Pastoral Letter
“PROGRAM OF RECONCILIATION 1984”
Circular No. 09; Series of 1984
February 1984
To our beloved Parish Priests, Parochial Vicars,
Chaplains in the Archdiocese of Manila:
The Archdiocese of Manila will
bring to a close the Jubilee Year during the Easter Week of 1984, a year intended
by our Holy Father to bring to all peoples the special gift of Christian reconciliation.
The Jubilee Year for us in the Philippines has taken an added significance
by the fact that, halfway through it, Ninoy Aquino
was killed on arriving at the Manila International Airport. And we all know
how his sudden death has awakened our countrymen to the need of achieving
unity through meaningful Christian reconciliation.
Soon we will be celebrating
with Holy Mother the Church the season of Lent and on April 9th the visit
of the World Pilgrim Image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. All these events
urged a number of concerned members of Marian Associations in the Archdiocese
to help us all heed the plea of our Lady of Fatima
for penance and prayer leading to reconciliation.
To fulfill these desires of
our Blessed Mother we are inviting and urging all the faithful in the Archdiocese
to return this coming Lent and conclusion of Jubilee Year to our Redeemer
through sincere and full reconciliation.
By “reconciliation” we now
understand re-establishing sincere relations with God and our fellowmen. We
seek reconciliation, therefore, at the personal and national levels. The reconciliation
of the national level seeks to unify our peoples irrespective of creed,
social status, or political affiliations. We are referring now to total reconciliation
between Christian and Muslim, rich and poor, rightists and leftists. We would
like to be the people united under God in the love of Mary for the better
establishment of the kingdom of Her Son in our lives, in our homes and in
our society.
We suggest therefore, the following
parish-oriented activities:
1. Prayer: as concretized in the recitation of the Holy Rosary in
the homes and before Masses of the parish and/or religious groups.
2. Vigils: starting with the First Friday of March (March 2) or at least the First Friday of Lent. Vigils
are to be held from 10:00 p.m. of Friday to about 5:00 a.m. the First Saturday. Dawn Masses could conclude
such vigils Masses may be celebrated at midnight of Saturday if this would
ensure a great participation of the faithful.
Group
prayer songs and some homilies/talks may be part of the activities of the
vigil. You may want to use the materials available from the NASSA Lenten Programs.
The vigil hours could be announced through Radio Veritas.
The
vigils should be held in parish churches or chapels of religious houses. A
suggestion is that each week one church dedicated to Blessed Mother be chosen
as the “station” for that week where the vigil is to be celebrated. Of course,
the faithful in other parishes of the Archdiocese are welcome to attend there.
The
last of the suggested Lenten vigils would be that of Holy Thursday and Good
Friday (April 20 and 21).
Easter
Sunday, which this year falls on April 22, could come to a glorious conclusion
with a “salubong." The men would gather at
the Manila Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and carry in procession
the statue of the Risen Lord. Women would gather at the Malate
Church and carry in procession the statue of our Lady. The two groups would
then meet at the Luneta where a dawn Mass would usher the beginning of the
Easter season. As part of the Mass liturgy, the consecration of the individuals
and of the Philippines to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary are to be recited by
all.
3.
Fasting: By “fasting” we understand:
3.1 The traditional meaning of the word — abstention from a sizeable
amount of food and drink taken daily. This may mean in the concrete having
just one full meal on a fast day.
3.2 But “fasting” is also understood
as any actmeaningful
of self-denial suited to his individual’s condition in life. This means, for
instance, abstaining from meat, smoking,
hard drinks, soft-drinks, candies, television, movies.
3.3 Suggested days of fasting
or self-denial are Wednesdays
and Fridays of Lent.
4.
Helping the poor:
It
is one of the more ancient traditions of the Church that during periods of
penance the poor in the community share the fruits of abstention from food
and material comfort under taken by the faithful. Poor families could be
recipients of those benefactions.
We
hope that your parish organizations could help us finalize this “Program of
Reconciliation 1984” so that the greatest number of those interested partake
in so meaningful a spiritual enterprise.
I
count on your wholehearted cooperation in these activities of the Archdiocese
as one more fitting way of celebrating the Holy Year, and of begging God’s
special blessings on our people.
May
the Hearts of Jesus and Mary bless you all abundantly!
Devotedly yours in Christ,
(Sgd.) + JAIME L. CARDINAL SIN, D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
