Year of St Paul
Pope Benedict XVI has declared June
2008 - June
2009 a Year of
St Paul in
celebration
of the 2000th anniversary of the apostles
birth. It
is reckoned that St Paul was born
between 7 -10 A.D.
The
Holy Father explained that:
"The Apostle of the
Gentiles, who dedicated himself to
the spreading of the good
news to all peoples, spent
himself for
the unity and harmony of all Christians. May
he guide us and protect us
in this bimillenary celebration, helping
us to advance
in the humble and sincere search
for the full unity of all the
members of the mystical body of Christ"
Pope Benedict XVI
has granted the faithful a Plenary
Indulgence to mark the Year of St Paul.
How to
gain the Plenary Indulgence:
"During
the year of St. Paul we will be able to seek and obtain those
graces which we call "Indulgences" from the Treasury
of the Church. To gain such a Plenary Indulgence at this time,
we are asked to:
Offer
personal prayers before the Blessed Sacrament
To
recite the Our Father and the Creed with prayers in honour
of Our Lady and St. Paul
The
usual conditions of Confession, Communion and prayers for the Pope's intentions
are also to be observed.
Within
our own Archdiocese the Plenary Indulgence may also be gained
in churches dedicated to St. Paul in each of three of our deaneries, as well as two churches dedicated
to the Apostles St. James, St Matthew and St. Peter
in three other of our deaneries as well as in St. Mary's
Metropolitan Cathedral, Edinburgh and in our Schoenstatt
Shrine at Clachan of Campsie, Lennoxtown."
The sick
or those who legitimately cannot leave their homes, can obtain
the indulgence if they spiritually unite themselves to a
jubilee celebration in honour of St. Paul, offering
their prayers and suffering to God for the unity of Christians"
(This last part on the plenary indulgence
is adapted from the Archdiocesan Newsletter of St. Andrews
and Edinburgh)
