The Catholic Edge

 Did you ever hear of the Apostolic Pardon?  It's a gift Jesus gave to Peter and all the Apostles.

It's a prayer used as an act of mercy, drawing on the authority given to the Apostles to "bind and loose" (Matthew 16:19)  It is used as a person is dying and not only gives peace to the soul of the dying but to the family and friends, present, assuring them that they have done all they could do to bring a soul closer to the gates of Paradise.  

This used to be called the "Last Rites."  Catholics would carry ID cards, saying "I am Catholic, in case of accident, please call a priest."  It is a beautiful prayer:

May our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to His blessed apostle Peter the power of binding and loosing, mercifully accept your confession and restore your baptismal innocence.  And I, by the power given to me by the Holy See, grant you a plenary indulgence and remission of all sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  By the sacred mysteries of mankind's restoration may almighty God remit for you the punishment of the present life and of the life to come, and may He open to you the gates of Paradise and admit you to everlasting happiness.

This will be one of those moments of holy, sacramental, radiance, where prayer is felt in the heart.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.