Fr. Z kudos to the Archbp. of San Antonio.
From the Express-News:
Confessions to be heard for 24 hours at downtown church
SAN ANTONIO — The sacrament of confession will be offered for 24 hours straight by a team of priests and San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller starting Saturday evening at St. Francesca di Paola Catholic Church, a parish on the northwestern edge of downtown visible from Interstates 10 and 35.
It’s in response to Pope Francis’ call on dioceses worldwide to provide “24 hours for the Lord” this weekend for round-the-clock confessions and prayer at a designated parish as part of Lent, the archbishop said.
“We also want to promote that when people leave, they forgive someone else,” García-Siller said. “If you have something against someone, those healing moments will go a long ways.”
The church is at 205 Piazza Italia. Read more at ExpressNews.com.
So… is anything like this going on where you are?
Chime in and then…
GO TO CONFESSION!
UPDATE:
The service in St. Peter’s Square is going to begin soon. They are praying the Rosary at the moment.
A live shot.
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So… is anything like this going on where you are?
Yes. Archdiocese of Miami, Florida
http://www.miamiarch.org/atimo_s/articles_documents/201403/1431995735668.pdf
Yes! Our parish is one of 3 that our priest is the pastor for and we are not the main parish (more than 30 miles between each). At the end of mass last Sunday, Father told us there would be a reconciliation service at the larger parish, about 35 miles farther down the road. The organist asked if we could have one at our church. Father said no, no, because he would have other priests come in from a distance and then 2 of us would show up (we are a tiny parish anyway, but it is not an exaggeration that sometimes only 2 or 3 make the drive in for things that are not on Sundays or Holy Days). Another lady teased, “Talk about changing the subject, Father” – (which was something he had talked about in the homily). He started to do the final blessing, stopped, and said, “You know the bible says ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened, so yes, I am going to arrange to have some extra priests come in for a service here too and I hope this means you will all be showing up for this.” For this and many other things, I am sure grateful that we have Fr. Desmond!
KB, what a beautiful response! I hope many people show up.
Nothing yet on my parish or archdiocesan web site about this, so I assume only the normal hours for confession will be available.
“…[I]n response to Pope Francis’ call on dioceses worldwide to provide ’24 hours for the Lord’ this weekend…” This is the first I’ve heard of such a call from the pope.
No, but we just had a “The Light is on for You” event in which every parish in the archdicoese was open for two hours on the same evening. As I understand, it was a big success.
Our Pastor mentioned this in his homily this morning but I don’t know that the diocese is doing 24 hours of Confession anywhere though. Different parishes in our diocese will typically have Reconciliation Days, usually during the 4th or 5th week of Lent where they have priests available for Confession for 8-12 hours (depending on the parish) continuously during the day.
The Bishop of Middlesborough (UK) has asked for confessions to be heard all day throughout the diocese. At St Wilfrid’s, York, (the York Oratory in formation) as well as confessions being heard throughout the day there will be the annual pilgrimage in honour of St Margaret Clitherow http://www.stwilfridsyork.org.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/clitherowposter.jpg Solemn High Mass (EF) will be followed by a procession through the mediaeval streets of York, past her shrine and across Ouse Bridge – the site of her martyrdom. The procession will return to St Wilfrid’s for Solemn Benediction.
Nothing in my diocese. An article on the pope’s wishes was present on the diocesan website earlier in the week, but it’s missing now and there is no announcement regarding Confessions anywhere.
Here in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), there will be 24 hours of adoration and confessions starting at 1pm today (Friday, March 28). The first 12 hours are at the old downtown co-cathedral, and the second at the new cathedral.
Yes! Middlesbrough Diocese (England), York, St Wilfrid’s Church.
Happily coinciding with the National LMS Pilgrimage to York for St Margaret Clitherow (one of the Forty Martyrs). Solemn High Mass at 1.30 pm. You never know, we might gain some devotees to the Usus Antiquior…
It’s happening in my parish:
“The Holy Father proclaimed March 28-29 a 24 hour period of penance, “24 hours for The Lord”. On Friday evening there will be a penance service at St. Peter’s Basilica. Then, various churches throughout Rome will be open for for the Sacrament of Confession. In solidarity with the Holy Father’s effort, after 6:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross at OLG on Friday, March 28, I will hear confessions until the last confession is heard.”
The Capuchin chapel I go to for daily Mass has friars hearing confession from 10 AM to 8 PM, except during the two Masses, Monday through Saturday.
Also, the Catholic News Service just posted this tweet showing Pope Francis making his confession at St. Peter’s before beginning to hear confessions.
Nothing official happening in my diocese. Meanwhile, His Holiness the Pope has gone to confession BEFORE hearing the confessions of others. And is it me, or is this the first time we’ve seen His Holiness wear a surplice?
https://twitter.com/CatholicNewsSvc/status/449588217214291968/photo/1
Diocese of Calgary, St. Anthony’s Parish is having 24 hrs Adoration (nothing new) with 24 hrs of Confession.
6:00AM weekday Mass in my parish, during Lent. I wish it were offered all year. It’s a suburban parish; a high percentage of adults commute to work early, and for them, 9:00 Mass is a non-starter.
I think I would be nervous confessing to the Pope. I also think His Holiness would be tougher than Pope Benedict XVI.
Our parish here in Ireland will have confessions throughout the daytime – but not 24-hours – along with adoration (it’s normally only for an hour on Saturday evenings) and then vespers, which is certainly unusual.
Our diocese of Hamilton, Ontario is having 24 hrs of Confession at the cathedral, from today at 4:30 pm until same time tomorrow, including Adoration, Stations of the Cross and tomorrow morning, a “Mass for the Forgiveness of Sins”. None of our city’s 5 parishes are participating, and it’s nearly an hour’s drive for me, so I won’t be going. I see that tomorrow the diocese is also running their annual Musician’s Retreat Day. I hope that everyone who goes to confession remembers to pray for our musicians!!
Parish in our very small village in the mountains in Italy is having 4 hours of confessions this evening beginning with an outdoor procession of the Stations of the Cross along with Adoration.
Nothing here, nothing on the Archdiocese website.
God is calling me to move to WI and Father Richard Heilman’s parish. He just announced this on FB
“FESTIVAL OF FORGIVENESS
ST. MARY’S OF PINE BLUFF IS PARTICIPATING
Beginning with Stations and Benediction tonight at 6:30 PM, the church will remain open through the night and until the 5:30 PM Mass tomorrow. I will be available at my rectory confessional throughout this time (don’t worry about waking me up). ”
Wish I was there.
Yes: 24 hour adoration and confessions, from 5 pm Friday to 5 pm Saturday (suspended for Holy Mass on Saturday morning). Diocese of Shrewsbury, UK.
Having volunteered for watching for an hour from midnight, I will keep you and yours in mind. Hope I keep awake…
Nothing quite like the 24 Hours initiative going on here in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (as far as I can tell!), but we do have a program called “He Is Waiting,” with 11 parishes offering extended hours for Confession on the first 5 Tuesdays of Lent (http://www.johnpaul2center.org/Lay-Formation/Season-of-Mercy/He-Is-Waiting.htm). Similar to The Light is On For You program that has been so successful elsewhere.
Nothing official in this diocese but we had a very well attended Communal Penance Service Thursday evening with more than a dozen priests. Unlike most CPS’s that I see, ours follows the rite.
nothing here.
in case any priests read this … the policy here is that the penitent should approach the priest and ask for the Sacrament.
Having lived in areas where people line up every Saturday, I was used to receiving the Sacrament every week or two – my entire adult life. So when I moved here, I tried the ask Father method but found that it soon develops into an unhealthy situation.
** Undue attention falls on the one asking for Confession.
** No one else at all is asking for 5 minutes of his time.
** One priest tried to convince me that in this remote area, he had no one to talk to and proceeded to confess his sins to me.
** Another one expected my support on parish council for some rash spending decisions.
** Another one, fresh from a diocesan conclave where they discussed needy/emotionally damaged people seeking the Sacrament – someone had to fit, and I was the only penitent he had.
So now I drive nearly 3 hours one direction to spend 4 minutes in the confessional. That’s the nearest church with a regularly scheduled time for confession. I receive the Sacrament a few times a year instead of a few times a month.
Based on discussions, it seems no one else in my parish (about 50 families) receives the Sacrament at all. When the priest scheduled confession time, they used to line up here, too.
No uptake on the Holy Father’s initiative seems to have taken place in my diocese as nearly as I can tell. However, for several years now almost every parish in the diocese has set aside 90 minutes for confessions one night a week, usually Wednesday, at least during Lent.
My home parish, which is served by a religious order rather than by diocesan priests, is blessed with a pastor who is not averse to sitting in the confessional on Sunday while one of his brother priests is offering Mass, and vice versa.
Much as I gripe about liturgical and doctrinal adventurism, I am fortunate never to have suffered any of the abuses to which OP Marie Teresa refers.
I offer prayers of thanks for the Sacrament of Penance and beseeching protection and strength for the priests who administer it.