Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 334

Celebrate the Beatification of Pope John Paul II with Ignatius Press ...

.... and the Ignatius Night at the Movies Program featuring POPE JOHN PAUL II, starring JON VOIGHT and CARY ELWES

Watching this film has renewed in me a sense of profound gratitude to God for having given the Church and the world a Pope of such an exalted human and spiritual nature.
— Pope Benedict XVI

Pope John Paul II, filmed on location in Krakow, Poland and Rome, brings the amazing story of Karol Wojtyla up close and personal, from his struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland to his dealings with the Russians and their desire to turn his beloved homeland into a godless society; from his education in the underground seminary to his election, at the age of 58, as the first non-Italian pope in 455 years; from his athletic, theatrical youth to his physically depleted old age, to his moving and dignified death. This movie portrays it all in a way never before seen with a remarkable glimpse into the inner sanctum of the Vatican conclave and the making of a pope. It will move the viewer to laugh, cry and be awed by the privilege of sharing the earth for a brief time with this saintly man.
 
And this Spring is a perfect time for your parish or school to participate in the outstanding IGNATIUS NIGHT AT THE MOVIES program and celebrate the May 1st Beatification of Pope John Paul II by helping others to know this remarkable man like never before.

And here's how our exciting Ignatius Night at the Movies program works - Ignatius Press will provide you with ongoing support in setting up your Movie Night  as well as a complimentary packet of materials to ensure a successful event, including:

A free DVD of the movie
Full-color posters and flyers
Sample announcements
Press release
Catalogs for additional orders

You will:

Publicize the event in your area
Purchase a small package of Ignatius Press products that you will select from our list and resell at a generous profit
Arrange for AV equipment and a suitable room or hall for movie viewing
Sell tickets or take a free-will offering, if you wish, for which you will retain all proceeds
Provide one or more people to sell Ignatius Press products at the event

Don't forget to click on www.ipmovienights.com to catch a glimpse of why we are so thrilled about this incredible program! And please take a minute to check out all of our excellent fundraising programs at www.IPFundraisers.com.
 
For more information about this exciting venture, please contact Diane Hanson, toll free: 866-431-1531; direct: 734-455-1973; e-mail: dhanson@ignatius.com. Note: This program is only available in the U.S. and Canada.

How To Be a Good Confessor

How To Be a Good Confessor | Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. | Editorial | Homiletic & Pastoral Review | March 2011

God became man in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. To accomplish that until his Second Coming, he established his Church with the power of the keys and animated her with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The new life of grace that he merited for us by his passion and death on the cross is communicated to us through the seven sacraments, which are administered by bishops, the successors of the Apostles, and by the priests who assist the bishops in their tasks of teaching, sanctifying and pastoring the people of God.

One of the important duties of priests is to administer the sacrament of penance—to hear confessions. Thus, one of the titles of a Catholic priest is confessor, that is, one who hears confessions. A major part of the training of seminarians to become priests is to learn moral theology and sacramental theology so that they can become good confessors.

It is a well-known fact that Catholics now do not go to confession regularly as most did before the Second Vatican Council. I am sure there are many reasons for this, among which I might mention: faulty religious instruction, increased secularization of our culture along with a loss of the sense of sin, preaching that emphasizes the mercy and love of God, but rarely mentions his majesty and justice. 

Parishes need holy priests and good confessors. It is not easy to become a wise and compassionate confessor. Some of the requirements of a good confessor are: 1) he must be a man of prayer who is close to Jesus Christ and realizes that it is Jesus who forgives sins through him as his instrument for the salvation and sanctification of faithful Catholics; 2) he must know moral theology; 3) he must have a basic knowledge of psychology, especially the difference between men and women; 4) he must be compassionate like Jesus himself and be endowed with good common sense. Those are the basic requirements of a good confessor. The model for confessors is St. Jean Vianney who spent a large part of his adult life hearing confessions and giving spiritual advice to penitents who came from distant places in France to confess their sins to the saintly pastor in the small town of Ars.

Read the entire editorial on HPRweb.com...

"Benedict's style is never bombastic; it is always gentle and precise."

More good analysis and introductory observations from Dr. Jeff Mirus:

I have already noted that the great gift of Benedict's two volume study, Jesus of Nazareth, is his ability to teach us something about the combination of intelligent investigation and deep faith which can enable us to open Scripture to our thirsty souls (see Ratzinger's Gift: Faith-Filled Exegesis). Now, having completed a close reading of the entire second volume, I'd like to offer a few more observations, in the hope that you'll read both books yourself.

First, immediately following my earlier remarks I entered into the chapter on the Last Supper (chapter 5), which could actually stand alone as a kind of proof of Benedict's great gift. In this chapter the Pope sets himself the task of shedding light on four exegetical difficulties which surround the Last Supper. He covers:

1. The problem of the Passover chronology (the Last Supper appears in some accounts to be a Passover meal but did not apparently take place on Passover);

2. The institution of the Eucharist (which embodies the idea of expiation from first to last, and so undermines later interpretive attempts to cast Jesus as either a "friendly rabbi" or a "revolutionary");

3. The theology of the words of institution (which suggest that God is now confronting evil directly because man is incapable of doing so);

4. The transition and connections between the Last Supper and the celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday (arising from Christ's command of commemoration and its association with the Resurrection).

After we leave these fascinating perplexities and developments behind, the book becomes more and more moving.

Read the entire essay, "A Crescendo of Understanding: Finishing Benedict's Second Volume", on CatholicCulture.org.

If you missed Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., on "FOX and Friends"...

... this past Monday, discussing Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, the three-minute segment is now online.

Benedict XVI: St. Therese of Lisieux "illuminated all the Church with her profound spiritual doctrine..."

From Vatican Information Service:

St. Therese of Lisieux and the Little Way

VATICAN CITY, 6 APR 2011 (VIS) - In his general audience in St. Peter's Square today, attended by more than 10,000 people, Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to St. Therese of Lisieux, or St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, "who lived in this world for only twenty-four years at the end of the nineteenth century, leading a very simple and hidden life, but who, after her death and the publication of her writings, became one of the best-known and loved saints".

"Little Therese", the Pope continued, "never failed to help the most simple souls, the little ones, the poor and the suffering who prayed to her, but also illuminated all the Church with her profound spiritual doctrine, to the point that the Venerable John Paul II, in 1997, granted her the title of Doctor of the Church ... and described her as an 'expert in scientia amoris'. Therese expressed this science, in which all the truth of the faith is revealed in love, in her autobiography 'The Story of a Soul', published a year after her death".

Therese was born in 1873 in Alencon, France. She was the youngest of the nine children of Louis and Zelie Martin, and was beatified in 2008. Her mother died when she was four years old, and Therese later suffered from a serious nervous disorder from which she recovered in 1886 thanks to what she later described as "the smile of the Virgin". In 1887 she made a pilgrimage to Rome with her father and sister, where she asked Leo XIII for permission to enter Carmel of Lisieux, at just fifteen years of age. Her wish was granted a year later; however, at the same time her father began to suffer from a serious mental illness, which led Therese to the contemplation of the Holy Face of Christ in his Passion. In 1890 she took her vows. 1896 marked the beginning of a period of great physical and spiritual suffering, which accompanied her until her death.

In those moments, "she lived the faith at its most heroic, as the light in the shadows that invade the soul" the Pope said. In this context of suffering, living the greatest love in the littlest things of daily life, the Saint realised her vocation of becoming the love at the heart of the Church".

She died in the afternoon of 30 September, 1897, uttering the simple words, "My Lord, I love You!". "These last words are the key to all her doctrine, to her interpretation of the Gospel", the Pope emphasised. "The act of love, expressed in her final breath, was like the continued breathing of the soul ... The words 'Jesus, I love You' are at the centre of all her writings".

St. Therese is "one of the 'little ones' of the Gospel who allow themselves to be guided by God, in the depth of His mystery. A guide for all, especially for... theologians. With humility and faith, Therese continually entered the heart of the Scriptures which contain the Mystery of Christ. This reading of the Bible, enriched by the science of love, does not oppose academic science. The 'science of the saints', to which she refers on the final page of 'The Story of a Soul', is the highest form of science".

"In the Gospel, Therese discovers above all the Mercy of Jesus ... and 'Trust and Love' are therefore the end point of her account of her life, two words that, like beacons, illuminated her saintly path, in order to guide others along the same 'little way of trust and love', of spiritual childhood. Her trust is like that of a child, entrusting herself to the hands of God, and inseparable from her strong, radical commitment to the true love that is the full giving of oneself", the Holy Father concluded.

Related Ignatius Insight Excerpts and Essays:

• Mystic, Comic, Everything | Fr. Bernard Bro | Chapter One of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Family, Her God, Her Message
• St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Patron Saint of Common Sense | Stephen Sparrow
• The Beginnings | Vernon Johnson | Chapter One of One Lord, One Faith.

DePaul is a Catholic university. Sort of. Kinda. Not that it matters. Or something.

The headline and subhead of this April 4th article in The DePaulia proclaim a strange mixture of triumphalistic ambivalence and congratulatory self-loathing that would be good for a chuckle if it weren't so embarrassing:

Religious tolerance trumps Catholic roots
Despite being a faith based Univeristy [sic], DePaul's mission runs deeper than spreading the word

Even the most jaded observer of "Catholic higher education" will marvel at the commentary and quotes that were apparently written and uttered without the least bit of irony or self-awareness (not to be confused with self-absorption):

Is DePaul a Catholic school? Of course, sort of. ...

"There are definitely a few things around campus that reminds me that DePaul is a Catholic school. But it really isn't evident unless you look really closely and carefully," said senior Vi Nguyen. "Besides the church, I know that there are a few crosses around campus, but I think we barely notice them." ...

"Catholicism is a collective noun. There's dozens of forms of it," said Rev. James Halstead, the Chair of the Religious Studies Program. "At DePaul, if you want a Catholicism that's rigid and rule-bound, we got it. We got the Catholicism for the Catholics who just want spiritual practice but wouldn't know a rule if it hit them in the face. We got the kind of Catholicism for the types of intellectual Catholics who know about the rules of the church, but they don't care about them."

In keeping with Rev. Halstead's undefined definition of Catholicism, DePaul's Catholic identity is as difficult to define as the average Catholic's beliefs. ...

Never mind that if "Catholicism" can mean anything at all, it must mean nothing at all. Never mind that if a Catholic school founded in the name of St. Vincent de Paul is not able to offer a basic definition of Catholicism, something is seriously amiss. Not that it seems to bother the folks who have been entrusted with not defining what it is they don't understand or care about when it comes to the religion they can't explain or profess:

So does DePaul stay true to its mission statement, of maintaining a Catholic identity while at the same time being religiously pluralistic? Somehow, yes. But does DePaul hold either of those concepts higher than the other?

In an address to the Faculty Council in 2006, Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, DePaul's president, answered that question:

"I've received over 10,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls in the past 20 months…for somehow being 'unfaithful' to the Catholic tradition. They would have us become an institution 'of Catholics for Catholics,'" said Holtschneider. "That's not DePaul. It never was. DePaul has always been a place where people of every faith have been welcomed to study and to teach."

While there are undoubtedly a few folks who probably prefer that Catholic universities be for Catholics only, it's hard to believe that 10,000 people have demanded such a thing. Far more likely, they are puzzled or concerned or upset that a Catholic school is unable to articulate what it means to be Catholc, not to mention being proud to uphold and expound the beliefs of the Catholic Church. At the very least, it should be obvious that if the Chair of the Religious Studies Program believes there is a different sort of "Catholicism" for everyone then real, orthodox, and vibrant Catholicism is probably discouraged or dismissed by the powers that be. 

As for the subhead's statement, "DePaul's mission runs deeper than spreading the word", it's worth pointing out that Pope John Paul II, in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, his 1990 Apostolic Constitution on Catholic Universities, wrote the following about evangelization:

The primary mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel in such a way that a relationship between faith and life is established in each individual and in the socio-cultural context in which individuals live and act and communicate with one another. Evangelization means "bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new... It is a question not only of preaching the Gospel in ever wider geographic areas or to ever greater numbers of people, but also of affecting and, as it were, upsetting, through the power of the Gospel, humanity's criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation".

By its very nature, each Catholic University makes an important contribution to the Church's work of evangelization. It is a living institutional witness to Christ and his message, so vitally important in cultures marked by secularism, or where Christ and his message are still virtually unknown. Moreover, all the basic academic activities of a Catholic University are connected with and in harmony with the evangelizing mission of the Church: research carried out in the light of the Christian message which puts new human discoveries at the service of individuals and society; education offered in a faith-context that forms men and women capable of rational and critical judgment and conscious of the transcendent dignity of the human person; professional training that incorporates ethical values and a sense of service to individuals and to society; the dialogue with culture that makes the faith better understood, and the theological research that translates the faith into contemporary language. "Precisely because it is more and more conscious of its salvific mission in this world, the Church wants to have these centres closely connected with it; it wants to have them present and operative in spreading the authentic message of Christ". (pars. 40-41).

And these words from Pope Benedict XVI, in his address at the Catholic University of America three years ago:

All the Church's activities stem from her awareness that she is the bearer of a message which has its origin in God himself: in his goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal himself and to make known the hidden purpose of his will (cf. Eph 1:9; Dei Verbum, 2). God's desire to make himself known, and the innate desire of all human beings to know the truth, provide the context for human inquiry into the meaning of life. This unique encounter is sustained within our Christian community: the one who seeks the truth becomes the one who lives by faith (cf. Fides et Ratio, 31). It can be described as a move from "I" to "we", leading the individual to be numbered among God's people.

This same dynamic of communal identity – to whom do I belong? – vivifies the ethos of our Catholic institutions. A university or school's Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of Catholic students. It is a question of conviction – do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22)? Are we ready to commit our entire self – intellect and will, mind and heart – to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools? Is it given fervent expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of charity, a concern for justice, and respect for God's creation? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold.

In other words, there is no deeper mission than to spread the word—that is, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. To think otherwise is not only to think wrongly, it is a failure to think with the mind of the Church. And if a Catholic schools doesn't teach students about the mind and heart of the Church, then it is indeed unfaithful to its founding, nature, and mission.

Dogma and Contemplation

Dogma and Contemplation | Charles Cardinal Journet | From What Is Dogma? | Ignatius Insight

Dogma and Mystery

The dogmas—the Trinitarian dogma, the dogma of the utterly free and gratuitous creation of the universe, the dogmas of the Incarnation, of the redemptive sacrifice, of transubstantiation, the sacramental dogmas, the Marian dogma—are the great declarations which the Church has made known against  rationalization of the wonderful revelations of Holy Scripture. Far from weakening the mystery, they mark its outlines in order that the spirit may enter further into its darkness and lose itself in its depths.

The Church is divinely assisted by the prophetic light of infallibility in order to present them to us. But it is not on its created authority that we believe—the presentation which the Church offers conditions our assent to their truth, it does not provide the basis for the assent; it is on the uncreated and direct authority of God, revealing himself to us and revealing to us his work, that we believe. Faith, theological faith, is the inward, personal light by which God comes to the understanding and will of each man, so as, if no obstacle is met with, to raise them to himself. "He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself, habet testimonium Dei in se" (1 Jn 5:10); "Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (5:5).

The Knowledge of Simple Faith

At the first moment when it is received in the soul, the light of Christianity bestows both the prophetic gifts of divine revelation and also the power to recognize them, that is, the sanctifying light of theological faith that causes us to assent to their mysterious depths and that is thus seen to be the root of the whole work of justification. [1] The believer is encompassed by ideas, revealed statements, in which is expressed his Creed, what he believes about God and God's work, creation, redemption, salvation, the last ends. His faith makes use of these statements in an intuitive, not a discursive, way. It is concerned to make the whole human person assent to the truth of what they contain.

Continue reading on IgnatiusInsight.com...

Joseph Pearce discusses fourteen Ignatius Critical Editions titles

Joseph Pearce, series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions, recently did a number of audio interviews with Kris McGregor of DiscerningHearts.com. For your listening ease and pleasure, I've listed all of them here:

• "Great Works in Modern Literature with Joseph Pearce: Introduction to Ignatius Critical Editions":

Or download the .mp3.

• "Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Charles Dickens (Great Expectations)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "William Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "William Shakespeare (Merchant of Venice and King Lear)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Mark Twain (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Oscar Wilde (Picture of Dorian Grey)":









Or download the .mp3.

• "Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)":









Or download the .mp3.



• Digging Into the Bard's Beliefs | Audio Interview with Joseph Pearce
• The Misunderstood Monster | From the Introduction to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Ignatius Critical Editions, 2008)
• Will the Real Shakespeare Please Stand Up? | The opening chapter of The Quest for Shakespeare
• Fr. Joseph Fessio and Joseph Pearce Talk About Shakespeare | A video interview (Sept. 8, 2008)
• The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde | An Interview with Joseph Pearce

The sacrament of baptism as a participation in the death of Christ

The Sacrament of Baptism as a Participation in the Death of Christ | Owen Vyner | Homiletic & Pastoral Review | March 2011

To be baptized in Christ is to be baptized into his death as well as his Resurrection.

The Easter season is ultimately a time for rebirth, expressed most dramatically at the Easter Vigil by the life-giving waters of baptism. To impart new life, however, baptism must destroy the old life of sin and our fallen aversions to Christ. That is why the rite of baptism makes it clear that the person baptized is baptized into Christ's death: "We ask you, Father, with your Son to send the Holy Spirit upon the waters of this font. May all who are buried with Christ in the death of baptism rise also with him to newness of life."1 It is precisely the signification of immersion in water as a descent into Christ's death which eloquently addresses the questions of today's seekers.

This article will seek to address this question: what does it mean to be baptized into Christ's death and how does this speak to us in a manner that is relevant to our current experience? It will first do this by delineating the link between baptism and death. Secondly, because baptism is understood as an immersion, or a descensus, it will then examine the issue of Christ's descent into hell as symbolized in baptism. Finally, it will consider the anthropological dimension of baptism and baptism's ramifications for the moral life of Christians.

The waters of baptism and death

For the early Christians, the Old Testament understanding of water in the events of salvation was the foundation for the symbolism of water in the baptismal rite. While there is clearly a link between water and cleansing in the Old Testament (just think of Naaman the leper in 2 Kings 5), the stories of the Flood and the Red Sea also reveal that water is connected with destruction and death. In the story of the Flood, water is a symbol of destruction. Water is the instrument of judgment through which God destroyed the sinful world (cf. Gn 6:17). The other principal reference to the destructive nature of water is in God executing judgment on the Egyptians and his defeat of the Egyptian army as they crossed the Red Sea in pursuit of Moses and the tribes of Israel (cf. Ex 7:4-5).

In the Psalms, we witness the man who, drowning in deep water, is in dire need of God's rescue: "I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me" (Ps 69:2). We also read, "Deep calls to deep at the thunder of thy cataracts; all thy waves and thy billows have gone over me" (Ps 42:7). Later the fate of this suffering individual, who seems to be abandoned, will be allegorically attributed to Christ and his cry for help on the Cross (cf. Mt 27:45-46).

In the Old Testament, just as water is linked with death, it is simultaneously connected with victory and salvation. The sinful world is destroyed in the Deluge, but at the same time, Noah is spared to be the principle of the new creation (cf. Gn 9:1-15). With the crossing of the Red Sea, there is death and judgment, but there is also God's victory over Pharaoh and the salvation of the tribes of Israel (cf. Ex 15:1). In his work, The Bible and the Liturgy, Jean Danielou argues that underlying this notion of a victory through the waters is the ancient myth of a serpent that dwells in the depths of the sea (cf. Is 27:1; 51:9-10).2 Thus, the victory which is to be obtained through the waters also follows a great struggle with the forces of evil.

In the New Testament, these images of descent into water, judgment, and victory through a physical wrestling with a great power are typologically applied to Christ's crucifixion. The stories of the Flood and the Red Sea are seen as being fulfilled by the promised salvation won by Christ on the Cross. First Peter establishes a connection between Noah's salvation through water and Christ's victory over death communicated to the Christian through baptism (cf. 1 Pt 3:20-21), while St. Paul interprets the crossing of the Red Sea as a prefiguring of Christian baptism. Paul understands the crossing of the Red Sea as a type of baptism, which is then typologically applied to the Christian, who, passing through the waters of baptism, is baptized into Christ (cf. 1 Cor 10:11-12).

Read the entire article at HPRweb.com...

Program for the Beatification of John Paul II

From Vatican Information Services:

Program for the Beatification of John Paul II

VATICAN CITY, 5 APR 2011 (VIS) - This morning, a conference was held at the Holy See Press Office to present the preparations and the program for the beatification of John Paul II. The speakers were Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome; Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) and the Holy See Press Office; Fr. Cesare Atuire, director general of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi; Msgr. Marco Frisina, director of the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Vicariate of Rome; and Fr. Walter Insero, director of the Office of Social Communications of the Vicariate of Rome.

  Cardinal Vallini presented the full program for the celebrations for the beatification, which he described as "strongly characterised by particular elements intended to emphasise the richness of John Paul II's personality, and the impact of his pontificate on the life of the diocese of Rome and on the whole world".

1. The Vigil, 30 April (Circus Maximus, 20.00 to 22.30).

  The celebration will be divided into two parts. The first part will be dedicated to remembering the words and actions of John Paul II. There shall then be a solemn procession during which the image of Maria Salus Populi Romani will be enthroned; this shall be accompanied by representatives of all the parishes and chaplaincies of the diocese. Privileged accounts will be given by Joaquin Navarro-Valls and Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, both of whom worked closely with the Pope, and by Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre, whose miraculous recovery opened the way for the beatification process. This first part of the celebrations will be concluded with the hymn "Totus tuus", composed for the 50th anniversary of John Paul's priestly ordination.

  The second part will focus on the celebration of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, which were introduced by John Paul II. After the hymn "Open the doors to Christ", Cardinal Vallini will give an introduction summarising the spiritual and pastoral character of John Paul II. The Rosary will then be recited, with a live connection to five Marian sanctuaries around the world. Each of the five Mysteries of the Rosary shall be linked to a prayer intention of importance to John Paul II. In the Sanctuary of Lagniewniki, Krakow, the prayer intention will take the theme of youth; in the Sanctuary of Kawekamo, Bugando, Tanzania, the family; in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon, Harissa, evangelisation; in the Basilica of Sancta Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City, hope and peace among peoples; and in the Sanctuary of Fatima, the Church.

  To conclude the vigil, Benedict XVI shall recite the final oration and impart the apostolic blessing to all participants, in live transmission from the Apostolic Palace.

  That night the following churches shall remain open for the oration: Sant' Agnese in Agone, Piazza Navona; San Marco al Campidoglio; Santa Anastasia; Santissimo Nome di Gesù all'Argentina; Santa Maria in Vallicella; San Giovanni dei Fiorentini; San Andrea della Valle; and San Bartolomeo all'Isola.

2. Mass of Beatification, 1 May, Sunday after Easter or of Divine Mercy (St. Peter's Square, 09.00: hour of preparation; 10.00: officiated by the Holy Father).

  The solemn liturgy of beatification shall be preceded by an hour of preparation during which the faithful shall pray together the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a devotion introduced by Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska and dear to the Blessed John Paul II. The preparation will conclude with an Invocation to Mercy in the world, with the hymn "Jezu ufam tobie". This will be followed by Mass, with the texts for the Sunday after Easter. At the end of the rite of beatification, the unveiling of the tapestry depicting the newly Blessed shall be accompanied by the Hymn to the Blessed in Latin.

3. Mass of thanksgiving, Monday 2 May (officiated by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, St. Peter's Square, 10.30).

  Mass on Monday 2 May shall be the first celebrated in honour of the newly Blessed John Paul II. The texts shall be those of the Mass of the Blessed John Paul II. Music during the celebrations shall be provided by the Choir of the Diocese of Rome, with the participation of the Choir of Warsaw and the Wadowice Symphony Orchestra, Poland.

  Fr. Lombardi explained that in the evening of Friday 29 April the tomb of the Blessed Pope Innocent XI - currently in the Chapel of St. Sebastian in St. Peter's Basilica - shall be transferred to the Altar of Transfiguration, to make way for the body of John Paul II. That morning, the coffin of John Paul II - which shall not be opened - will be transferred before the tomb of St. Peter, in the Vatican grotto. On the morning of 1 May, it will be brought before the Altar of Confession in the Basilica.

  Following the beatification ceremony, the Pope and the concelebrating cardinals will make their way to the Altar of Confession in the Basilica and will pray for a moment before the body of the newly Blessed. From that evening, those who wish to do so may venerate the remains of John Paul II.

  Fr. Walter Insero shall present the new project, "Digital Sentinels", recalling the polish Pope's address to the young as "sentinels of the morning" on World Youth Day 2000 in Rome.

  Through the already well-known portal "Pope2You", provided by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, it will be possible to send digital postcards with phrases, in several languages, extracted from John Paul II's various addresses to young people. These postcards may be used as invitations to young people to come to Rome to celebrate the beatification of John Paul II. Furthermore, through this portal it will be possible to follow the scheduled celebrations (Vigil, beatification Mass, Mass of thanksgiving).

  This initiative, carried out in collaboration with Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center and the Office for Social Communications of the Vicariate of Rome, is managed by a group of young volunteers, several seminarians from colleges in Rome who provide translations in various languages, and friends from other continents.