men and women who, living according to the evangelical counsel, represent the living image of the wives of Christ. We cannot forget the poor, the sick, the suffering who in their condition of helplessness found the support of the divine Guru. It is the sanctity of the “everyday” and the “next door” that has always enriched the Church throughout the world.
We are called to draw inspiration from these models of holiness, first of all the martyrs who shed their blood for Christ and those who have been beatified and canonized as models of Christian life and as our intercessors.
Let us remember those venerable men and women whose sacrificial virtues have been recognized, let us also think of those who, in difficult circumstances, made their lives a sacrifice of love for the Lord and their brothers, as well as those servants of God. think of those who are in the process of being declared holy and blessed.
These processes show how the testimony of holiness is also present in our times in which great witnesses of faith shine like stars (Phil 2:15), who have underlined the experience of local churches and, at the same time, have made history fertilizes. . All of them are our friends, our companions on the journey, who help us to fully realize our baptismal vocation and show us the most beautiful face of the Church, which is holy and mother of saints.
The Pope wrote: “During the liturgical year the Church publicly honors the saints and blessed on pre-established dates. However, I consider it important that on the same date all the saints and blesseds of the local Churches are remembered, as well as the faithful and servants of God in their areas.
It is not a question of inserting a new feast into the liturgical calendar, but of commemorating some appropriate initiation outside of the Mass, or within it.
The Saints’ Memorial Day will begin from the birth anniversary year, November 9.
Therefore, the Holy Father urges local Churches to remember and venerate these great men of holiness on the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Cathedral, on November 9 of each year, beginning with the Jubilee Year in 2025.
This will help the different diocesan communities to rediscover or preserve the memory of the extraordinary disciples of Christ, who left a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord and today are safe guides who protect and sustain us on our path to God.
To this end, the Pope suggested that episcopal conferences could develop and propose pastoral directives and directives.
May the saints, in whom the miracles of divine grace are reflected, inspire us to a more intimate communion with God and awaken in us the desire to sing with them praises to the Most High God in the city of the future.
