The particular Churches starting from the Jubilee of 2025 are invited to remember and honour the examples of holiness that have characterised the Christian life of faith and local spirituality every year on 9 November, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Pope Francis established this date and recurrence in a letter released on 16 November.
A single date for commemoration
Reaffirming that holiness, more than being the fruit of human effort, means making room for God’s action, Pope Francis writes about the universal call to holiness, also at the heart of the teachings of Vatican II. He considers it important that all the particular Churches commemorate on a single date the Saints and Blesseds, as well as the Venerables and Servants of God of their respective territories.
The Pope writes that it is not a matter of inserting a new memory into the liturgical calendar, but of promoting with appropriate initiatives outside the liturgy, or recalling within it during the homily or other appropriate moments examples of persons who have characterised the local Christian life of faith and spirituality.
Guidelines from Bishops’ Conferences
The Pope writes that this will enable the individual diocesan communities “to rediscover or perpetuate the memory of extraordinary disciples of Christ who have left a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord and are still today sure guides on the common journey towards God, protecting and sustaining us”. He notes that pastoral recommendations and guidelines can be developed and proposed by the local Bishops’ Conferences.
The Saints “next door”
In the letter the Pope emphasises once again the importance of what he has already called the “saints next door”, the “everyday holiness” in which the Church scattered throughout the world is always rich. He encourages us to cultivate a continuous and close relationship with those who can rightly be considered “our friends, companions on the journey, who help us fully realise our baptismal vocation and show us the most beautiful face of the Church, which is holy and is the mother of saints”.
He recalls the martyrs, the Servants of God (whose cause of beatification and canonisation is underway) and the Venerables (whose heroic virtues are recognised), and offers several examples that can be found in the daily life of each one, including: “spouses who have faithfully lived their love by opening themselves up to life; men and women who in their various work occupations have supported their families and cooperated in spreading the Kingdom of God; teenagers and young people who have followed Jesus with enthusiasm; pastors who through their ministry have poured out the gifts of grace on God’s holy people; men and women religious who by living the evangelical counsels have been living images of Christ the Bridegroom…the poor, the sick, the suffering who in their weakness have found support in the divine Master.”
Credit: Vatican News