Today is the Memorial of Ss. Mary, Martha & Lazarus of Bethany.
Saturday, August 16, at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, a conference on Our Lady of Guadalupe will be held (8:30 am-5:00 pm at $30.00/person, including breakfast & lunch). It is bilingual—that is, talks for English speakers will be held for the whole conference. The deadline for registration is July 31, this Thursday. My talk at 9:30 am will be “The Spiritual Message of the Apparitions.” Please go to https://forms.gle/u7GXoH5JmYPPRao78 to get more information and to register.
Due to the Dream Cruise, St. Joseph Chapel & the Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (400 South Blvd. West, Pontiac, MI 48341) will be CLOSED on Saturday, August 16. We will also close for our Summer Break August 3-13.
This Friday (August 1) is First Friday, and this Saturday (August 2) is First Saturday and the Franciscan Feast of Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula. The Portiuncula means “little portion,” and is where St. Francis of Assisi began the Franciscan Order, received St. Clare, and where he died inn 1226. It is a Franciscan holy place—a “terra sancta.” By the intercession of Our Lady, Terra Sancta Ministries was able to purchase our shrine—also a true “terra sancta.” I like to think of St. Joseph Chapel as a “Pontiac Portiuncula”—a true Pontiac holy place—since it so little like the Portiuncula chapel in Assisi.
August 2 is a Marian-Franciscan feast—the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels. A Plenary Indulgence will be available for that day—what Franciscans call the “Portiuncula Indulgence” (or “The Pardon of the Portiuncula”). (An “indulgence” is the remission of the temporal punishment for sin—assuming all the conditions are met.) The Portiuncula (in Latin, “little portion [of earth]”) is the little chapel in the marshy plain of Assisi dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels. (I sometimes call our St. Joseph Chapel the “Pontiac Portiuncula” because of its size and Franciscan associations.) It is where St. Francis began the Franciscan Order, received St. Clare and where he died. At St. Francis’s request, the Pope granted Catholics who devoutly visited it—instead of having to go on the Crusades—a Plenary Indulgence. Today, a person can visit ANY church (not just a Franciscan one or the Portiuncula in Assisi) to obtain this indulgence, as long as the normal conditions are met:
- Visit a church between August 1, noon to August 2, midnight
- Pray an Our Father, the Creed and a prayer of one’s choice at the church
- Holy Communion (Mass).
- Confession (within a week of Holy Communion)
- Pray for the pope (Our Father, Hail Mary) within several days of the visit
To communicate with me, please email me directly at abunaalex@yahoo.com or call/text me at (313) 727-9784. Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us!
In Jesus, Mary & Joseph,
Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM
Spiritual Director of Terra Sancta Ministries