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.

Death Bed Promises

Last night, my "cloistered brothers" celebrated the life of Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P. Sept. 5th is Pere's Feast Day.   He was just beatified June 3, 2012, as the Apostle of Prisons.  So this was our first celebration for him.   We had a Communion Service, we sang, we did Evening Prayer, we read some of his sermons.  The conclusion, choked me up.  Steve read from the Dominican Sisters of Bethany Chronicle of March 10, 1869.  It tells of Pere Lataste's last moments.

Our poor Mother spoke to him of heaven, of those whom he had loved and who were waiting for him.  "They are coming to meet you," she said.  He replied, "I believe it."  "And I shall come to meet you when you die...I shall take you into God's presence...I shall come to meet all my daughters..."

At 3 o'clock, the community gathered around his bed, but he could no longer see clearly.  Our poor Mother said to him, "Father, your children are here.  We are going to sing the Salve Regina."  He seemed to understand...I don't know how we were able to sing at that moment...God gave us the strength...our dear father seemed to be trying to pronounce the words with us.  At Mater Misericordia, his lips ceased to move...his gaze was lost in eternity.

We contemplate our Father's face, so calm and smiling, and our hearts are comforted.  We were permitted to kiss his hands which have so often been raised to bless us...

What a blessing to be with his community.  What a blessing for the community to be with their founder.  And he promised to meet them in heaven.  And another thing...that promise goes for me, too.